Synopses & Reviews
James Bradley's #1 bestseller
Flags of Our Fathers made real the humanity and legacy of war as few books had before. Now, in
Flyboys, Bradley returns to World War II and an extraordinary and totally unknown true story of courage.
Over the remote Pacific island of Chichi Jima, nine American flyers Navy and Marine pilots sent to bomb Japanese communications towers there were shot down. One of those nine was miraculously rescued by a U.S. Navy submarine. The others were captured by Japanese soldiers on Chichi Jima and held prisoner.
Then they disappeared.
When the war was over, the American government, along with the Japanese, covered up everything that had happened on Chichi Jima. The records of a top-secret military tribunal were sealed, the lives of the eight Flyboys were erased, and the parents, brothers, sisters, and sweethearts they left behind were left to wonder.
Flyboys reveals for the first time ever the extraordinary story of those men. Bradley's quest for the truth took him from dusty attics in American small towns, to untapped government archives containing classified documents, to the heart of Japan, and finally to Chichi Jima itself. What he discovered was a mystery that dated back far before World War II back 150 years, to America's westward expansion and Japan's first confrontation with the western world.
Bradley brings into vivid focus these brave young men who went to war for their country, and through their lives he also tells the larger story of two nations in a hellish war. With no easy moralizing, Bradley presents history in all its savage complexity, including the Japanese warrior mentality that fostered inhuman brutality and the U.S. military strategy that justified attacks on millions of civilians. And, after almost sixty years of mystery, Bradley finally reveals the fate of the eight American Flyboys, all of whom would ultimately face a moment and a decision that few of us can even imagine.
Flyboys is a story of war and horror but also of friendship and honor. It is about how we die, and how we live including the tale of the Flyboy who escaped capture, a young Navy pilot named George H. W. Bush who would one day become president of the United States. A masterpiece of historical narrative, Flyboys will change forever our understanding of the Pacific war and the very things we fight for.
Review
"In Flyboys, James Bradley combines his tenacious detective skills with his gifts as a master storyteller to produce a tragic epic of two empires. I wept not only for the American pilots, but for all the millions of people who died needlessly in the Pacific war." Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking and The Chinese in America
Review
"A powerful, compelling look at a tragic time in our history." W. E. B. Griffin, author of the Badge of Honor series
Review
"James Bradley has once again given us the human face of a war we thought we knew, and in doing so has forced us not only to rethink our history but, far more important, to re-feel it. Flyboys is a triumph of careful listening, of far-flung reportage, and, most of all, of thoroughgoing empathy." Hampton Sides, author of Ghost Soldiers
Review
"Some readers' hackles will rise at the discussion of the guilt of both sides, but, despite some missteps, Bradley attempts to strike an informed balance with the perspective of more than half a century." Publishers Weekly
Review
"There are many brutally graphic passages about the torture and slaying of the American prisoners, which may prove too daunting for some readers, but Bradley succeeds in restoring dignity to the American airmen." Booklist
Review
"An episodic account of a little-covered arena in the much-covered genre of WWII: close air combat in the war against Japan." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
From the author of the bestseller Flags of Our Fathers comes a never-before-told tale of courage, the remarkable true story of seven World War II fighter pilots known as the Flyboys who were shot down in the South Pacific.
Synopsis
Over the remote Pacific island of Chichi Jima, nine American flyers-Navy and Marine pilots sent to bomb Japanese communications towers there-were shot down. One of those nine was miraculously rescued by a U.S. Navy submarine. The others were captured by Japanese soldiers on Chichi Jima and held prisoner. Then they disappeared. When the war was over, the American government, along with the Japanese, covered up everything that had happened on Chichi Jima. The records of a top-secret military tribunal were sealed, the lives of the eight Flyboys were erased, and the parents, brothers, sisters, and sweethearts they left behind were left to wonder.
Flyboys reveals for the first time ever the extraordinary story of those men. Bradley's quest for the truth took him from dusty attics in American small towns, to untapped government archives containing classified documents, to the heart of Japan, and finally to Chichi Jima itself. What he discovered was a mystery that dated back far before World War II-back 150 years, to America's westward expansion and Japan's first confrontation with the western world. Bradley brings into vivid focus these brave young men who went to war for their country, and through their lives he also tells the larger story of two nations in a hellish war.
With no easy moralizing, Bradley presents history in all its savage complexity, including the Japanese warrior mentality that fostered inhuman brutality and the U.S. military strategy that justified attacks on millions of civilians. And, after almost sixty years of mystery, Bradley finally reveals the fate of the eight American Flyboys, all of whom would ultimately face a moment and a decision that few of us can even imagine.
Flyboys is a story of war and horror but also of friendship and honor. It is about how we die, and how we live-including the tale of the Flyboy who escaped capture, a young Navy pilot named George H. W. Bush who would one day become president of the United States. A masterpiece of historical narrative, Flyboys will change forever our understanding of the Pacific war and the very things we fight for.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 371-378) and index.
Synopsis
FLYBOYS is the true story of young American airmen who were shot down over Chichi Jima. Eight of these young men were captured by Japanese troops and taken prisoner. Another was rescued by an American submarine and went on to become president. The reality of what happened to the eight prisoners has remained a secret for almost 60 years. After the war, the American and Japanese governments conspired to cover up the shocking truth. Not even the families of the airmen were informed what had happened to their sons. It has remained a mystery--until now. Critics called James Bradley's last book "the best book on battle ever written." FLYBOYS is even better: more ambitious, more powerful, and more moving. On the island of Chichi Jima those young men would face the ultimate test. Their story--a tale of courage and daring, of war and of death, of men and of hope--will make you proud, and it will break your heart.
Synopsis
This acclaimed bestseller brilliantly illuminates a hidden piece of World War II history as it tells the harrowing true story of nine American airmen shot down in the Pacific. One of them, George H. W. Bush, was miraculously rescued. The fate of the others-an explosive 60-year-old secret-is revealed for the first time in FLYBOYS.
About the Author
James Bradley is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Flags of Our Fathers and the son of one of the men who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. The story of the events on Chichi Jima was first brought to his attention after the publication of that book and involved several years of research, travel, and writing including a return trip to Chichi Jima with President George H. W. Bush. This is Bradley's second book. He lives in New York.