Utilizing accounts by US combatants and Japanese sources in a stirring narrative, author Joseph Wheelan tells the riveting story of the biggest, bloodiest island battle of the Pacific war - the last major battle of World War II and the only one fought on Japanese soil.

Prologue -- The enemy's doorstep -- L-Day -- The first defensive line -- The kamikazes -- Sinking the battleship Yamato -- The drive north and Ie Shima -- The April offensive -- The Shuri line -- The May mud offensive -- Red flood tide -- The Japanese retreat from Shuri -- The last ditch -- The Thirty-Second Army collapses -- The civilian tragedy -- The battle ends -- Dénouement -- Epilogue.