A truly interesting book that reveals the truth of what happened

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	• Flyboys: A True Story of Courage James Bradley Back Bay Books, 2004 - 464 pages average customer review:based on 78 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Exploring the moral complexity of war with a rousing good story

"Flyboys" is a surprisingly even-sided look at the war in the Pacific, which is most often seen as a manichaean struggle between Allied light and goodness versus Japanese savagery and darkness. The contuining thread of the book is the story of the Naval fliers who involved with the campaign against Chichi Jima, Iwo Jima's island neighbor. Using declassified data, trial transcripts and interviews, Bradley pieces together the story of eight fliers who were captured and mistreated by the Japanese. This is the campaign in which future president George H. W. Bush was shot down, coming perilously close to sharing the fate of the men who were captured.

But Bradley goes the extra nautical mile to provide needed context to this harrowing tale. Early on, we get a broad-stroked history of late 19th century US colonial aspirations, with an eye-opening portrayal of the way America flexed its muscle when it "opened" Japan via Commodore Perry's steel fleet -- an act not unlike a brutal deflowering. Bradley follows with a very harsh (if accurate) portrayal of US intentions and atrocities in the Phillipines, propelled by American greed, ambition and Teddy Roosevelt's racist, America-centric world view. Bradley suggests that it was this history that Japan emulated when expanding its own empire, only to be blocked by the pious tsk-tsking of the great Christian empires-- the US, Britain and France -- who had and were still following the same route when it suited them. Bradley gives us the story of Billy Mitchell, the military Cassandra who accurately forecast the need for developing air power for the next war. We learn about the brutal Japanese military culture, which drove its later attitudes toward American POWs. Bradley covers the Allied bombing of Japanese cities (conventional and nuclear) that destroyed the lives and homes of hundreds of thousands of civilians at the end of the war. He ends with the sometimes sordid and little-known aftermath of the Pacific war and the deal-making that kept some of Japan's worst war criminals out of prison and off the gallows.

Bradley's point (made over and over) is that brutality is in the eye of the beholder. Both sides saw themselves as morally superior to the other. Both were implicated in mass death and destruction. While not shying away from the fanatical bloodthirstiness of certain members of the Japanese army, Bradley attempts to show the humanity and moral conflict of at least some Japanese. By the end of this harrowing book, you will have experienced the war from many angles, and come to appreciate why so many Americans and Japanese former soldiers have become friends after the hostilities ended.

Great history told with a flair for the dramatic, the grotesque and the true.

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A truly interesting book that reveals the truth of what happened

James Bradley is a great author. He writes very directly and flowingly. The book reveals what actually had happened to the emen who had a special mission to fulfill in WWII. It reveals the heinous details as to what had happened to the men. The information was withheld from their families by the U.S. government in order to not make the families of the fallen men be devestated. Bradley gives rich details as to what happened to the men. His first few chapters cover how Japan had risen to become a formidable force in the world at the time prior to WWII. Such historical information is crucial and informative to the history buff. Bradley, as he has done in "Flags of Our Fathers," gives biographical information about each soldier, hence, keeping their existence in high regard and esteem. President George H. W. Bush's in the secret mission as a Navy pilot is also told in this fascinating book. Generally, he has revealed what was a classified and widely believed to be forgotten phenomenon as to the real truth about the men who were to carry out a secret and important mission at Chichi Jima. I reccommend this book to all Americans to read, espeically those who like to study and learn about World War II.

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Interesting Slice of History

I listened to this unabridged book on audio. It was a long listen. The story loosely centers around a number of servicemen who were shot down over Chichi Jima (north of Iwo Jima) and their stories. One of those shot down was President George H. W. Bush (he obviously survived). However, these stories only take up about 30% of the book. The rest of the book focuses on the Pacific theater in World War II and the role of air power in defeating the Japanese. The history of Japanese-US relations and of military air power are also explored.

I found the book to be very interesting, even considering I listened to it for about 14 hours straight. The history and background are illuminating when considering the story of the flyboys and the larger war in the Pacific. I came away from the book with an increased appreciation and understanding on the need to use the atom bomb, the very different psychology of the Japanese, and of the incredible destruction Japan endured. It was a very good history lesson.

There are shortcomings. The book does spend a long time on tangents which can be distracting. It also gets a little grisly at parts. However, I believe most students of history will appreciate this book.

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An intense and necessary look into the horrors of war

I first heard of James Bradley's "Flyboys: A True Story of Courage" from someone who was in the process of reading it. As the person doing the recommending had not yet reached halfway point of the book, he emphasized the role of former President George Bush's flying in the Pacific and of his being shot down. This was a story about which I knew at least a little. Still, the reader was quite enthralled and strongly recommended that I read it.

I ordered my own copy thinking that the book dealt primarily with Bush's flying record. Once I started reading, however, that impression quickly proved to be an inaccurate. Flyboys delivers a disturbing but definitely worthwhile look into the horrors of war in the Pacific theater during the Second World War. Despite the fact that the book deals primarily with the barbaric treatment of several US airmen shot down and captured by the Japanese, it is certainly not an exercise in Japan-bashing. Bradley brings balance to the discussion of Japanese atrocities by mentioning similar--although, clearly, much less systematic--misbehavior on the part of US and allied soldiers.

You will be riveted by Bradley's telling of this story. You will also be moved. By the end of this book, exhausted, you'll learn a redeeming and terribly moving secret involving one of the Japanese captors.

John Cathcart
Author Delta 7

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

This acclaimed bestseller brilliantly illuminates a hidden piece of World War II history as it tells the harrowing truestory 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.

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