Rating: 
Summary: In Harm's Way takes you there!
Review: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis & the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors. In July of 1945, the cruiser USS Indianapolis set out from San Francisco with a secret & dangerous cargo, headed for Tinian, a distant South Pacific island. With a record-breaking run to Hawaii & then on to Guam for fuel & fresh supplies, she delivered her load with no notable incidents. This is an astonishing read - which starts with the end of an old tar's life & then tells the story of one venerable ship upon which President Franklin Roosevelt had sailed to South America; of her mostly young crew with a sprinkling of seasoned hands & her captain, a scion from a naval tradition & her most secret mission. Through the memories of three particular crew members & the researching of hundreds of documents, this author unearths the accidents & snafus that cast the Indy's fate as she island-hopped across the Pacific. There were 1,196 souls aboard the USS Indianapolis, many sleeping on deck, a handful incarcerated in the brig, a few in the infirmary. The cooks & dishwashers had finished their work & were at last also off duty. Captain Butler McVay went through his usual routine & headed for his watch bunk. Unbeknownst to the US Navy & the high-level secret agents that covered the Pacific war zone, young Lieutenant Commander Hashimoto, captain of the I-58 submarine, was prowling the same waters looking for trouble. Early one evening, his sonar man picked up a noise that was coming closer. Hashimoto ordered his submarine to surface & couldn't believe his luck when they caught a bearing on a possible enemy ship. At 12:05 A.M. on July 30, 1945 all hell broke loose aboard the USS Indianapolis. Interweaving the stories of three survivors - the captain, the ship's doctor, & a young marine - journalist Doug Stanton has brought this astonishing human drama to life in a narrative that is both immediate & timeless. As the definitive account of a little-known chapter in World War II history, In Harm's Way is destined to become a classic tale of war, survival & extraordinary courage. I learnt so much about the war in the Pacific - how it was fought, survived, its final submission & the attitude of a nation eager to be done with war. A remarkably lively, respectful & detailed read that breathes life back into a dusty tragedy of naval snafus, bureaucratic complacency & eventual punitive actions. It is, however, the valor & tenacity of every one of those souls who died & survived that earns the respect of this child of war!
Rating:
Summary: The True "JAWS" Story
Review: Doug Stanton's "In Harms Way" is an outstanding book on the tragic sinking of the USS Indianapolis. Through a comedy of intelligence errors, the USS Indianoplis was sunk and then left un-noticed for 4 days when only by chance a sub-hunter crew spotted an oil slick in the ocean and then flew down to investigate, only to find what was left of the crew. Through heroic efforts on the part of this air crew and others involved in the search and rescue operations did these men survive. Had it not been for the sub-hunter pilot, the ship and crew would have perished with out a trace. The survivors endured vicious unrelenting shark attacks, burns, broken bones, exposure, dehydration, starvation, hypothermia, the torpedoing and sinking of their ship, and worst of all the abdonment of them by the NAVY they fought for. The Navy then prosecuted the captain in order to cover their own negligence. I would recommend this book to anybody who would like to read what true men are really made of. A great book and well worth reading
Rating:
Summary: Interesting read for any World War 2 or Disaster Fan
Review: In Harm's Way was an extremely interesting book. It is filled with small details that really bring out the emotions and feelings of the trapped men. By the end of the book, I really felt I had been through the whole disaster and lived. It was simply amazing. The book is detailed enough to keep you interested, but it keeps moving so you don't feel like your in a college lecture. I read this book in High School and loved it. I read it again and loved it; you will too.
Rating:
Summary: Terrifying and Heroic
Review: Like many Americans, I became aware of this, a former footnote in Naval History, through Quint's harrowing monolouge in "Jaws". Robert Shaw's brilliant performance stands as no match for Doug Stanton's classic reporting. Stanton's book brings to life the brutal, terryifying and ultimately heroic experience to life. Using interviews (God bless the survivors for all their candor, honesty and accesibility- now their experience is recorded for all posterity), Stanton takes a harrowing and epic experience and renders it in simple, intimate strokes. Stanton writes with the narrative acrobatics of an escapist novelist. The scars and wounds The Indianapolis experience etched into the lives of the boys who became men while they were in the water tragically proved trivial to the railroading the brave Captain McVay received. Stanton works wonders toward praising his considerable leadership and restoring his character to the respect it deserves. "In Harm's Way" is not for the faint of heart. It is gut wrenching and absolutely scorching. These men went through blue watered hell and Stanton puts the reader as close as we could possibly ever want to venture. Stanton's descriptions as he channels the survivors' stories made me squirm and want to try and put the book down. I wanted to be anywhere else but in the water with those men. But Stanton, doesn't let the reader escape. The sailors couldn't and neither should the reader. A most important must read.
Rating:
Summary: In Harm's Way takes you there!
Review: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis & the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors. In July of 1945, the cruiser USS Indianapolis set out from San Francisco with a secret & dangerous cargo, headed for Tinian, a distant South Pacific island. With a record-breaking run to Hawaii & then on to Guam for fuel & fresh supplies, she delivered her load with no notable incidents. This is an astonishing read - which starts with the end of an old tar's life & then tells the story of one venerable ship upon which President Franklin Roosevelt had sailed to South America; of her mostly young crew with a sprinkling of seasoned hands & her captain, a scion from a naval tradition & her most secret mission. Through the memories of three particular crew members & the researching of hundreds of documents, this author unearths the accidents & snafus that cast the Indy's fate as she island-hopped across the Pacific. There were 1,196 souls aboard the USS Indianapolis, many sleeping on deck, a handful incarcerated in the brig, a few in the infirmary. The cooks & dishwashers had finished their work & were at last also off duty. Captain Butler McVay went through his usual routine & headed for his watch bunk. Unbeknownst to the US Navy & the high-level secret agents that covered the Pacific war zone, young Lieutenant Commander Hashimoto, captain of the I-58 submarine, was prowling the same waters looking for trouble. Early one evening, his sonar man picked up a noise that was coming closer. Hashimoto ordered his submarine to surface & couldn't believe his luck when they caught a bearing on a possible enemy ship. At 12:05 A.M. on July 30, 1945 all hell broke loose aboard the USS Indianapolis. Interweaving the stories of three survivors - the captain, the ship's doctor, & a young marine - journalist Doug Stanton has brought this astonishing human drama to life in a narrative that is both immediate & timeless. As the definitive account of a little-known chapter in World War II history, In Harm's Way is destined to become a classic tale of war, survival & extraordinary courage. I learnt so much about the war in the Pacific - how it was fought, survived, its final submission & the attitude of a nation eager to be done with war. A remarkably lively, respectful & detailed read that breathes life back into a dusty tragedy of naval snafus, bureaucratic complacency & eventual punitive actions. It is, however, the valor & tenacity of every one of those souls who died & survived that earns the respect of this child of war!
Rating:
Summary: A terrifying read...
Review: This book, about the sinking of the USS Indianapolis at the closing of World War II, will absolutely terrify you. It is incredible to think that the events portrayed in this book actually took place, and even more unbelievable to know that some people actually survived these events. This book is guaranteed to be a fast-reading page-turner. Highly recommended for anyone interested in World War II history or simply looking for an astounding story of danger, heroism, and survival!
Rating:
Summary: A fitting tribute to the valor of our naval forces in WWII.
Review: Of all the scenes I have seen in all of the movies I have watched, few stand out in my mind as much as Quint's haunting monologue in "Jaws". In the course of that scene, Quint details the tragic story of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. I saw that scene for the first time as a child. Even today at age 32 the scene sends shivers up my spine. On first viewing, I thought the story of the Indianapolis was made up for dramatic effect. It wasn't until years later that I discovered that this disaster actually happened. Upon learning the truth, I knew this was a book that I had to read. As eerie and horrible as the scene Quint painted in "Jaws" was, the book shows the excrutiating horror of the actual ordeal. Many horror stories have their scariest moments take place at night. What makes this story so harrowing is that the nightmare never ends and it is a true story to boot. The sharks are there night and day, there is no drinking water, no food, oil slicks and dwindling hope of rescue. There is no respite from the death that surrounds these men and threatens to take them at any moment. This book will likely arouse several emotions in the reader: hope and hopelessness, sadness, anger at the U.S. naval command and admiration for the sailors who bore the awful burden of the this mission. Doug Stanton has done a service to the crew of the U.S.S. Indianapolis in making sure that their story is not relegated to being a mere footnote to history. He deserves to be saluted for his fine work as do the men who shared with him what must have been the most difficult, darkest chapter of their lives.
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Summary: Truth is stranger than Fiction....
Review: This is an excellent account of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis.This is not a commonly known story.I first heard about this ship in a book "Double-Edged Secret" by W.L.Holmes.That book gave a good understanding of Intelligence in the Pacific Theatre during WW2.In it, there was mention of the possibility that it was known that the sub was in the area of the Indianapolis, but that intelligence was not passed on for fear of comprosmising the knowledge that the US had broken the Japanese codes.See my review on that book dated 5 March 2004.
There are numerous reviews on this book,so I won't express
many of the ideas already covered ,other than to say they are very good and I agree with most of them.
However;after reading both of these books,the mention of ULTRA on page 265 takes on a great importance in the prevention of the loss of the Indianapolis.It's highly possible that secrecy of decoded intelligence overruled all else .Remember the Indianapolis's mission was tied to the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.There was nothing of greater secrecy or importance at that time. Much was said in Holmes,s book of the great burden that intelligence placed on those who had to make decisions of how much could be told when sending forces IN HARM,S WAY.
This book shows that ,particularly in times of war,many things are never fully known.
Rating:
Summary: great book by a great author
Review: In Harms Way has to be the only book I have actually read from cover to cover. This is the only book that has ever intrested me. It took me two days to read this book, i enjoyed it so much I am starting to read it again.
The author (Doug Stanton) does a good job. If you read at the end of the book you find out that he actually talked to many of the servivors and even joined there club the started. the survivors really enjoy Doug and are happy to tell him anything that he wants, and it shows in his writing. The book goes into such detail it is kind of teaching you things you may have never known.
I recommend this book to anyone and everyone that is into war stories or just sruvival stuff.
Rating:
Summary: In Honor of Captain McVay and his Crew
Review: This is perhaps the most touching thing I have read. It is heart breaking as well as meaningful. There is no boredom or meaningless detail in this one. Read it in honor of these men. You will be blessed.
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