In this concluding narrative volume of his remarkable series, Admiral
Samuel Eliot Morison describes the two most famous campaigns in which he
participated: Iwo Jima and Okinawa
The details of these operations are described vividly, even
passionately. Morison spares no information in describing the grim consequences
of the kamikaze suicide crashes by enemy planes on the radar picket destroyers
and other ships.
With his usual clarity and skill, Morison describes the strategy that
led to the concluding campaigns of the war and to the dropping of the first
atomic bombs. Additional chapters are devoted to the logistics problem of
supplying fleets and armies thousands of miles from bases to the devastating
prowls by Pacific Fleet submarines, and to the controversial loss of the
Indianapolis.
Of particular interest is his detailed account, from Japanese and
American sources, of the delicate negotiations which led to the surrender of
Japan.
