Indianapolis

Indianapolis is the thrilling true story of the greatest naval disaster in United States history – the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis during World War II – and the fight for survival and redemption that followed.   Four days after delivering the components of the world’s first atomic bomb to the island of Tinian, the Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, with nearly 900 men lost. Those who survived endured starvation, dehydration and shark attacks as they waited to be rescued. From a crew of 1,196 men, only 317 survived - the biggest single loss of life at sea to be suffered by the United States navy. When the remaining crew were finally rescued, the ship’s captain, Charles B. McVay III, was wrongly court-martialled for negligence over the sinking. Decades after these events, the survivors of the Indianapolis, as well as the Japanese submarine commander who sank it, joined together to finally exonerate McVay. Extraordinary courage, terrible tragedy and the fight for justice: in Indianapolis, the true story is revealed.  'Extraordinary...serious naval history and a detective story, told with passion.' The Times'Vividly detailed...compelling yet comprehensive.' Los Angeles Times'Simply outstanding.' Booklist (starred review)'Gripping... This yarn has it all.' USA Today  

‘A wonderful book . . . Thanks to Indianapolis, we now have a complete and accessible story of this saga. It is a gripping and engaging tale that features grievous mistakes, extraordinary courage, unimaginable horror, and a cover-up. . . . Vincent and Vladic spent years talking to the dwindling band of survivors and giving voice to their stories. . . . This exhaustive and comprehensive assessment is as complete an account of this tragic tale as we are likely to have. It is compelling history.’, ‘Sharks, torpedoes, deadly secrets . . . In Indianapolis, Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic expose what really happened that day in 1945 when a Japanese submarine torpedoed the Navy cruiser.’, ‘Gripping . . . This yarn has it all . . . Stories of courage, cowardice, and sharks—lots of sharks . . . The disaster has been the subject of numerous books . . . [and] you wouldn’t think there would be much left to say. But, as it turns out, there is. Vincent and Vladic have delivered an account that stands out through its crisp writing and superb research. Indianapolis also goes where past books haven’t, to the full story behind the decades-long movement to clear the captain’s besmirched name. . . . Somehow, Vincent and Vladic manage to weave the story of the fateful voyage with events occurring fifty-five or more years later, making for taut action throughout the book. Is this the definitive and final narrative of the Navy’s worst sea disaster? Indianapolis is sure to hold its own for a long time.’, ‘Vividly detailed . . . In a brisk, fact-based narrative, Indianapolis mixes horror and scandal. . . . With diligent reporting and sharp writing, Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic have accomplished a daunting chore facing writers of historic nonfiction: take a story whose outline is known to the public and craft an account that is compelling yet comprehensive.’, ‘Enthralling . . . Meticulously researched . . . A gripping study of the greatest sea disaster in the history of the U.S. Navy and its aftermath.’

Lynn Vincent, a US Navy veteran, is a #1 New York Times bestselling author and coauthor of eleven nonfiction books with more than sixteen million copies in print, including Indianapolis, Same of Kind of Different as Me (with Ron Hall and Denver Moore) and Heaven Is for Real (with Todd Burpo). A veteran journalist and author of more than 1,000 articles, her investigative pieces have been cited before Congress and the US Supreme Court. She lives in the mountains east of San Diego with her husband and their three Labrador retrievers.