Iwo Jima 1945

One of the decisive battles of the Second World War in the Pacific, Iwo Jima was described by Lieutenant-General Holland Smith, Commander Fleet Marine Forces Pacific, as "The most savage and most costly battle in the history of the Marine Corps" - a titanic struggle that eclipsed all that had gone before. Situated halfway along the B-29 Superfortress route to the Japanese mainland, the island was of major strategic importance to the US Air Force, but also to the Japanese, 20,000 of whom were deeply entrenched in the island. This book provides a definitive account of the battle, from its origins to its hard-fought conclusion.

Derrick Wright is the author of ‘Tarawa: A Hell of a Way to Die’ (Windrow & Greene, 1997) and ‘The Battle for Iwo Jima’ (Sutton, 1999). His interest in the Second World War started in childhood, as he grew up in the Teeside area which was subjected to so many bombing raids. After National Service with the Army, he became an engineer specialising in Ultrasonics. Retired, he lives with his wife on the edge of the North Yorkshire Moors. He has four daughters.