MARC Record from marc_columbia

LEADER: 04243cam a22004094a 4500
001 6339728
005 20221122023652.0
008 070423s2007 nyuabf b 001 0 eng
010 $a 2007016871
020 $a9780743292467 (hardcover)
020 $a0743292464 (hardcover)
024 $a40014748229
035 $a(OCoLC)123485681
035 $a(OCoLC)ocn123485681
035 $a(DLC) 2007016871
035 $a(NNC)6339728
035 $a6339728
040 $aDLC$cDLC$dBAKER$dBTCTA$dWIQ$dC#P$dOrLoB-B
043 $aa-ja---
050 00 $aD767.99.O45$bS57 2007
082 00 $a940.54/252294$222
100 1 $aSloan, Bill,$d1935-$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n84203968
245 14 $aThe ultimate battle :$bOkinawa 1945--the last epic struggle of World War II /$cBill Sloan.
250 $a1st Simon & Schuster hardcover ed.
260 $aNew York :$bSimon & Schuster,$c2007.
300 $ax, 405 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates :$billustrations, maps ;$c25 cm
336 $atext$btxt$2rdacontent
337 $aunmediated$bn$2rdamedia
504 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 377-382) and index.
520 1 $a"The Ultimate Battle is the full story of the last great clash of World War II as it has never before been told. Bill Sloan presents a gripping and uniquely personal saga of heroism and sacrifice in which at least 115,000 soldiers. sailors, and airmen from both sides were killed, as were nearly 150,000 civilians caught in the crossfire or encouraged to commit suicide by Japanese troops." "It is a story set against a panorama of more than 1,500 American ships, nearly two thousand Japanese kamikazes sworn to sink those ships, and two huge armies locked in a no-quarter struggle to the death - the 541,000 GIs and Marines of the U.S. Tenth Army, and Japan's 110,000-man 32nd Army. Woven into the broader narrative are the personal stories of men who endured this epic battle and were interviewed by the author. In many cases, their experiences are told here in print for the first time." "A few days after Japanese defenders surprised American assault troops by allowing them to land virtually unopposed on April 1, 1945, scouts of the 96th Division stumbled onto the outerworks of formidable Japanese defenses near Kakazu Ridge, where fierce fighting erupted. It would continue without respite for nearly three months as American forces used every weapon and strategy at their disposal to break through three cunningly designed Japanese lines of defense, each anchored by commanding high ground, intricate underground installations, and massed artillery. When one line was about to be breached, the Japanese would slip away to the next one, forcing the Americans to repeat the same exhausting and deadly "corkscrew and blowtorch" assaults all over again." "Much of the action in The Ultimate Battle unfolds among men pinned down under relentless fire on disputed hillsides, in the ruins of shell-blasted villages, and inside stricken tanks and armored cars. Sloan also takes readers aboard flaming ships and into the cockpits of night-fighter aircraft to capture the horror and heroism of men and vessels besieged by kamikazes." "When the battle was over, most of the GIs, Marines, and sailors who survived it were too worn out to celebrate. More than 49,000 of their comrades had been killed or wounded, and they knew that the even more brutal invasion of Japan's home islands loomed just ahead. But as Sloan makes clear, the slaughter at Okinawa helped to convince President Truman to use the atomic bomb against Japanese cities in the hope of shortening the war and averting a far more horrific loss of life."--BOOK JACKET.
650 0 $aWorld War, 1939-1945$xCampaigns$zJapan$zOkinawa Island.$0http://id.loc.gov/authorities/subjects/sh85148329
650 0 $aCivilian war casualties$zJapan$zOkinawa Island.
651 0 $aOkinawa Island (Japan)$xHistory, Military.
856 41 $3Table of contents only$uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/toc/ecip0716/2007016871.html
856 42 $3Publisher description$uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0742/2007016871-d.html
856 41 $3Sample text$uhttp://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0742/2007016871-s.html
852 00 $bglx$hD767.99.O45$iS57 2007