Reviews for Indianapolis

by Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic

Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis, commanded by Captain Charles McVay III, was sunk by a Japanese submarine. Most of the ship's 1,195 crew members survived the initial attack, but many would perish during the four days it took the U.S. Navy to rescue survivors. Most of this work by Vincent (coauthor, Same of Kind of Different as Me) and filmmaker and historian Vladic covers events leading up to and including the attack. Later chapters deal with the immediate investigations, Congressional hearings, and the exoneration of McVay, who was originally court-martialed. In many ways this work is similar to Dan Kurzman's Fatal Voyage, but it provides updated information on hearings that occurred after Kurzman's publication. While mostly a balanced account, attending to both the American and Japanese sides of the story, with particular focus on Commander Mochitsura Hashimoto, the narrative tends to get caught up in minutiae and unnecessary anecdotes and sensationalism, offering a decent update to Kurzman's work. VERDICT Recommended for readers interested in the final days of World War II, particularly naval activity in the Pacific theater, and anyone curious about McVay and his vessel.-Matthew Wayman, Pennsylvania State Univ. Lib., Schuylkill Haven © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

*Starred Review* Anyone who has been captivated by the monologue delivered by Robert Shaw's character, Captain Quint, in Steven Spielberg's film Jaws, about his experience surviving the sinking of the USS Indianapolis in 1945 should read Vincent and Vladic's comprehensive, simply outstanding historical account. Sea battles, adventures, the secret mission to deliver materials for the assemblage of the atomic bomb to the Pacific Islands, tragedy, disaster, an epic ordeal sharks included in the open ocean, courtroom drama, political intrigue, and the uphill battle by the band of survivors to exonerate the ship's captain will all have readers unable to put this book down. The narrative is interspersed with dramatic foreshadowings of what is to come for the ship's crew. Through extensive use of official U.S. Navy documents, interviews with the involved sailors and brass, and a vast archive of secondary sources, Vincent and Vladic have produced a tour de force of true human drama. The book's useful charts, maps, and illustrations add depth and clarity to the emotional story. Indianapolis is a must-read for everyone interested in WWII and naval battles in any era.--James Pekoll Copyright 2018 Booklist


Library Journal
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Four days after delivering the world's first atomic bomb to the U.S. flight crew in the Pacific, the USS Indianapolis was sunk by Japanese torpedoes, with a loss of all but 317 of the 1,196 men on board. US Navy veteran Vincent, a No. 1 New York Times best-selling author, and documentary filmmaker Vladic, who's made an award-winning film on the tragedy, investigate what happened and how the decades-long struggle to vindicate the captain unfolded.


Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Bestselling author and Navy veteran Vincent (Same Kind of Different as Me) and filmmaker and Indianapolis expert Vladic collaborate on a work that is simultaneously a gripping narrative, a convincing analysis, and a pitiless exposure of institutional mendacity. In 1945 the Indianapolis, alone, was torpedoed by one of the few Japanese submarines still operational and sank. Almost 900 men survived, but the ship had slipped off the Navy's tracking system, and it took four days before they were spotted, too late for more than 600 men who died from thirst and exposure or were eaten by sharks. Vincent and Vladic juxtapose the crew's harrowing ordeal with the Navy's desperate efforts to discover what had gone wrong and cover it up. The designated culprit was the ship's captain: court-martialed on skimpy evidence, found guilty of endangering the vessel, and eventually driven to suicide. A subsequent investigation led to his exoneration, but the systemic oversights and misjudgments that enabled this tragedy remained obscure until this investigation, which drew upon new sources clarifying how the file was amended. This exposé will be valuable for scholars and general readers alike. Agent: Rick Christian, Alive Communications. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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