Rating: 
Summary: A Sea Story of the First Order
Review: Once you start this book you better be prepared to put off what other things you have on your agenda. You won't be able to put "In Harm's Way" down. Author Stanton has blended a historical account with personal glimpses of individual bravery to create a narrative that you won't soon forget. Two thoughts haunted me after reading this book: First, I felt as if I personally knew some of the officers and men who served on the Indianapolis, thanks to Stanton's detailed, three-dimensional descriptions; and second, it's hard to complain about the inconveniences of our dailey lives today when we consider the horrors that the crew of the Indianpolis went through.
Rating:
Summary: An American Tragedy
Review: Ultimately, this is a classic indictment of the culture of bureaucracy...in this case the US Navy in 1945. The truth is that it could be any large bureaucracy, either in or out of government no matter when the time period. It's impossible not to be outraged by the bumbling of the Navy when it came to the USS Indianapolis. It's astonishing that this ship could be missing for 5 days and nobody missed it and it's even more astonishing that the Navy whitewashed their culpability and made a scapegoat of Capt. McVay. The entire band of idiots in charge at Leyte should have been hauled up on charges and drummed out of the Navy. Instead we see the only man of character and integrity in authority here take full responsiblity for an event that clearly was not his fault...ultimately at the cost of his own life. This is truly an amazing, heartbreaking story and one that actually inspires as well as indicts. The boys of the Indy are true heros.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Amazing
Review: Okay, I'll admit it. The reason I bought this book was that I had a bit of a crush on a guy who was reading it for history. About a page into the prologue, I forgot about the guy. This book tracks the human resolve, the agony of losing lives and feeling at fault, the horridness of war. Though I consider myself to be a fairly well-read student of American history, I had rarely heard of the USS INDIANAPOLIS and its disastrous mission. IN HARM'S WAY is a very compelling book that tells a story so well that I almost forgot it was nonfiction. The vivid descriptions and amazingly thorough characterizations help to make this a book I actually had to tell my friend to hold captive so that I couldn't read it during geometry. I finished IN HARM'S WAY during lunch and almost started bawling. From someone who never cries, that is quite a reaction. It really is that moving. I truly love this book and highly recommend it for anyone who...actually, I recommend it for everyone.
Rating:
Summary: Heroic, Tragic, and Triumphant
Review: I strongly feel this should be required reading for history students at the high school or college level. In Harm's Way captures the emotional plight as well as the accurate historical portrayal of possibly the worst naval disaster in US history. You will glimpse firsthand the heroic (and sometimes tragic) acts of courageous men staring death in the face.You will ride on the ship, hear the captain's voice boom over the loud speaker and feel the brisk salty wind in your face as you transport a top-secret cargo that will eventually cause the surrender of Japan. You will look through the periscope of the Japanese submarine as its captain stalks the unsuspecting crew of the USS Indianapolis. You will feel the impact of the torpedoes hitting, and time will fly during the short 12 minutes it takes for your ship to sink. You will feel the hopelessness of being lost at sea as the frigid salt water drains the warmth from your blood. The burning thirst as you float in a sea of water, and then in two days, the shark attacks begin... Being a logical thinker and priding myself on not being given to much emotion, you will understand my surprise when several times I had to put this book down and weep. My teenage son found the book equally inspiring. After he finished it, my 75-year dad pick it up from the coffee table and soon became engrossed as well! Three generations can't be wrong. A story that had to be told that will make you appreciate the GREAT price some American's paid so that we could remain a free nation.
Rating:
Summary: Worth reading
Review: An incredible story about a tragedy that is probably not widely known. This book captured my attention and made me want to learn more about the incredible ordeal of the crew from the USS Indianapolis.
Rating: 
Summary: A gripping and famous story you only think you know.
Review: When I saw "Jaws" in 1975 and heard Captain Quint's tale of the sinking of the Indianapolis I thought it was just a dramatic story. If something like this had really happened surely I would have heard of it. Sometime later I heard that it was a real story. I wondered how such an awful thing could happen and it not be part of something everyone knows. How could such a large ship be torpedoed without being missed for five days? Why weren't we talking about it? This well done and very readable book tells us how. Like most disasters, it was an accumulation of small failures. Among many other things, the captain wasn't given a proper digest of available intelligence about subs in the area and that a destroyer had been sunk recently along that route. In fact, he was told that the risk was negligible. The weather that night was spotty at best, but cleared enough just when they were around the Japanese sub that they could take their shot. Because it was a very hot night and there was no expected danger the interior lockdown was lessened and those open hatches contributed to the water flooding the ship more clearly. All the internal communications were taken out and the one person in the engine room thought that since they must be under attack he must keep the ship moving as fast as possible. He had no way of knowing that the bow of the ship was gone and that he was ramming more water into the ship and causing it to sink faster. There are more failures (particularly in the system that failed to report the Indianapolis missing), but you should read the book to find out all the things that came together to lead to this horrible event. The story of how they survived five days at sea in the tropical sun without food or water or shelter or proper rafts or lifeboats is just heartbreaking. Really, it was about how they died for five days and how people tenaciously held on to life. They supported each other as long as they could, but when they finally broke there was real horror. And, of course, the famous shark attacks are vividly told. What is stunning is how the survivors became used to them. It is the thirst that ends up being the greatest misery. The author tells us about one of the survivors who can't be far from a glass of ice water even fifty-five years from the event. Captain McVay was really a scapegoat. Maybe that is the way the Navy operates. I don't know that culture. Clearly the author thinks the captain was brought up on carefully selected charges to avoid the discussion of why the boys were in the water for five days before they were rescued. The trial made a big deal out of the Captain's failure to take a zig-zag course even though policy at night in a low risk zone with low visibility allowed for the Captain to sail straight. The prosecution even brought in the Japanese sub commander who sunk the ship and to their consternation he said that zig-zagging would have done nothing to prevent him from sinking the ship. McVay was convicted anyway. What was most awful for him were the Christmas letters he received from families of the boys that perished that were full of hate and blame. While their anguish is real and it is unlikely that they knew the full story, it still seems cruel to go out of your way to inflict suffering on the Captain. But they did. I haven't suffered such a loss so it is hard to know. The author tells this story very cinematically. It reads almost like you are watching a mini-series. It is an easy and gripping read that you will not want to put down. This is a very worthwhile read. I recommend it enthusiastically.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping
Review: I read this book in 3 sittings--it is fast-paced and compulsively readable. Stanton's story is a well-researched narrative rather than a shocking expose. The details of the men's reactions to such a shocking tragedy are what truly propel the book to greatness. Stanton follows 3 particular men closely: Captain McVay, Dr. Haynes, and Private McCoy. Each shows incredible leadership over the "boys"--the soldiers, most of whom were under 20 years old. Intertwining their stories, Stanton relays the horrors: the injuries, the sharks that feed at dusk and dawn, the decline into insanity. Stanton gives the best account to date (due to newly available documents) of how the ship sunk, why no one missed it, and how the men survived for nearly a week without food or water. Our feeble bodies can only take so much, and these men certainly took all that is possible.
Rating:
Summary: A Truly Amazing Story
Review: In the book, In Harm's Way, author Doug Stanton does an excellent job of reliving the horrors of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis on July 29, 1945. After dropping of the parts to the bomb that would essentially win World War II for the United States in the Pacific Ocean the ship set sail for an island in the South Pacific Ocean known as Leyte. A few days into their voyage something went terribly wrong. A Japanese submarine fired and sunk the ship.
This book tells the story of how the survivors of the sinking fought off sharks, dehydration, and eachother for four days until they were rescued. It is seen through the eyes of three men aboard the ship. Dr. Lewis Haynes, the ship's main doctor, Giles McCoy, a navy seal, and Charles McVay, the captain of the ship.
The author does an excellent job of keeping the reader interested by placing real life quotes from the actual survivors and creating an excellent atmosphere, it almost feels like the reader is stranded in the Pacific Ocean along with the crew. This book is an excellent book for mature children and all adults. If you were in need of a real-life extraordinary story I would recommend this book one hundred percent.
Rating:
Summary: A Worthwhile Read
Review: Although it is clear early on in his book that Mr. Stanton has no military experience, he does a satisfactory job conveying the hell of being abondoned in shark-infested waters, the USN's inexecusable ignorance of Indy's fate, and the typical military scapegoating of Capt. McVay. Any book that passably portrays the reality of combat and the sacrifice of the WW2 generation is worth the time to review, so i can recommend this book on that note, notwithstanding the author's often cloying (constant referral to the crew as 'boys') and sometimes simplistic writing style (explaining that 'list' means 'tilt').
The author could have used some help in editing, judging from the number of goofs in details. Though they probably won't detract from the average layman's enjoyment of the book, they led me to question his overall accuracy. For example he uses the phrase "90-day wonders", which applies to college graduates who emerge from Officer Candidate School, to refer to Academy graduates who in fact get their commissions after 4 years. Also, readers might want to know that one becomes a Shellback not from crossing the Dateline but rather the Equator. Furthermore, the author's shipboard terminology would make any sailor cringe. Instead of 'floor' (104), 'hallways' & 'rooms' (108), 'wall' (121), 'door' & 'ceiling' (125), the author meant deck, passageway, staterooms, bulkhead, hatch, and overhead respectively. He also referred to Condition "Zed", which i never heard of; i think he means "Zebra", which describes the ship with all hatches secured, if i recall correctly. There are a few other minor errors, such as failing to capitalize Marines and the Catholic sacrament of Mass, but enough said. In spite of the flaws, i recommend the work as a fast and informative read of one of the darkest and infamous days in U.S. military histroy, but i also recommend reading other versions as well.
Rating:
Summary: Straight-up Account
Review: I loved reading this book more than any since Ambrose's "D-Day". No hype or embellishment, just a straight forward reporting of the facts from credible sources. This one is certainly worth the money.
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