The Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb [Paperback]

George Feifer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2001

A landmark text on the greatest land battle of the Pacific War.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Battle of Okinawa was "the largest land-sea-air battle in history," yet remarkably little is know about this final major engagement of World War II. Based on interviews with Americans, Japanese, and Okinawans who endured the fighting, this masterpiece of military history explores every aspect of the three-month battle and its aftermath in vivid detail.

The U.S. invasion of Okinawa involved 1,457 ships and over half a million men. For six full days artillery fire poured down on the island while the Japanese holed up in underground bunkers and tunnels like moles, darting out for supplies only at night. In examining the battle from the perspective of both generals and infantrymen, George Feifer explains the substantial differences in the training and mindset between the soldiers, particularly the Japanese's fiercely nationalistic stance and willingness to die for their emperor that both impressed and baffled the Americans. Since most Japanese refused to surrender even after American victory was assured, less than 5 percent survived the battle. And worse bloodshed was certain to come, for the next step in the war was an invasion of Japan itself. Indeed, the Japanese government encouraged all 100 million Japanese to "die proudly" in defense of their homeland. It was both this kamikaze devotion and the heavy human losses at Okinawa that led directly to the decision to drop the atomic bomb on Japan rather than pay the high price of a large-scale invasion.

Feifer also lends a voice to the local civilians, certainly the least considered element in the battle, focusing on how the hospitable and peaceful Okinawans were caught in a crossfire they could neither comprehend nor control. During the fighting, over a quarter of a million Okinawans were herded into U.S. detention camps in order to get them out of the way of the fighting, yet an estimated 150,000 died from artillery attacks or because locals were often indistinguishable from Japanese soldiers. In a sense, the war continues for Okinawans since one-fifth of the best land on their island is still occupied by the U.S. military as well as a Japanese force. Feifer's excellent book should ensure that this horrific battle is never forgotten, for "if a symbol is needed to help preserve the memory of the Pacific War, Okinawa is the most enduring one." --Shawn Carkonen

Review

"A skillful narrative of combat history...exceedingly vivid." --New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 520 pages
• Publisher: Lyons Press; 1st edition (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585742155
• ISBN-13: 978-1585742158
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,094,146 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars GOOD SOCIAL NARRATIVE -- NOT MILITARY HISTORY, September 9, 2003

By 

R. J Szasz "Rod Szasz" (Tokyo, Japan Japan) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb (Paperback)

It should be stated that this is really only tangentally a book of military history. There is no lead in or large diagrams noting units on the move, involved and their progression from beach-head to final battle. There is however a lot of very good first person accounts from soldiers from both sides and the civilians involved.

The whole point is to show how the horror of island hopping campaign that reached its bloody climax on a very large island with a very large civilian population. Although the charnel house of Burma, Tarawa, Peleliu, Saipan, the Philippines and other place names of the East Asian War were truly very much encounters largely between two brutal armies. In Okinawa we get this gigantic clash redux with civilians at the centre.

What Feifer does is describe this massive clash of arms on human beings, how humans behave in war and how civilians get the short end of the stick.

But let me be clear here: I have read a lot of Pacific War history and regularly join in the applause of the fighting prowess of the US Marines -- I have seen the battlefields at Okinawa, Peleliu, Saipan, Truk and many other sites of WWII horror. Feifer is honest in his discription of the horrors perpetrated by both sides. But he honestly points out in his introduction that the actions of the US pales in comparison with the cruelty of the Japanese. He spends most of his time on these attrocities and a VERY limited amount of time on those that Americans, through design or accident, perpetrated on Japanese POWs or Okinawan civilians (contrary to the other previous reviewer it is not at all a "rant" -- he should read the introduction again!). It is a fair and documented representation of what happenned and it is a sobering reminder of the responsibilities of democratic countries and their necessity to fight war always in a just manner and never to sink to the level of the opposition.

That is the one lesson of this book. The other one is that this is an excellent book for all nations to understand what happens in modern war when civilians get caught in the middle. It is a great book for those who seek a greater understanding of when the necessities of war cross over the elemental rights of civilians. It reminds us also of our humanity ---from the acts of kindness by a grisled Marine giving water and food to a child or an old woman, to the horror of an irrate Japanese commander willing to sacrifice people to a vain endevour and psychotic tribute to an obscurantist Japanese militaristic code.

I recommended it to my niece and young nephew. They are unlikely to read military history. But they will be much wisened by this book. As such who cares whether they know a toss about the 1st or the 5th Marines. What this book teaches them about humanity is much more than lines on a map and the order of battle.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read Book, January 8, 2006

By 

Mark "Bottom line only please..." (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb (Paperback)

A must read book, not only about the Battle of Okinawa, but also modern warfare and the limits of humanity. Every inch as good as T.R. Fehrenbach's This Kind of War, required military reading and the definitive guide to the Korean War. A page-turner than kept me up late at night.

I'm surprised at some of the other reviews. This is a book for "grown-ups" about modern warfare: descriptive, unflinching, and not without controversy. (Not unlike Chickenhawk, A Rumor of War, East of Chosin...all reading for military professionals.) One claims the book is exploitive through the many descriptions of carnage, but over a quarter of a million people were killed during the battle: Americans, Japanese, and Okinawans. (More civilians were killed than from both atomic bombs.) As far as social commentary, I think it added to the book. This included narrative about the US decision to use the atomic bomb, the mainland invasion of Japan, etc...the section about Kamikazes is excellent. (The end does ramble a bit.)

Another reason I think this book is so valuable is it's largely forgotten history. The Battle of Okinawa was the largest land-air-sea battle during WW II but how often do you hear about it.

I've been to Okinawa several times, and unless you travel to the Peace Memorial in the south, you'll be hard pressed to find any evidence of what happened there. Much of the island is covered in concrete now; most Okinawans under 65 are unaware of what happened there, because it's not taught in the schools.

My favority quote "Many people say using the atomic bomb was an inhumanity. Hell, the whole war was an inhumanity-military officer.: Read the book-it will change your whole outlook.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good balance between American, Japanese, and Okinawan views, December 28, 2001

By 

Anthony To (Whittier, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb (Paperback)

This is a very good book. It presents the largest and greatest land-air-sea battle in history through the perspectives of the three sides that were affected during the battle - American, Japanese, and Okinawan. The last great battle of World War II is all but forgotten in history books in our school system. This book will help many understand the perplexities of war and how everyone in the world is more alike than different.
I did not know that the Okinawan suffered so much, with their population suffering more losses than the American and Japanese soldiers combined. Only problem with this narrative is that it recounts many characters' tales but their are no pictures. I would have appreciated some faces to all the names but perhaps this was done intentionally. Otherwise well worth the purchase.