Question on Good Books on the Pacific War

[MikeH1952]

I'm looking for a good history of the Pacific War as a present. Any suggestions guys?
Glad to hear your reccomendations.

[Dereck]

ORIGINAL: Mike Hayday

I'm looking for a good history of the Pacific War as a present. Any suggestions guys?
Glad to hear your reccomendations.

Books I personally have:

1. The Rising Sun by John Toland , 1,072 pages ... provides the Japanese side of the war. Sort of an Asian Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Plus side: very good information and point of view from the Japanese side and it covers from before the war through to the end ... minus side: it is LONG and takes a lot of time to read [:D]

2. Double-Edged Secrets: U.S. Naval Intelligence Operations in the Pacific during World War II by CAPT W.J. Holmes, 231 pages ...plus side: written by someone who served in the Combat Intelligence Unit in Hawaii so it's inside information ... minus side: it is geared toward US operations and doesn't have much if anything concerning SEAC.

3. And I Was There: Pearl Harbor and Midway - Breaking the Secrets by RADM Edwin T. Layton, 596 pages ... plus side: written by the intelligence officer to both ADM Kimmel before Pearl Harbor and to ADM Nimitz after Pearl Harbor until the end of the war so there is also plenty of inside information and shows how Washington turf wars basically ended up keeping vital information from Pearl Harbor before the attack ... minus side: definitely geared toward American operations and it also only mainly covers the time before the war to around Midway (June 1942) although it DOES provide really good background information prior to Pearl Harbor.

4. At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor by Gordon W. Prangle, 889 pages ... plus side: it's focused on events leading up to and the attack on Pearl Harbor ... minus side: it's about 20 years old so new information may be available which could be more accurate than this book and the plus side could also be a minus

5. The Pacific Campaign: The US-Japanese Naval War 1941-1945 by Dan van der Vat, 430 pages ... plus side: it gives a very good overvue of the entire war and also has good insites into the political situation/relations between the US and the British and Australians, etc ... minus side: as the book said it only covers the US-Japanese part of the war so the Burma and China Theatres are not included.

[Oliver Heindorf]

James F. Dunnigan & Albert A. Nofi : Victory at Sea. reveals really intresting ideas & thoughts including some really unpopular facts . It also includes a good overview about logistics.


John Costello : The Pacific War. A one-volume account of WWII in the pacific. Good stories of the fighting in this book. It tells alot about the complex political, social and economics casues in the war.

Samuel Morison : History of the US Navy in WW2 Volumes 1-14 but that is a ton of books it gives you detailled view of the entire usn series of battles. You will get every naval battle well detailled.

[tanker4145]

E.B. Sledge: With the Old Breed. You're probably looking for strategic or operational books, but this is my all time favorite. It's about a Marine private at Peleilu (sp?) and Okinawa. It's his memoirs on the Pacific campaign. It is an amazing read. It opens your eyes to how some of the war was fought. Like the story he tells about another Marine cutting out the gold teeth from a Jap whose spine and been broken by a bullet. The Jap is screaming and finally another Marine shoots him. It's not very often you can find details like that. Shows you how hellish war can be. Overall just a great book though, and it only costs about $10-15.

[Herrbear]

Empires in the Balance - H. P Willmott

[derwho]

I'm contemplating on purchasing "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II (15 Volume Set)" ISBN: 0762854316, $169 in Amazon. As the €/$ favours me I think this might not be such a bad investment.

Anyone have it? Worth the money?

[Dereck]

ORIGINAL: drwho

I'm contemplating on purchasing "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II (15 Volume Set)" ISBN: 0762854316, $169 in Amazon. As the €/$ favours me I think this might not be such a bad investment.

Anyone have it? Worth the money?

Oh wow ... if I had that much spare money I might be tempted to pick it up. I need more reading material.

[CMDRMCTOAST]

Touched with Fire "The land war in the pacific" Eric Bergerud
A great read on the ground combat between the Aussies, Allies
and the Japanese.

Downfall " The End of the Japanese Empire" Richard B. Frank
Starts with the firebombing of Tokyo and covers the destruction of
every city from there on out till the end of the war.
It is pretty informative from the people that lived in the cities
at the time and talks about the manufacturing base that existed in
peoples houses around the big factories at that time.

[SimonDC]

H.P. Wilmott also wrote a one volume that is part of a larger British series on warfare, that I think was edited by John Keegan, that is called War in the East (it is the Pacific not Russia) and covers the entire war and may be more comprehensive on the non-US actors. It is an overview and not as in depth as many of the others. Good maps and chart illustrating Japanese shipping losses for example.

[Philwd]

drwho,
That set is worth every penny. Some info is a little outdated but you won't find a more detailed outline of almost every major and minor battle. Leyte is a whole volume by itself. It took me the better part of a year to read.

Quark

[RayM]

Hello Mike:

Always a tough question to answer because the answer is really "...it depends..."

My favorite one-volume on a particular campaign is "Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account," by Richard B. Frank. IMHO, the best book on the campaign.

High-level overview: H.P Willmott's "The Second World War in the Far East," as mentioned by SimonDC.

[derwho]

Downfall " The End of the Japanese Empire" Richard B. Frank
Starts with the firebombing of Tokyo and covers the destruction of
every city from there on out till the end of the war.
It is pretty informative from the people that lived in the cities
at the time and talks about the manufacturing base that existed in
peoples houses around the big factories at that time.

It's a fine book indeed! Ultimately and finally convinced me that dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was the correct thing to do at the time taking into account all the available intelligence that the US had about Japanease intentions.

A _must_ for anyone interested in the Pacific Theater of Operations:

"Kaigun : Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0870211927

"Sunburst: The Rise of the Japanese Naval Air Power, 1909-1941"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... 557504326/

Two truly magnificant books by Mark R. Peattie.

[MikeH1952]

Thank you for all the advice and reccomendations.

I have placed the order via Amazon. I will naturallly borrow the books from my son post Xmas.

Thanks to all.

[BlackVoid]

The Guadalcanal book by R. B. Frank is very good.
Not soo good, but still not bad - Bergerud: The Air War in the South Pacific

Samurai! by Saburo Sakai is also excellent.

[Titanwarrior89]

A good one on the early PI campaign: "But Not In Shame" by Toland.[:D]

[revlis]

Thanks Mike, you just asked the question I would like to ask.

May I have your kindly suggestions specifically on the naval war in Pacific theater?
I have tried to survey in Amazon.com but I don't really know where to begin.
I would like to find some 'encyclopedia-like' tool book for ship recognition and ship specification.
Short or detailed historical description of the ships will be a plus.
Is there any recommendation?

Thanks for your time and I apology for my poor English.

[Bodhi]

ORIGINAL: revlis
May I have your kindly suggestions specifically on the naval war in Pacific theater?
I would like to find some 'encyclopedia-like' tool book for ship recognition and ship specification.
Short or detailed historical description of the ships will be a plus..

Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922-1946
Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II
Destroyers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia
Cruisers of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia
Battleships of World War Two: An International Encyclopedia
Fleets of World War II
Jane's Naval History of WWII (Jane's)

[MikeH1952]

I would add Aircraft Carriers of the World
Author Roger Chesneau
Publisher Arms and Armour Press

[spence]

I would like to add a trilogy covering the Guadalcanal Campaign, all by Eric Hammell:

"Guadalcanal: Starvation Island" (the land campaign, Savo island, Cape Esperance)
"Guadalcanal: Decision at Sea" (the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal 12-15 Nov 42)
"Guadalcanal: The Carrier Battles" (Eastern Solomons and Santa Cruz Is)

[DaveConn]

I've been in the process of reading Morison cover to cover; now on Vol. 13 (almost there!). I think it is a must read. He also did a one-volume history that I bought used years ago; can't remember the title, though.

As far as the air war, I highly recommend "The First Team" and "The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign", both by John Lundstrom.