Synopses & Reviews
In his award-winning book Beyond Valor, Patrick O'Donnell reveals the true nature of the European Theater in World War II, as told by those who survived. Now, with Into the Rising Sun, O'Donnell tells the story of the brutal Pacific War, based on hundreds of interviews spanning a decade.The men who fought their way across the Pacific during World War II had to possess something more than just courage. They faced a cruel, fanatical enemy in the Japanese, an enemy willing to use anything for victory, from kamikaze flights to human-guided torpedoes. Over the course of the war, Marines, paratroopers, and rangers spearheaded D-Day-sized beach assaults, encountered cannibalism, suffered friendly-fire incidents, and endured torture as prisoners of war. Though they are truly heroes, they claim no glory for themselves. As one soldier put it, "When somebody gets decorated, it's because a lot of other men died."
By at last telling their stories, these men present a hard, unvarnished look at the war on the ground, a final gift from aging warriors who have already given so much. Only with these accounts can the true horror of the war in the Pacific be fully known. Together with detailed maps of each battle, Into the Rising Sun offers a complete yet deeply personal account of the war in the Pacific, and a ground-level view of some of history's most brutal combat.
Review
Hampton SidesAuthor of Ghost SoldiersSpending untold hours with proud and often laconic veterans, coaxing their stories with meticulous care, O'Donnell has shown us the wet, dark, jungled truth of the Pacific War.
Synopsis
In the award-winning Beyond Valor, Patrick K. O'Donnell wove the first-person stories of the elite troops who fought in Europe during the Second World War into a powerful, moving, and revealing chronicle. Now, he captures the terrors and triumphs of the war in the Pacific, bringing us the voices of the survivors of the fiercest battles Americans ever fought. Into the Rising Sun ensures that the extraordinary contributions of the men who fought them will never be forgotten.
Veterans of the Rangers, Airborne, and other elite fighting units contribute stunning eyewitness accounts of daring raids on tiny, strategically important islands in the Pacific, the desperate fighting at Guadalcanal, the triumphant re-taking of the Philippines, and the harrowing journeys through the catacombs of Iwo Jima. Readers will also discover more personal histories, as the soldiers recount their transformation from raw recruits into veteran warriors -- and their struggles at the war's end to forget what they had learned.
About the Author
Patrick K. O'Donnell is a military historian and the author of six books: Beyond Valor, winner of the prestigious William E. Colby Award for Outstanding Military History; Into the Rising Sun; Operatives, Spies and Saboteurs; We Were One; The Brenner Assignment; and They Dared Return. He has provided historical consulting for DreamWorks’ award-winning miniseries Band of Brothers, and for documentaries produced by the BBC, the History Channel, and Fox News. He is an expert on WWII espionage, special operations, and counterinsurgency on the modern battlefield. O’Donnell is also the founder of the Drop Zone (thedropzone.org), an award-winning online oral history Web site. He lives in Arlington, Virginia.