Flags of Our Fathers

By: James Bradley, Ron Powers

Narrated by: Stephen Hoye

Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

Flags of Our Fathers is the unforgettable chronicle of perhaps the most famous moment in American military history: the raising of the US flag at Iwo Jima.

Here is the true story behind the immortal photograph that has come to symbolize the courage and indomitable will of America. In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima - and into history. The son of one of the flag raisers has written a powerful account of six very different men who came together in the heroic battle for the Pacific’s most crucial island.

©2000 James Bradley and Ron Powers (P)2006 Books on Tape

Critic reviews

• Alex Award Winner, 2001

"Voluminous and memorable.... No reader will forget the lesson." (Publishers Weekly)

"Flags of Our Fathers is one of the most instructive and moving books on war and its aftermath that we are likely to see, in part because it is instructive and moving in unexpected ways." (The New York Times)

Must not be forgotten

I now have some idea of why the flag raisers didn’t want to be seen as heroes or to talk about Iwo Jima.
The nation should be grateful to James Bradley for keeping this piece of history alive.
Hopefully future generations can learn the many lessons the book holds.

What can I say, Old glory is the greatest flag.

My grandfather shot to pieces there, his identical twin KIA on Iwo. loved the book

Wonderful book

This was an amazing book with tremendous details of each of their lives! The orator was superb!

Great book of truth

Slow to start, yet hard to put down as you finish. The last few chapters make it all worthwhile.

Fantastic!

Outstanding story! Highly recommended! Got me emotional in a few parts. Very interesting. Stephen Hoye was remarkable.

great book one of favorites and I could listen to

great Beek that can listen to over and over a classic that never gets old

Fantastic!!

The story is very personal giving you a feel of what it must have been like being in combat. The narration is the best I have ever heard!

Iconic explanation of an era

The lives presented here reflect the very best of their generation and time. We still have such men today in uniform.

Outstanding story

Very informative. I feel like I know the characters and honor their service & sacrifice. The bravery exhibited by the marines on Iwo Jima is difficult to fathom

History in Real Life

My memories of history lessons from school revealed nothing like the exciting, wonderful tale told in this book!

The author is certainly not worthy of a Pulitzer prize, but he had a desire to find out about an event in history for which he had a personal connection. And then he wrote a book about it. This book provides us with information we have not had prior to his telling it. There are a number of sources for the horrors of the battles in the pacific, no less on Iwo Jima. But this book tells more than just the story of a particular battle.

I found it fascinating and important that the author set out to discover these "boys" and why he insisted on using the term "boys" rather than men. When that picture was taken, they were boys. It does not gloss over thier faults of human nature. And yes, maybe the author does idolize his father a bit heavily. But for me, I would rather see that than the opposite! How many more "Mommy Dearest" books do you need on your shelf?

As for the narrator, I was thrilled to see Stephen Hoye on this title. In fact, that was probably the decision maker as to whether I would get this book or not. He expresses the emotions of the book and is a master of that! If he sounded sappy, that is because the story was sappy at that point. But if the story became strong, he delivered strength in his voice.

The book gave me history: knowledge of the difficulties the soldiers faced, the differences between the war in Europe and the war in the Pacific; an explanation of war financing differences and what war bonds really were; and so on. But it told all that in a novel-like fashion about six people who happened to be caught in a photograph: their lives before, during and, for those who survived, after the war. Marvelous.

I have not seen the movie yet, but like any other comparison between book and movie, I know the book will be better hands down!! Isn't that why we all have a membership here at audible.com?