Flags of our Fathers
The iconic image of six determined marines raising a flag on Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima was a fluke shot that provided a photographic masterpiece and symbol of the end of the Pacific war, paralleling the image of Red Army soldiers hoisting the red flag on the Reichstag.

Three of the men pictured were killed within days of the photo being taken. The lives of the surviving three are examined in a book by James Bradley, son of one of the survivors.

Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley involves the efforts of a son to reveal the reasons for his fathers silence about the image and its consequences on the lives of the three men. It is an intensely personal tale but it is also the story of the Marine Corps, the story of the Battle of Iwo Jima and of the Pacific Front.

The story touches on the nature of fame and notoriety as the battle weary and shell shocked survivors were made paper heroes and paraded in a circus-like campaign to raise money for war bonds. The effects on one of the men, a native American indian is exquisitely sad.

A tale also of the bond between a father and son and the things that tie us all together, this nuanced and heavily layered book is worthy of all the accolades it has received.

Flags of our Fathers by James Bradley (Bantam Books)