"Contrasting the fate of several American ships to that of USS Cole in the 2000 al-Qaeda terror attack, [the author] demonstrates the damage that the Imperial Navy suicide bombers wrought. That campaign, he observes, was a mark of having no other options, the American fleet having destroyed most of Japan's and forcing 'a stunning new "backs-against-the-wall" paradigm for modern warfare.' The author focuses on U.S. forces, though with considerable attention to the Japanese side of the equation.... Sears does a particularly good job of bringing in the various voices of the fast-dwindling corps of American survivors of hellish engagements at Leyte and Okinawa, among other places.... The attacks took a terrible toll on American sailors, Marines and soldiers, which left 'even the healthiest veterans perplexed and embittered at a nation, culture, and people capable of devising such attacks.' Sears closes with a look at how veterans on both sides bridged the gulf between them."—Kirkus Reviews