Flags of Our Fathers (James Bradley)

Describing the men involved in the famous photo of the flag-raising on Iwo Juma, this book explores their lives before the war and the reactions of the survivors after. Although described as "the best battle book I have ever read" by Stephen Ambrose (Band of Brothers) on the cover, this does not focus on the battle itself. It is the story of a generation signing up for the army after Pearl Harbour, and the lives of the survivors in searching for meaning after the atrocities in the Pacific theatre. As a European, the Second World War has always meant the Allies and Germany - the battles of Europe, the ghettos and the concentration camps are enough history for one period. So I was not aware of the campaigns and battles in the Pacific - America's war. This book opened my eyes to the war in that part of the world.

There may be other books that describe the battles in greater detail, but this focussed on those few people involved in a simple ceremony during the battle - a flag-raising. Due to one of the flukes of history, this ceremony became iconographic of the battles and victories, and the participants became a nation's heroes. But the book describes their true feelings - simple soldiers doing their job, not heroes. Written by one of the flag-raisers sons, he describes his search for the details of the events after his father's death. The soldiers had remained silent for decades following the battle, and the book highlights some of the possible reasons. The tale of the battle's death and destruction never descends into glorifying battle, but helps us to understand what these soldiers faced, fighting an enemy committed to death rather than surrender. Their struggle to learn a new life after the war is as poignant as the scenes they witnessed in battle. A book to make you cry at the destruction that can be wrought by misguided sets of beliefs and values.