The Battle for Iwo Jima 1945

Frustratingly poor. There is nothing wrong with oral history being used to give a history on a specific battle etc. This is a book on a “specific” battle and with that an author has to make sure that he has backed his narrative and quotes with a source. Why not at least tell the reader via footnotes as to the source of the comment. A two page Acknowledgments and one page bibliography is just not good enough considering the many comments that where used to justify the narrative.

I reached rock bottom when on page 114 as the author writes that in total 23 doctors and 827 corpsman lost their lives on Iwo Jima. In appendix 8 “Casualties”, the total deaths quoted are USMC 5885 and US Navy 881. He then writes the following “These figures include 195 medical corpsman, 49 Seabees, and 2 doctors and/or dentists killed; 2,648 marines suffered combat fatigue”
I am either missing something in translation or this an utter cock up in contradicting ones own quoted figures.

At this point I stopped looking at the acknowledgments, bibliography and the appendix. They hardly mattered. I have read the book out and am happy to have read the story of this appallingly brutal battle that was the taking of Iwo Jima in WW2 on behalf of the allies. Yes, it was an interesting book. It was presented in a chronological order and the appendix was very worth while (considering the contradiction I have highlighted above).

I would also not tell anyone with an interest in the battle of Iwo Jima not to read this book. I am a hard task master on sources etc. but with that in mind I urge caution. Enjoy the book for what it is but it may not stand up to scrutiny.