James Bradley

James Joseph Bradley (February 18, 1954 – June 5, 2026) was an American author from Antigo, Wisconsin, specializing in historical non-fiction chronicling the Pacific theater of World War II. His father, John Bradley, was involved in the first raising of the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the Battle of Iwo Jima in February 1945.

Early life and education James Bradley was born in Antigo, Wisconsin, on February 18, 1954, and grew up in that state. After studying at the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, and the Sophia University in Tokyo, he earned a degree in East Asian History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Career

In 2000, Bradley published Flags of Our Fathers, written with Ron Powers, which tells the story of five U.S. Marines and a U.S. Navy corpsman attached to the Marines Corps (his father, John Bradley, who did not raise the second, larger flag), raising the American flag during the Battle of Iwo Jima and the Seventh War Loan Drive after the battle. In the book, which spent 46 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was made into a film directed by Clint Eastwood, Bradley took great care to locate and speak with family and friends who actually knew the men depicted. In doing so, he received praise for his realistic portrayals and bringing the men involved to life.

The book and the film are in-depth looks at those involved and their war-time service. Of the six men who raised the second and larger replacement flag on Mount Suribachi on February 23, 1945, PhM2c. John Bradley, although he had been involved in only the first raising of a smaller flag hours before, was not involved in the second flag raising, On June 23, 2016, the United States Marine Corps identified Cpl. Harold Schultz as the sixth flag raiser for the second flag. The book exposes the blatantly racist and exploitative policy of the United States in its attempt to extend its influence into the Pacific rim, acquiring Hawaii by conquest and the Philippines by purchase from the Spanish after ostensibly having entered the conflict to aid the Filipino freedom fighters. The American occupation was marked by torture and repression of the very people they had come to help.

The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia is James's fourth book, detailing America's involvement in China since the early 19th Century during the heights of opium trade, through the conclusion of World War II and Mao Zedong's rise to power. The premise of the book is how the U.S. failed to understand Asian cultures which led to poor decision-making by policy makers in the U.S. State Department as well as by both President Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt. Ultimately, Bradley makes the suggestion that the War in the Pacific, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War would have been avoided had President Franklin Roosevelt not been unduly influenced by the China Lobby which supported Chiang Kai-shek.

Death Bradley died on June 5, 2026, at the age of 72.

Publishing details Flags of Our Fathers; (with Ron Powers). New York: Bantam, 2000; Flyboys: A True Story of Courage; Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 2003; The Imperial Cruise: The Secret History of Empire and War; Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 2009; The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia; Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 2015;