George Feifer - The Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb

An accurate and painstakingly detailed chronicle of the last great battle of World War II, the book is also a powerful antiwar statement that takes an unblinking look at the monstrous waste, pain and horror of modern war. Publishers Weekly

A must read book truly a landmark work. A superbly researched and extraordinarily detailed history of the battle. Sea Power

The grip of some books is so tenacious that the reader is transfixed by the tale past all reason, through meals, fire alarms and earthquakes far into the night. Told at the skin level the book reads at times like a fine novel. Far Eastern Economic Review

This is military history at its best. Newport News

More than a military history, [this book] is also a supremely important, heartrending chronicle of the human condition. San Francisco Chronicle

A majestic, sweeping historical narrative This book is an elegant testimony to the stark reality, horror and valor of war. Friday Review of Defense Literature

It is almost impossible to stop reading it to indulge in the necessities, such as food, work and sleep. It is an excellent piece of writing and research. The Press Enterprise

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

First-rate A chilling chronicle of barbarism, unspeakable courage and suicidal bravery. Detroit Free Press

Short of having been there, Feifer's book is as close as we are likely to come to experiencing those terrible three months in the spring of 1945. Newsday

Read and understand not only the horrors of war, but why American survivors who would have invaded Japan blessed the atomic bomb. Palm Beach Post

A classic history of a decisive portion of the Pacific war. Highly recommended. Rocky Mountain News

Simply one of the most affecting books I have ever read. Austin Chronicle

Brilliantly told an uncompromising look at the inhumanity on both sides of the Pacific war. Houston Chronicle

Feifer masterfully choreographs his nearly ten years of research into a chorus of riveting testimonials about the land, sea and air combat on Okinawa. He brings back to life the ferocious ground action, which left 250,000 casualties (including 150,000 civilians) and weds the combat to the broader issues of where the war was headed and how to end it. Marine Corps Gazette

Magnificent. Leatherneck

Unless we know of Okinawa and its beleaguered people, we know precious little of World War II. They were war's classic victims, caught between the rock and the hard place, between the Japanese and the Americans. In George Feifer's encyclopedic though deeply moving work, we come to understand these survivors. They knew about the charnel house. They lived in it. Studs Terkel

One of the finest close-combat stories one will ever read. George Feifer has written an epic, and anyone who was involved from land, sea, or air units, or with the battle, will not want to put this down. Bill Pierce, in Military Chronicles

Marine veterans of the campaign who pick up [The Battle of Okinawa] will not want to put it down. For us, [The Battle of Okinawa] re-triggers the adrenaline and materializes some of our haunted submerged recollections, but it is a thoroughly fascinating read. Jeptha J. Carrell (platoon leader in the Battle of Okinawa), in Marine Society Newsletter

A really great book. Exciting from beginning to end about one of the biggest battles of the Pacific war. For the first time, this book blends the strategic, tactical and human side of the great land, sea, and air battle. It is destined to be a classic. Rear Admiral R. La Rocclue, Center for Defense Information

[The Battle of Okinawa]'s tremendous style of writing has produced without any question the most powerful antiwar book that I've ever read, and I've read a lot in the past forty-eight years. Harold Young

This is a terrific book. After reading much fiction and nonfiction about World War II in the Pacific, only these books on my list approach the reality of combat: The Assault, Goodbye, Darkness and [The Battle of Okinawa]. Arlie Hunt

[The Battle of Okinawa] is fantastic and will be around forever. It's a historical work of art. Fred C. Poppe

In my forty-two years, I have only felt compelled one other time to write a letter of praise to an author. [The Battle of Okinawa] was the most thorough and moving account of Okinawa I have ever read. Keith Swogger

My wife just finished reading [the] wonderful [Battle of Okinawa] aloud. It brought back many memoriesmemories that were proud, sad, and in some cases still numbing. It is the most definitive book on the peaks, fears, travails, and horrors experienced by combat infantrymen. James Ahern

The book certainly brought me back in time, and the accuracy of actionson all sides of the conflictwas more than well done. I don't have to write my memoirs for my family. [The Battle of Okinawa] did it all! F. Raymond Hoeymans

I was never able to tell my folks what their only child went through on Okinawa. Now I don't have to tell anyone at all because [The Battle of Okinawa] does a masterful job in recreating the vast, sprawling battle. Readers can truly imagine themselves there. Donald Dencker

George Feifer reveals the truth and then provides the reader with chilling insights and new perspectives on this last, epic battle of World War II. Even those who were there will learn from his exhaustive research and be awestruck by his words. Richard Whitaker

Books by George Feifer

Red Files: Secrets from the Russian Archives (2000)

The Destined Hour with Barbara and Barry Rosen (1982)

To Dance with Valery Panov (1978)

Moscow Farewell (1976)

Our Motherland (1973)

Solzhenitsyn with David Berg (1972)

The Girl from Petrovka (1971)

Message from Moscow (1969)

The Challenge of Change (1967)

Justice in Moscow (1964)

Originally Published as Tennozan: The Battle of Okinawa and the Atomic Bomb by Houghton Mifflin, 1992

Copyright 1992, 2001, 2012 by George Feifer
First Lyons Press paperback edition, 2001

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Globe Pequot Press, Attn: Rights and Permissions Department, P.O. Box 480, Guilford CT 06437.

Lyons Press is an imprint of Globe Pequot Press.

Quotations from E. B. Sledge's With the Old Breed are reprinted with permission.

Book design by David Ford
Maps by George Ward

The Library of Congress has previously catalogued an earlier (paperback) edition as follows:

Feifer, George.

The Battle of Okinawa: the blood and the bomb/George Feifer.

p. cm