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

Tennozan offers a remarkable account of the battle of Okinawa, the largest land-sea-air engagement in history. It examines the disastrous collision of three disparate cultures--American, Japanese, and Okinawan--and provides the context for understanding the decision to drop the atomic bomb. 41 photographs.

Critical acclaim for The Battle for Okinawa "An indispensable account of the fighting and of Okinawa's role in the Japanese defense of the home islands." --The Wall Street Journal "A fascinating, highly intelligent glance behind the Japanese lines." --Kirkus Reviews "The most interesting of the 'last battle of the war' books." --The Washington Post "A fascinating insider's view of the Japanese command." --Dallas Morning News COLONEL HIROMICHI YAHARA was the senior staff officer of the 32nd Japanese Army at Okinawa. A Military Book Club Main Selection

From the award-winning historian, Saul David, the riveting narrative of the heroic US troops, bonded by the brotherhood and sacrifice of war, who overcame enormous casualties to pull off the toughest invasion of WWII's Pacific Theater -- and the Japanese forces who fought with tragic desperation to stop them. With Allied forces sweeping across Europe and into Germany in the spring of 1945, one enormous challenge threatened to derail America's audacious drive to win the world back from the Nazis: Japan, the empire that had extended its reach southward across the Pacific and was renowned for the fanaticism and brutality of its fighters, who refused to surrender, even when faced with insurmountable odds. Taking down Japan would require an unrelenting attack to break its national spirit, and launching such an attack on the island empire meant building an operations base just off its shores on the island of Okinawa. The amphibious operation to capture Okinawa was the largest of the Pacific War and the greatest air-land-sea battle in history, mobilizing 183,000 troops from Seattle, Leyte in the Philippines, and ports around the world. The campaign lasted for 83 blood-soaked days, as the fighting plumbed depths of savagery. One veteran, struggling to make sense of what he had witnessed, referred to the fighting as the "crucible of Hell." Okinawan civilians died in the tens of thousands: some were mistaken for soldiers by American troops; but as the US Marines spearheading the invasion drove further onto the island and Japanese defeat seemed inevitable, many more civilians took their own lives, some even murdering their own families. In just under three months, the world had changed irrevocably: President Franklin D. Roosevelt died; the war in Europe ended; America's appetite for an invasion of Japan had waned, spurring President Truman to use other means -- ultimately atomic bombs -- to end the war; and more than 250,000 servicemen and civilians on or near the island of Okinawa had lost their lives. Drawing on archival research in the US, Japan, and the UK, and the original accounts of those who survived, Crucible of Hell tells the vivid, heart-rending story of the battle that changed not just the course of WWII, but the course of war, forever.

"Okinawa: the last battle: Here the Imperial Army braced for its last stand. From the bloody victories that brought U.S. forces to Okinawa, to the desperate, suicidal resistance of the Japanese, this is the complete story of the final beachhead battle of the Pacific campaign.

It's 1945, and the world is in the grip of war. Hideki lives with his family on the island of Okinawa, near Japan. When the Second World War crashes onto his shores, Hideki is drafted to fight for the Japanese army. He is handed a grenade and a set of instructions: Don't come back until you've killed an American soldier. Ray, a young American Marine, has just landed on Okinawa. This is Ray's first-ever battle, and he doesn't know what to expect -- or if he'll make it out alive. All he knows that the enemy is everywhere. Hideki and Ray each fight their way across the island, surviving heart-pounding ambushes and dangerous traps. But then the two of them collide in the middle of the battle... And choices they make in that single instant will change everything. Alan Gratz, New York Times bestselling author of Refugee, returns with this high-octane story of how fear and war tear us apart, but how hope and redemption tie us together. Reviews for Refugee: "An absolute must read for people of all ages" - Hannah Greendale, Goodreads "Like RJ Palacio's Wonder, this book should be mandatory reading..." - Skip, Goodreads "I liked how the book linked history with adventure, and combined to make a realistic storyline for all three characters" - AJH, aged 11, Toppsta