This fully illustrated study investigates the American and Japanese fighting men who confronted one another on Iwo Jima and Okinawa in 1945.

In the closing months of World War II, as Imperial Japan faced the prospect of shattering defeat, the US Marine Corps won immortal fame for its valor, first on Iwo Jima and then on Okinawa. Featuring photographs, maps, and original artwork, this absorbing account casts light on the combatants on both sides in these bloody island battles, as the conflict moved toward its grim climax.

The five-week battle for Iwo Jima (February and March 1945) was characterized by extraordinarily bloody fighting, with the Japanese manning formidable fortifications and their US opponents deploying awesome firepower and complete air superiority. Uniquely, Iwo Jima saw American casualties exceed those of their opponents; only 216 Japanese were captured out of a total garrison of 21,000. Weeks later, the Okinawa operations (April–June 1945) involved the largest amphibious landing in the Pacific and resulted in 150,000 combatant casualties, as well as a comparable number of civilian fatalities.

In this study, Gregg Adams examines the US Marines involved in these battles alongside their Japanese opponents. He considers US and Japanese combat doctrine, organization, weaponry, and tactics in the Iwo Jima and Okinawa fighting, as the noose tightened around Japan and Allied victory became inevitable.