One of the most tenaciously fought battles of the Pacific War was the battle for Iwo Jima. This was the first of Japan's 'home' islands and while small, it was important enough that bypassing it was not an option. It was needed to base long range fighters to escort the B-29s from the Marianas on their journey to targets in the main islands. It also ended up serving as a place for damaged B-29s to land, saving over 20,000 crew men from having to ditch in the Pacific.

But this island came at a high cost for both the US and the Japanese. This tiny place took well over a month to finally secure, with every foot of ground savagely defended by the Japanese. It has often been called the world's most heavily defended island with miles of tunnels and dug in gun emplacements, each of which had to be laboriously taken.

Typical of several of Osprey's hard back books, this one is a compendium of several of their standard books. Derrick Wright's Campaign #81, Iwo Jima, and Gordon Rottman's Warrior #95 Japanese Infantryman, and Warrior #112 Marine Infantry Rifleman. These titles have been melded together to give a superb look at not only how the opposing sides were trained and the weapons they used, but also the story of the battle itself.

It makes for an excellent look at the subject and for those who missed the individual books, it is a great way to get them all together between two covers. It is a book that makes for a fascinating read and one that I can highly recommend to you.

April 2012

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