In April 1945 the Yamato, largest bat tleship in the world, w a s sent with nin e other ships to attack American forces at Okinawa. It was a futile effortrepeat ed air attacks sank almost all of the Jap anese vessels, including the Yamato. Yoshida was one of Yamato's radar of ficers, and one of the few survivors. His vivid account of the horrors and heroism of the suicidal mission, long recognized in Japan as an important work of war literature, is equally effec tive in this first complete translation. Minear has provided a brief but infor mative introduction to the Yamato, its last voyage, the life of the author, and the publication history of the book. There is much of value in this concise Japanese view of the Pacific War. High ly recommended.