At War With The Wind - Softcover

Sears, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080652894X ISBN 13: 9780806528946

Publisher: Citadel, 2009

Synopsis

Told from the perspective of the men who endured the horrifying kamikaze suicide bombers of World War II, a vivid recounting of the attacks draws on personal interviews and extensive research to create a nail-biting narrative of war. Original.

About this title

About the Author

David Sears is a New Jersey-based business consultant and author. A former United States Navy officer with extensive sea duty aboard a destroyer, as well as a Vietnam war veteran, he is the author of The Last Epic Naval Battle: Voices from Leyte Gulf. In researching and writing At War with the Wind, he carried out extensive original research and hundreds of personal interviews.

Review

A victor's-eye view of the desperate suicide-bombing campaign in the closing months of World War II.Former naval officer Sears (The Last Epic Naval Battle: Voices from Leyte Gulf, 2005) writes affectingly of the terror the "divine wind" campaign wrought on American sailors. Contrasting the fate of several American ships to that of USS Cole in the 2000 al-Qaeda terror attack, he demonstrates the damage that the Imperial Navy suicide bombers wrought. That campaign, he observes, was a mark of having no other options, the American fleet having destroyed most of Japan's and forcing "a stunning new 'backs-against-the-wall' paradigm for modern warfare." The author focuses on U.S. forces, though with considerable attention to the Japanese side of the equation, for which readers will also want to consult Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney's provocative Kamikaze Diaries (2006) and Albert Axell's Kamikaze: Japan's Suicide Gods (2002). Sears does a particularly good job of bringing in the various voices of the fast-dwindling corps of American survivors of hellish engagements at Leyte and Okinawa, among other places. Drawing on interviews, diaries and other sources, the author depicts men such as a Marine junior officer who, his soldiers suspected, slept at attention, in contrast with one of those fighters who weighed only 135 pounds and was "quiet, introspective, and mild mannered." Both served valiantly, as did most of their comrades, even though, by the closing months of the war, recruits were pushed through training and sent into the field as "90-day wonders fresh from Midshipman School." The horror of kamikaze steeled them - those who survived, that is, for the attacks took a terrible toll on American sailors, Marines and soldiers, which left "even the healthiest veterans perplexed and embittered at a nation, culture, and people capable of devising such attacks." Sears closes with a look at how veterans on both sides bridged the gulf between them.Of considerable interest to students of the Pacific War. (Kirkus Reviews) --Kirkus Reviews

A work of power and passion . . . The finest account of the American reaction to the furious suicide raids that attempted to turn the course of the War in the Pacific. --Donald L. Miller, author of D-Days in the Pacific

A real stunner . . . A superb narrative of life, death, and incredible heroism. --Jim Hartz, former host of Today

"Thorough and vivid . . . A timely, absorbing book." --John C. McManus, author of Alamo in the Ardennes

"Gripping naval combat writing . . . Sears pulls no punches in this powerful account of the sheer terror that was kamikaze warfare." --M. G. Sheftall, author of Blossoms in the Wind

Mesmerizing . . . With history like this, who needs fiction? Simply thrilling. --Kenneth Sewell, author of Red Star Rogue

Powerful . . . David Sears salutes American heroism in the bleakest days of the war. --H. Paul Jeffers, author of Command of Honor

Gripping . . . Sears puts readers beside the heroic American sailors in the bull's eye. --Jerome Preisler, author of All Hands Down Well-researched . . . a must for World War II book aficionados. --Steve Jackson, author of Lucky Lady --The experts praise At War With The Wind

Edition details

• Publisher: Citadel
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 080652894X
• ISBN 13: 9780806528946
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 496