recommended reading

toysoldier · Aug 20, 2015

A neighbor and I recently found out we share an interest in WWII history. He loaned me a book which he describes as "the best WWII book you will ever read." It is Flyboys..a True Story of Courage by James Bradley, the author of Flags of Our Fathers. The story centers on American flyers (including George Bush's crew) who ended up in captivity on Chichi Jima, north of Iwo Jima. But in telling this tale of torture and cannibalism, he gives a brutally frank account of atrocities, American and foreign, since the last half of the 19th century. This is one of the most honest accunts of war I have ever read. Since it isn't my book, I can't put it out as a karma, but I recommend that you look for a copy in your library or online.

Mtneer · Aug 20, 2015

Yep! Read it, and I agree - one of the best WWII books ever. :)

Wyandot Jim · Aug 20, 2015

It does a GREAT job of putting the reasons why the Japanese entered WWII.
Geo #41 is VERY VERY lucky that sub was on station to rescue him.
No prisoners made it off the Island alive

smoke-eater · Aug 21, 2015

I read it when it was first released. Definitely one of the more brutal and disturbing stories of WW II. Some of the images haunted me for quite awhile. Another reason why the U.S. should never be apologetic about having dropped the A-Bombs.

Wyandot Jim · Aug 21, 2015

" Unbroken" is another must read.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/books/review/Margolick-t.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Zamperini grew up in Torrance, Calif., and thanks partly to a bout of juvenile delinquency — he became adept at breaking into homes, then fleeing the police — he developed into a world-class runner. He ran the 5,000 meters at the 1936 Berlin Olympics (even Hitler commented on him) and later, at the University of Southern California, flirted with a four-minute mile.
In late May 1943, the B-24 carrying the 26-year-old Zamperini went down over the Pacific. For nearly seven weeks — longer, Hillenbrand believes, than any other such instance in recorded history — Zamperini and his pilot managed to survive on a fragile raft. They traveled 2,000 miles, only to land in a series of Japanese prison camps, where, for the next two years, Zamperini underwent a whole new set of tortures. His is one of the most spectacular odysseys of this or any other war, and “odyssey” is the right word, for with its tempests and furies and monsters, many of them human, Zamperini’s saga is something out of Greek mythology.

don44 · Aug 21, 2015

Thanks very much for the link.... That is quite a story for sure.

stevemb · Aug 21, 2015

I've read Unbroken, wow ! I was mentored in archery by a gentleman now gone that survived the Bataan Death March. Why anything that says "made in japan" was ever allowed here, is beyond me. Don't we ever learn ?