Good Pac war books?

[bssybeep]

To get into the AE mood, anybody have some recommendations for good pac war books? Any topic related to the pac war is acceptable.

[DaveConn]

"The First Team", and "The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign", by John Lundstrom.

[PaulWRoberts]

For a good one-volume history of the Pacific war, try Ronald Spector's "Eagle Against the Sun." It emphasizes the American-Japanese conflict (as opposed to Commonwealth issues), but it is clear and thorough there.

You can probably get a used copy on Amazon for something like two bucks.

[SuluSea]

Richard Frank's Guadalcanal, Cactus Air Force is a quick read, Bergerud's Fire in the Sky are pretty good titles. I also like just about anything from Edwin Hoyt although Glory of the Solomons, Japan's War and Blue Skies and Blood are a few of my favorites by him.

[kmussler]

I've been doing that very thing in prep for AE. I just finished "The Pacific War: The Strategy, Politics, and Players that Won the War" by William B. Hopkins. It's a little different from the usual Pac War book. It focused more on the behind the scenes action, the hows and whys the decisions were made during the war (mostly from the Allied side). I'm currently reading "Pacific War Companion" edited by Daniel Marston. I have "Eagle Against the Sun" and think it a good book. Some other books I might recommend are: "Victory at Sea" by James Dunnigan & Albert Nofi; "The Pacific War: 1941-1945 by John Costelo; and, "The Rising Sun" by John Toland, which chiefly examines the Japanese side of the War. Enjoy.

Kurt

[kfmiller41]

I just finished Kaigun, Strategy, Tactics and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy 1887-1941. Very good read, but long. Lots of great info on why Japan made the decisions she made prior to the Pacific war. Ditto on first Team and The Rising Sun, both great reads as well.

[Vincenzo_Beretta]

It is PacWar time, I see, since I'm just finishing "Victory at Sea" by Jim Dunnigan. Great book, clear, to the point and full of facts.

[TheElf]

Must reads for the Air War:

Shattered Sword - Parshall, Tully
Fire in the Sky - Bergerud
1st Team series - Lundstrom
Bloody Shambles series - Shores
The Black Sheep: the Real Story (not to be confused with BAA BAA Black Sheep) - Gamble
The Fleet Carriers - Reynolds
Carrier Clash - Hammel
Carrier Strike - Hammel
SAMURAI! - Sakai (with Caidin & Saito)


Others:
Anything by Barret Tillman
Fist From the Sky - Smith
Destroyer Squadron 23 - Jones
Burma: the longest War 1941-1945 - Allen

[Jorm]

Ive just read,

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour by J. D. Hornfischer
From Publishers Weekly
One of the finest WWII naval action narratives in recent years, this book follows in the footsteps of Flags of Our Fathers, creating a microcosm of the war's American Navy destroyers. Hornfischer, a writer and literary agent in Austin, Tex., covers the battle off Samar, the Philippines, in October 1944, in which a force of American escort carriers and destroyers fought off a Japanese force many times its strength, and the larger battle of Leyte Gulf, the opening of the American liberation of the Philippines, which might have suffered a major setback if the Japanese had attacked the transports. He presents the men who crewed the destroyer Taffy 3, most of whom had never seen salt water before the war but who fought, flew, kept the crippled ship afloat, and doomed ships fighting almost literally to the last shell. Finally, Hornfischer provides a perspective on the Japanese approach to the battle, somewhat (and justifiably) modifying the traditional view of the Japanese Admiral Kurita as a fumbler or even a coward-while exalting American sailors and pilots as they richly deserve. (American admirals don't get off so easily.) Not entirely free of glitches in research, the book still reads like a very good action novel, indicated by its selection as a dual split main selection of the BOMC and History Book Club alternate.

It was very good, actually listend to it on audio book. I wonder if witp-AE is capable of generateing similar outcomes as the actual battle, i imagine there would be too many arm chair admirals screaming at such an outcome and how unrealistic is was <chuckle>

[Knavey]

ORIGINAL: Jorm


Ive just read,

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour by J. D. Hornfischer
From Publishers Weekly
One of the finest WWII naval action narratives in recent years, this book follows in the footsteps of Flags of Our Fathers, creating a microcosm of the war's American Navy destroyers. Hornfischer, a writer and literary agent in Austin, Tex., covers the battle off Samar, the Philippines, in October 1944, in which a force of American escort carriers and destroyers fought off a Japanese force many times its strength, and the larger battle of Leyte Gulf, the opening of the American liberation of the Philippines, which might have suffered a major setback if the Japanese had attacked the transports. He presents the men who crewed the destroyer Taffy 3, most of whom had never seen salt water before the war but who fought, flew, kept the crippled ship afloat, and doomed ships fighting almost literally to the last shell. Finally, Hornfischer provides a perspective on the Japanese approach to the battle, somewhat (and justifiably) modifying the traditional view of the Japanese Admiral Kurita as a fumbler or even a coward-while exalting American sailors and pilots as they richly deserve. (American admirals don't get off so easily.) Not entirely free of glitches in research, the book still reads like a very good action novel, indicated by its selection as a dual split main selection of the BOMC and History Book Club alternate.

It was very good, actually listend to it on audio book. I wonder if witp-AE is capable of generateing similar outcomes as the actual battle, i imagine there would be too many arm chair admirals screaming at such an outcome and how unrealistic is was <chuckle>

+1 for Last Stand! Excellent book. Not saying that it is the only one, just saying it was a rivetting read.

[m10bob]

JAPANESE DESTROYER CAPTAIN by Tadeichi Hara

TITANS OF THE SEAS by James and William Belote

SEMPER FI,MAC (Can't remember the author but it is the compiled interviews of many Marine Vets from every single battle fought in that war by Marines after and including "Operation Shoestring".

[LargeSlowTarget]

Morison, of course.[/align]

[RalfBHV]

SEA POWER. A NAVAL HISTORY by E.B.Potter & Ch.W. Nimitz
A BATTLE HISTORY OF THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY by Paul S. Dull

[m10bob]

ORIGINAL: LargeSlowTarget

Morison, of course.[/align]

Thank you, compadre![:)]

[Houtje]

Bergerud, Eric: "Touched with Fire": on land combat in SW Pacific.
Prados, john: "Combined Fleet Decoded": about intelligence and code-breaking etc., but also full account of the&nbsp;war. Well written, too.&nbsp;

[Mr.Custer]

The West Point Military History: Asia and the Pacific, and West Point Atlas: Asia and the Pacific. You will need both books.Maps maps and more maps.

[Crimguy]

I still like At Dawn We Slept.

[HMS Resolution]

H P Wilmott's The Barrier and the Javelin and Empires in the Balance.

[dr. smith]

The Morison series is great, though (of course) mostly navy.

For one-volume books, the two best are (in order):

John Toland's Rising Sun:: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945
John Costello's Pacific War 1941-1945

[helldiver]

Depends on how much time you want to invest (and not cut into your AE time)... P. Dull's Battle History of the IJN&nbsp; is a quick, factual account of what the IJN did and with what... very little "why"... but it will provide a nice picture of the allocation of forces and, for me, helped me to think about what I might do differently in WitP...
&nbsp;
Regards,
Helldiver