‘Excellent’ Antony Beevor‘Saul David is a brilliant historian … In shocking and jaw-dropping detail, he brings a battle that deserves far greater prominence and understanding vividly back to life’ James Holland‘Excellent’ Antony Beevor‘Saul David is a brilliant historian … In shocking and jaw-dropping detail, he brings a battle that deserves far greater prominence and understanding vividly back to life’ James HollandFrom award-winning historian Saul David, an action-packed and powerful new narrative of the Battle of Okinawa – the last great clash of the Second World War, and one that had profound consequences for the modern world. For eighty-three blood-soaked days, the fighting on the island of Okinawa plumbed depths of savagery as bad as anything seen on the Eastern Front. When it was over, almost a quarter of a million people had lost their lives, making it by far the bloodiest US battle of the Pacific. In Okinawa, the death toll included thousands of civilians lost to mass suicide, convinced by Japanese propaganda that they would otherwise be raped and murdered by the enemy. On the US side, David argues that the horror of the battle ultimately determined President Truman’s choice to use atomic bombs in August 1945.It is a brutal, heart-rending story, and one David tells with masterly attention to detail: the cramped cockpit of a kamikaze plane, the claustrophobic gun turret of a warship under attack, and a half-submerged foxhole amidst the squalor and battle detritus. The narrative follows generals, presidents and emperors, as well as the humbler experiences of ordinary servicemen and families on both sides, and the Okinawan civilians who were caught so tragically between the warring parties.Using graphic eyewitness accounts and declassified documents from archives in three continents, Saul David illuminates a shocking chapter of history that is too often missing from Western-centric narratives of the Second World War.Shortlisted for the 2021 British Army Military Book of the YearLonglisted for the 2021 HWA Non-fiction Crown AwardsA BBC History Magazine Best Book of the Year 2020An Amazon.com History Book of the MonthA The Times Best Book of 2020A Telegraph Best Book of 2020‘Gripping, even gruesome, yet deeply moving … Sweeps us masterfully from a coral charnel house in the Pacific to the mushroom cloud over Hiroshima’ David Reynolds‘The best book I’ve read on the Battle of Okinawa. Finally a military historian has written a book which gives humanity to the Japanese, without taking anything away from what the Americans endured and achieved on that island … David fits perfectly into the fine tradition of war books by Max Hastings and Antony Beevor. It’s war at its most beautiful and most horrible’ Gerard deGroot‘A superb soldier’s-eye history of Okinawa, the Second World War’s ghastliest battle … The meticulousness of his research really starts to display itself … A highly readable and informative book that often reads like a screenplay, but depicts suffering that was all too real … [David] is peerless now among our military historians’Daily Telegraph‘David restores a human dimension to this battle – both sides are brave, stoic, frightened, barbaric and occasionally cowardly. This is narrative history at its most visceral as battles unfold almost in real time … A gripping reconstruction of the action’ Times'Graphic and compelling … Written with style and verve … David brings the ghastly mayhem of war to life in a vivid way’ Literary Review'Superbly researched, well-written … Reminds us that the defining characteristic of war is the mass destruction of individuals, both physically and psychologically’Spectator‘Brilliant … harrowing. The attention to detail is exemplary: we see the conflict from just about every angle’Keith Lowe, BBC History MagazineSaul David is a historian, broadcaster and the author of several critically acclaimed works of fiction and non-fiction. His history books have been shortlisted for the Westminster Medal for Military Literature and variously named a Waterstones Military History Book of the Year and an Amazon History Book of the Year. He is Professor of Military History at the University of Buckingham.•PUBLISHED FOR THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BATTLE.• BRILLIANT MILITARY HISTORIAN. Saul David is an excellent, critically-acclaimed writer with a gift for storytelling – much in the vein of Max Hastings. His books have variously been Waterstones Military History Books of the Year, Amazon History Book of the Year, and shortlisted for the Westminster Medal for Military Literature.• YOUNG HISTORIAN WITH SIGNIFICANT TV AND RADIO PROFILE. Saul has appeared in history programmes for all the major TV channels and is a regular on Radio 4. In 2019, his major appearances are US Presidents At War, The Second World War in Colour, and Prince Albert.• RESETS THE NARRATIVE OF A LITTLE-KNOWN BATTLE. Okinawa was a brutal episode of WW2 – one of the bloodiest of the Pacific theatre. This is a major reassessment and will be a landmark history.Competition: Bloody Okinawa; Vietnam; Nemesis; The Second World War; Stalingrad; Hiroshima; Forgotten Ally; Chastise; Burma 44; Special Boat Squadron; Catastrophe;Crucible. Joseph Wheelan; Max Hastings; Antony Beevor;Jason Fox;Dan Jones;Giles Milton; Patrick Bishop; Barrie Pitt; James Holland;Jonathan Fenby
Publicat de: HarperCollins Publishers