This is a gritty story about conquering the island of Okinawa. It is told in Sharra's unique style. Told mostly from the Marines's point of view, it barely mentions the horrendous damage done by the Kamikaze on the Fleet. It speaks just once about the conflict of melding an invasion force composed of Army and Marine units. Finally, after Okinawa is finally subdued, it spends a small portion of the book on the lead-up to dropping the Atomic Bomb, which includes a brief description of how Mr. Truman arrived at the decision to use the weapon. ( )

Won from Firstreads. I'm looking forward to reading this book.

The best of Shaara's books on WWII, The Final Storm paints a vivid picture of the ugly struggle on Okinawa near the end of the war. Following his fictional character, Marine Clay Adams, Shaara avoids on of the weaknesses of historical fiction, stick figures of real people become novel devices. Read this not for the implicit advocacy for the dropping of the atomic bomb, but rather for its descriptions of the dehumanizing heroism of war. ( )

The section about Okinawa was excellent. the Atom bomb was too quickly covered and didn't get into enough of Leahy's view and others. ( )

I am a big Jeff Shaara fan, but this is not one of his best. For some reason, like many others he has chosen to ignore most of the War in the Pacific. Apparently he was badgered into writing this book by Marines who complained about the situation. Unlike his other books, this one doesn't cover a time period of the war, it covers the attack on Okinawa and the very end of the war. It is a very brutal and personal account of the shocking fighting that took place on Okinawa. As is usual for his books it is well researched and very in depth, written from the point of view of several participants, including a Marine private and a Japanese commander. Very insightful and clear and detailed. However, like some of his books it lacks a bit of an overall tactical and strategic view and stuck to 1 point of view a bit too much. These are minor points though, it is still a very good book about the end of the war, just a little limited in scope. ( )