Could Someone recommend a book on history of the Pacific Theatre?

[kev_uk]

Subject says it all, cheers.
I am just after a general history, with politcal/social ramifications on all sides and good military history. Does such a book exist?

[ColFrost]

Well, my suggestions are not the whole theatre, but only the beginning.

I really enjoyed Gordon Prange's "At Dawn We Slept", which is a good read, and from what I can tell, accurate. It only covers up to and including Pearl Harbor.

I slightly recommend William R. Bartsch's "December 8th, 1941: MacArthur's Pearl Harbor" It has some good bits of history, but Barstch gets weighed down with trying to be Prange and Cornelius Ryan, and fails.

[Von Rom]

Two books by John Toland that I highly recommend:

1) "But Not in Shame" is a highly readable and emotional account of the first six months of the Pacific War (from Pearl Harbour to Midway).

2) "The Rising Sun" is another excellent book covering the entire Pacific War (at about 900 pages). It gives good background information about pre-war Japan and its later involvement in the war.

Abe Books has a wide variety of new and used books that ships anywhere in the world:

http://www.abebooks.com/

[kfmiller41]

I have 2 that are really good general histories

The Pacific war, Andrew Wiest and Gregory Mattson Published by MBI
Rise and Fall of Imperial Japan, by The Military Press

I like both of these cause they go through the entire war, have maps and great pictures.

[kev_uk]

All look good. Brief look on amazon and The Rising Sun sounds quite interesting.
Does it contain good military histories and such?
Cheers

[madmickey]

If you do not want to read all 14? volumes of Samuel Elliot Morrison offical Naval history. Get the 2 Ocean War which is a shorter history by the same author.
As previously mentioned the Rising Sun was very good.

[Fallschirmjager]

ORIGINAL: madmickey

If you do not want to read all 14? volumes of Samuel Elliot Morrison offical Naval history. Get the 2 Ocean War which is a shorter history by the same author.
As previously mentioned the Rising Sun was very good.

Is that 14 volume edition still in print?
I would like to have that...

[freeboy]

Isn't there a book by a Keagan or something like that, I'll go to the bookstore.. doh. internet and find it...

[MJLHistory]

Corregidor The Saga Of A Fortesss
James H. & William M. Belote

[freeboy]

Author John Keegan, Price of Admiralty, anouther on WW2m, on on Normandy..

[madmickey]

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

ORIGINAL: madmickey

If you do not want to read all 14? volumes of Samuel Elliot Morrison offical Naval history. Get the 2 Ocean War which is a shorter history by the same author.
As previously mentioned the Rising Sun was very good.

Is that 14 volume edition still in print?
I would like to have that...

I remember reading it from a Canadian University either McGill University before 1976 or University of Calgary after 1976. I would imagine in most big US cities you can read it. Morrison does cover ground war in a general sense and his analysis puts to shame people who call themselves historians now. I have seen that you can get the first 6 volumes in paperback over the Internet.
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/s01/morison.html
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/f01/morison.html

[madmickey]

Actually you can get all 15 volumes. The 15 volume is a supplement and General Index. I may not have read that volume fully.
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/author/m.html
http://www.press.uillinois.edu/s02/morison15.html
For a offical history it is a page turner.

[Fallschirmjager]

I was looking for a website where I could purchase all 14 or 15 volumes together as a boxed set.

[T Rav]

Highly recommend Guadalcanal by Richard B. Frank. It covers almost every aspect about the battle and describes why it was Operation Watchtower was often called Operation Shoestring...

[siRkid]

Here is a list of the ones I've read and enjoyed.

Japan's War, The Great Pacific Conflict, By Edwin P. Hoyt - Covers the entire war and gives some excellent incite into the various aspects of the war from both sides. A very good read.

Eagle Against the Sun, The American War with Japan, by Ronald H. Spector - Lots of facts an a little dry.

With the Old Breed, by E.B. Sledge - An outstanding must read book. Sledge writes about his personal experiences at Peleliu and Okinawa. View the war from the Grunt's point of view.

The Rape of Nanking, by Iris Chang - A must read. The title says it all.

Flyboys, by James Bradley - I must admit I only bought this because I was on travel and needed a book but once I started reading it I could not put it down. It is a recent book (2003) and has a lot of new information in it.

Samurai!, by Saburo Sakai (one of Japan’s greatest Aces) - I enjoyed this book very much. It was interesting to see the war from the losing side. However, the historical accuracy of the facts contained in the book is questionable.

Hope this helps,
Rick

[madmickey]

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

I was looking for a website where I could purchase all 14 or 15 volumes together as a boxed set.

Check some some libraries or E-bay they may be willing to sell their old volumes, if not Morrison words are worth getting in paperback. From University of Illinois

[siRkid]

There was another book I read years ago written by the Captain of a Japanese Destroyer but I can't remember who wrote it. I think the name of the book was Destroyer Captain or something like that.

[brisd]

Two books covering the Pacific War are "Eagle Against The Sun (The American War vs Japan)" (1985) by Ronald H. Spector (1985) and "The Pacific Campaign, the U.S.-Japanese Naval War 1941-1945" (1991) by Dan van der Vat. I found both to be easy reads and under 600 pages. Due to their age I'm sure you can find used copies, like here:

The Pacific Campaign

In searching for this title I found this one and it seems pretty good so I am ordering it:

The Pacific War by John Costello

I can also recommend Toland's "The Rising Sun", especially for the general history rather than military focus.

[dwesolick]

ORIGINAL: Fallschirmjager

I was looking for a website where I could purchase all 14 or 15 volumes together as a boxed set.

I bought the entire set brand new in hardcover at Amazon.com for $149. This was about a year ago, but I think they still have it at the same price.

Oh, and I think shipping is free on orders over $25.

[emorbius44]

ORIGINAL: T Rav

Highly recommend Guadalcanal by Richard B. Frank. It covers almost every aspect about the battle and describes why it was Operation Watchtower was often called Operation Shoestring...

Frank's book is just outstanding. Covers everything about this campaign in great depth and is a good read.

Bob