Days of Steel Rain

The Epic Story of a WWII Vengeance Ship in the Year of the Kamikaze

Days of Steel Rain
Brent E Jones
RRP:
NZ$ 60.00
Our Price:
NZ$ 48.00
Hardback
h229 x 152mm - 400pg
10 Jun 2021 US
International import eta 7-19 days
9780316451109
Out Of Stock
Currently no stock in-store, stock is sourced to your order
During the late stages in the Pacific Theatre of World War II, U. S. Navy Captain George Dyer was wounded in action, but vowed to return. In 1944 he accepted an assignment on the heavy cruiser the USS Astoria. This was a "vengeance ship" whose mission was to avenge a sunken warship lost during the worst sea defeat in American naval history. Just getting into action would prove to be a battle. Dyer' s crew was comprised of late-war draftees, disciplinary castoffs, and broken veterans of previous traumatic combat. The new ship herself proved a further liability--the product of a failing shipyard torn by labor strife, shoddy craftsmanship, and materiel shortages. From a typhoon where the ocean was enemy to daring rescue missions in the Philippines to a gallant turn at Iwo Jima to the ultimate crucible against the Kamikaze, the men of Astoria endured the worst of the final year of the war at sea. The reluctant "vengeance ship" was called to respond in a manner that could never have been anticipated. Throughout, the men slept at their stations, fought crippling fatigue, and tested the limits of human endurance. Days of Steel Rain brings to life more than a decade of research and firsthand interviews, depicting with unprecedented insight a group of American men fighting at sea. Throughout, author Brent Jones fills the narrative with secret diaries, memoirs, letters, interpersonal conflicts, and the innermost thoughts of the Astoria men. Blended with official records, Days of Steel Rain weaves an intimate, unforgettable portrait of heroism, endurance, and redemption.
"The story of how this novice crew came together over time under Dyer' s firm, but fair, leadership to become a very tough, very competent crew capable of performing consistently and well under extraordinarily demanding conditions. A great story of a great ship!"--Admiral John C. Harvey, Jr. , USN (Ret. ) "Truly an amazing story: the combat experiences of a single fighting ship as told through the actual words of the men at the time. The human condition--sights, sounds, reactions, worries, thoughts, words--is often overlooked and left out of most wartime histories. The eyewitness accounts and personal testimonies of the crew of Astoria--from Captain down to Seaman--make the Fast Carrier Task Force come alive in a vivid blaze of color, the roar of naval gunfire, a rolling and plunging deck underfoot, and the adrenaline of men alternately fighting to survive a typhoon or under vicious air attack. Not spared are the personal struggles with numbing routine split between tedium and boredom; fatigue laced with humor, sarcasm, endless rumors, and even fatalism. I particularly enjoyed the exciting stories of Chuck Tanner and his team of Kingfisher pilots; their incredible exploits, adventures and successful rescues-at-sea are the likes of which I' ve never read anywhere else up until now. In short, Days of Steel Rain brings alive a gallery of real people: some heroes and villains to be sure, but mostly average American boys and men, Bluejackets and Marines, caught in the crucible that was the western Pacific in 1945. It is an uncommonly related perspective indeed. " --Dominic DeScisciolo, Captain, U. S. Navy (Ret. ) Days of Steel Rain relates in graphic and dramatic detail how cruiser USS Astoria and her sailors withstood Japan' s dreaded Kamikaze assaults during the most deadly [and] decisive campaigns of the Pacific War. A first-rate account of American courage, selfless sacrifice, and perseverance against high odds in the crucible of combat. A must-read for anyone interested in the battle history of U. S. Navy. --Edward J. Marolda, former Senior Historian of the U. S. Navy "As powerfully built as the ship at its heart, Days of Steel Rain is a mighty feat of storytelling. Herein lie Iwo Jima bombardments, a near-collision with [the] Indianapolis, kamikazes, typhoons, and incomparable men. The narrative is vigorous, deeply felt . and so attentively wrought, it' s as if Brent E. Jones came through the war on Astoria herself. "--James Sullivan, author of Unsinkable "Brent E. Jones strikes gold with his stirring Days of Steel Rain, which relates the exploits of his World War II relative, Lawrence Jones, and his shipmates aboard the light cruiser, USS Astoria, as they battle their foe off Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and Japan in the Pacific War' s final year. Relying on vivid combat sequences, Jones has provided touching testimony that humans, not guns and weapons, win wars. He offers a fitting tribute to his relative and to the other courageous sailors who manned that cruiser. " --John Wukovits, author of Tin Can Titans and Dogfight Over Tokyo "Finally, a seafaring story we can steer into at top speed. This is World War II as we seldom get to see it. First-hand. Fast-paced. And arriving not a moment too late. Batten down the hatches--you' re about to follow a fraternity of heroes as they plunge into chaos. It' s time to go to sea. "--Adam Makos, author of the New York Times bestseller A Higher Call
Brent Jones holds a BA in Economics from University of Texas at Austin and an MBA from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. After 20 years in business operations and corporate writing, he became a full-time writer. He was awarded the 2017 Mayborn Literary Conference Personal Essay prize and his work has appeared in US Navy Cruiser Sailors' Association magazine. Days of Steel Rain is his first book and the culmination of a decade of research.
Status: Active
ISBN-13: 9780316451109
Published: 10 Jun 2021
Published In: United States
Imprint: Hachette Books
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Format: Hardback
Height: 229mm
Width: 152mm
Pages: 400

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