Uncommon valour; bloody Iwo; our flag was still there; eyewitness to history; the shifting sands of heroism; the mighty seventh; guts and glory - sands of Iwo Jima; a marine corps for the next 500 years; it didn't realy happen that way; the business of remembering; D+40 years - a gathering of heroes.
It is one of the virtues of this riveting book, co-written by a
university professor and a museum curator, that it embraces rather
than evades the multiple ironies, paradoxes and contradictions that
cluster around a single snapshot of five Marines and a Navy
corpsman raising a flag on a newly captured Japanese island near
the ragged end of World War II. For, not surprisingly, the story of
the flag-raising on Iwo Jima turns out to be the quintessentially
American tale, underlining the virtues we prize and those we
ignore, the competing lures of reality and illusion, and what
happens when ghastly war and genuine heroism come face to face with
a ravenous publicity machine and a country's need for simple
answers to painfully complex questions of national purpose and
personal sacrifice. It is not a pretty picture...[Marling and
Wetenhall have] told this cautionary tale with remarkable
even-handedness and intelligence. The story they tell is not only
fascinating, it points to a chilling mora
Karal Ann Marling and John Wetenhall, two specialists on the social
history of American art and architecture, examine the extraordinary
career of the Rosenthal photograph and the de Weldon monument. They
chose well, for as "Iwo Jima" amply documents, few symbols better
illustrate the ambivalent and ever-changing American ideas about
war heroism, patriotism and sacrifices...Intriguing.--Ronald
Spector "New York Times Book Review "
There is a certain resonance in "Iwo Jima".--Richard Severo "New
York Times "
There is a certain resonance in "Iwo Jima". -- Richard Severo "New
York Times"
There is a certain resonance in "Iwo Jima," -- Richard Severo "New
York Times"
There is a certain resonance in Iwo Jima .
There is a certain resonance in "Iwo Jima." -- Richard Severo "New
York Times"
This gripping book has much to say about war symbolism in popular
culture, overwrought patriotism and military valor.
This is popular culture at its best, thoroughly enjoyable to read
right down to the discussion of the statue's use in political
cartoons and the final chapter on the 40th reconciliation reunion
with the Japanese.
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