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Summary: great story lost in a sea of political correctness
Review: I haven't read FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, but judging from its success and warm reception, I thought I'd give Bradley's latest a try. I was thoroughly disappointed.The first part of the book--something like one-third of it--is devoted to the background of World War II in the Pacific. In a lesson in multicultural political correctness and moral equivalance and relativism, Bradley retells the story of American "Manifest Destiny" and virtually absolves the Japanese of blame for their war of aggression, attributing their actions to decades of American racism, even going so far as to suggest that the Japanese used American injustices (and there were, indeed and unfortunately, more than a few) to justify their own gross atrocities. Mount Rushmore, he writes, "memorializ[es] the chief ethnic cleansers of the West" (that is, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt) and "honor[s] white supremacy." Never mind that, following the Revolution, George Washington wrote about the Indian population, "The Country is large enough to contain us all." Ignoring the fact that torture was a two-way street in the conflict, Bradley condemns U.S. involvement in the Philippines after the Spanish-American War by equating it to the wars of Tojo and Hitler. By the time he got to the meat of the story--why I picked up the book in the first place, since I was interested not in the background to the war but in this particular episode of bravery, heroism, and atrocity--I was all tapped out. It's a good story, and Bradley does it some justice. But in denigrating the cause and nation these men served, the story is diminished. By a long shot, the U.S. isn't beyond criticism, but whatever happened to giving a straightforward narrative of events, unencumbered by the baggage of political correctness?
Rating: 
Summary: You MUST read this book!
Review: A masterpice. The depth of Catch 22 in a real life scenario, capturing the essence of lost millions, and starring a former president of the US. This book haunts, shocks, stuns, educates. It is relentless, merciless, and compassionate. If you thought you knew American military history and foreign policy, be prepared for a shock. If you thought you knew the Pacific war, you don't know it all until you've read this book.
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Summary: Accurate Presentation of History
Review: Covers the downed airmen at the island of Chichi Jima as well as the history of the island as it pertains to Japan and America. What I especially liked were the historical facts that were presented; it was nice to see the truth identified and clearly stated. No matter how painful the truth is (and it always is painful), it is laid out for all to see in this book. No political agenda here, the world (including America) should heed the message.
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Summary: Another great one from Bradley
Review: I loved Fly Boys. I found it educational and entertaining. Another tribute to America's greatest generation from Bradley.
Rating:
Summary: flyboys
Review: James Brady has done it again. This is one of the best books I have ever read. Keeping my attention was no problem. Brady, gave me a real history lesson and I enjoyed every minute of it.
Thank you!!
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Summary: Fly by
Review: Time that is. It flies by when reading this book. I can't imagine anyone giving a better perspective on the history of the Japanese empire as it relates to China, Mongolia and WW II and how they all come together. Chichi Jima will forever be an island in my mind not just the Pacific. From Admiral Perry to the flyers trapped on this visible piece of hell, the history of how one small place could have such big meaning is fascintating.
If you liked Flags of Our Fathers, you'll love Flyboys.
Rating: 
Summary: Not all there
Review: I was thinking that this book would be one about "flyboys" or the american aviators in the pacific. Well not quite, as one reviewer already listed it is much more of a history lesson and in my humble opinion a very skewed one at that. It is somehwat apparent that author Bradley has a vendictive side against the U.S. and it's government. Obviously the U.S. has made many mistakes through it's history but to compare us with the ruthlessness of the Japanese in WWII is absloutely ridiculous. Bradley has selected only certain parts of our history to show how we are comparable to the Japanese and flat out states that we set the example for the Japanese and their expansion into Asia. It's as if Mr. Bradley feels we can only blame ourselves for the pacific war as we started the process many years back when Admiral Perry sailed into Tokyo. See for yourself I guess. The interviews and true facts were very interesting but you will tire of the words spirit warriors, flyboys and many many Japanese phrases that exist on every single page over and over. Best of luck and go to the library - Sorry Amazon.com
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Summary: A powerful story - told in with passion with a broad context
Review: I learned about this book by hearing the author speak on about it on a radio show and the story of the boys lost on Chichi Jima seemed sad and yet interesting. When I first started reading the book and the author was talking about the peaceful Japanese and the Imperialist Europeans and the American genocide of the Native Americans, I became quite worried about where the book was going. But I stuck with it because I wanted to find out about those airmen. I am glad that I did read it all the way through. This is a terrific book! Yes, there is a lot of material not directly related to the story of those airmen on Chichi Jima, but the author is doing his best to provide a good context for this effort within the broader Pacific War Effort. The author writes with so much passion, so much caring that the story became personal for me as well. I don't think you have to agree with very many of his judgments to find that he has a big heart that is able to face the real pain involved in war for all participants. It is not fair to say that he is letting the Japanese off the hook. Instead, he is very clear in his anger and disgust for the Spirit Warrior ethos and his view that they were betrayers of the true Japanese traditions. But he is clear that once America was at war it had no course but to finish it. Given the realities that an invasion of the Japanese Homeland would involve, he also doesn't question too deeply the total war we waged. However, he doesn't shy away from the horror and human cost it involved and he is correct, I believe. He is also correct to point out that people who question what we did there tend to not know the true history, but that does not diminish the horrors involved in real war. Mr. Bradley also points out the firebombing killed more than the atomic bombs and that Japanese swords killed more than the firebombing. I am grateful for the portraits Mr. Bradley paints of these boys serving their country and the way their lives were consumed in the war. I am also grateful for the way he follows up with the stories of the costs to the families of these soldiers. His stories of the fate of the Japanese soldiers who served on Chichi Jima are also touching. And while I won't reveal the last line of the book, I will tell you that it just stopped me in my tracks. It is an incredibly powerful statement of true spiritual reconciliation. Thanks for such a personal and well written book. There are quite a few photographs that really add to the telling of the story. But beware, some of them a very shocking. There is also an index, good source notes, and a fine bibliography for further reading.
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Summary: Spirit warriors and spirited flyboys make battle
Review: This moving history of the men who made war with Japan in 1944-45 is a natural sequel to "Flags of our father" and rests well in the genre shared by "Ghost soldiers" and "The Bedford Boys". The story is compelling and seemingly complete, thorough; Bradley offers a lot of history and context, compassion and forgiveness as well. It is also a tale of mind-numbing sadness with a few glimpses of heroism, courage and charity. Many of those who volunteered heroically to fight after Pearl Harbor paid a dreadful price. In one respect, "Flyboys" is the story of six young men paying that price - some of them boys, really - who fought and died terrible deaths on and around a tiny scrap of rock located in the remote Pacific, an island strategic in importance to winning the war despite its tiny footprint. In a larger sense, it is about the air war in the Pacific, especially in the last year of the war with Japan. It is also a source of perspective, offering sobering glimpses of man's inhumanity to man, be he oriental or occidental. Bradley describes the evolution of Japan that led it to Pearl Harbor in the first third of the book. The middle third generally describes the role of American air power in this theater and provides brief, faded glimpses of the focal characters that cast their lot in small airplanes and realized their horrific fates on the tiny island of Chici Jima. The pivotal point for the book is the deaths of the six. Months of training ended with a few well-placed antiaircraft shells. And crashing was the least of their problems. The slaughtered men's families were long spared the details and, reading this, you are grateful for ignorance. Yet the story grows more unrelenting, with the March 9-10, 1945 fire bombing of Tokyo. The hundreds of thousands of Japanese who died from starvation, disease, and their own self-inflicted discipline of death with honor and pride greatly outnumbered those fought in traditional combat. Initials thoughts of Japan as "pure evil" - by the author as well as the reader -- give way to a more balanced perspective. Bradley does a nice job of showing that war crimes, hatred and inhumane treatment are acts that are usually decried, but they often come back as a form of justifiable revenge, the cost and inevitable consequence of war. Readers searching for a story of black and white, good and bad, are not going to find it here and that will leave some readers not only disappointed, but angry and incredulous. I came away from this book quite depressed. I want to believe that some of the more outrageous acts of barbarism are exaggerated, misreported or only imagined. And it makes me all the more grateful for the peace that was won at such a high cost and for those who made the greatest sacrifices to secure the victory at sea.
Rating:
Summary: bummer
Review: What a shame that Bradley uses his new fame and this platform to give us all a lecture from the "Book of Agenda-Based Liberalism". Living in Seattle, one cannot shield oneself from the unsolicited opinions of the Left, but in defense of my city, I have never heard anyone attempt to blame Japanese imperialism on the behavior of the United States...Wow. How sad that a fascinating story is politicized in this way. And like so many authors on a mission, Bradley's "facts" are so distorted, one wonders how his editor let him get away with it. The most egregious example is the absurd statement that "...Hitler and Tojo combined...killed about the same per month [during WWII]--7,000--as the American 'civilizers' did in the Phillipines". Shame on you, Bradley. I guess the 6 million in concentration camps would have messed up your math. When one reads something like that, it is clear that the "truth" was never part of the author's intention. The entire skewed, revisionist, body of work becomes suspect. I notice that more educated and informed reviewers than myself have done well to point out other "areas of concern". Why is this necessary?
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