Matrix Games Forums

I have spent the last 12 months learning to play UV, and then WiTP, while educating myself on the Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO). In the process, I have read approximately 20 books and played many hundreds of hours—burning lots of “Spouse Points” in the process.

The purpose of this thread is to provide a forum for recommending must-have books (my list is limited to those in English) that are most beneficial to learning about the PTO to help enjoy WiTP for the relative newbie (to save those who follow both time and a few Spouse Points). My hope is to update the thread begun by John 3rd approximately a year ago which included an exhaustive bibliography by Knavey.

Some of the books were simply on my shelves, others I found cheap at used-book stores, and still others were focused purchases.

WiTP Book List Format
Title, Author[Rating]Relative Cost, Notes
Ratings are a subjective blend of the quality of the research, writing skill and relevance. Bias Check: I am 45. I grew up in Seattle visiting the USS Missouri; however, I spent 20 years in the U.S. Army and knew next to nothing about the PTO. I still think Bismarck is the most beautiful warship in profile ever constructed and Yamato would have slapped Missouri around like a red-headed stepchild except for the evil invention of fire control radar.

Costs are estimated U.S. dollars, scale: “$” = 0-10, “$$” = 10-25, “$$$” =25-50, “$$$$” = 50-100, “$$$$$” = 100+

Background/Overview
At Dawn We Slept, Prange [A] $$$ Excellent; haunting
Requiem for Battleship Yamato, Mitsuru [A] $$ Very short; excellent; not just for IJN Fanboys
The Two-Ocean War, Morison [A-] $$$ Classic overview of the USN in WWII
The Pacific War, Costello $$ Reasonably balanced overview
And I Was There, Layton $$$ Ultimate, if long winded, myth-buster
The Rising Sun, Toland $$$ Well written, but a little revisionist
Empires in the Balance, Willmott $$ Have not finished yet

Practical Guides to Strategy
The Barrier and the Javelin, Willmott [A] $$ Must-have for early war strategy
Breaking the Bismark Barrier, Morison [A-] $$ Classic; period writing and history
The Struggle For Guadalcanal, Morison [A-] $$ Classic; period writing and history

British Asia
Forgotten Armies, Bayly [A-] $$ Great for understanding the Malaya, Burma and India campaigns
The Forgotten Fleet, Winton $$$ Helpful for rounding-out knowledge

Tactics
Shattered Sword, Parschall [A+] $$$ Must have for early war CV ops
Kaigun, Evans [A] $$$ Superb IJN background
Fire in the Sky, Bergerud [A-] $$$ Excellent (if wordy) primer on the Air War in the South Pacific
Silent Victory, Blair [A-] $$ Eye-opener for non-submariners
Submarine!, Beach $ Period writing; surprisingly good for sub tactics
Samurai, Sakai [C] $$$ Great pilot, disappointing book

Reference
Battleships (Axis and Neutral),Garzke [A] $$$$$ Great insight into warship design & construction
Conways All The Worlds Fighting Ships 1922-1946 [B+] $$$$ Solid ship reference
Aircraft of World War II, Chant [C+] $ Cheap aircraft reference
Jane's all the World's Aircraft 1946 [F] $$$$ Useless

You might want to add this to the "sticky" up above. [:)]

tm.asp?m=1274014

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

Thanks for the info on the books[:)]

What about Bloody Shambles?

Personally I would add Guadalcanal by Franks, Sea of Thunder...not sure of the author and Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors (again not sure of author).

But Not in Shame: The Six Months After Pearl Harbor by John Toland. A good overview of Japanese expansion early in its war against the USA/Allies.

They Fought With What They Had: The Story of the Army Air Forces in the Southwest Pacific, 1941-1942 by Walter D. Edmonds. Very detailed narrative of (mostly) USAAF activity in, around and south of the Philippine Islands.

History of Marine Corps Aviation in World War II by Robert Sherrod. Another highly detailed narrative, this one devoted to USMC aviation in the PTO. It's a great source of OOB information for Marine squadrons.

The First Team and The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign by John Lundstrom. If you're at all interested in U.S. naval aviation, you really ought to read these two books. They provide a very detailed and well-documented analysis of the activity of USN fighter squadrons, "VF," through the Battle of Midway, in the first instance, and August to November, 1942, in the second.

The first three are likely out of print, so they might prove expensive to purchase. That said, a trip to the library could always land you a good read. I believe that the Lundstrom books are still being sold by Naval Institute Press.

PoE (aka ivanmoe)

ORIGINAL: Prince of Eckmühl

The First Team and The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign by John Lundstrom. If you're at all interested in U.S. naval aviation, you really ought to read these two books. They provide a very detailed and well-documented analysis of the activity of USN fighter squadrons, "VF," through the Battle of Midway.

Thanks, I think the Lundstrom books will be next on my hit parade.

ORIGINAL: cantona2

What about Bloody Shambles?

Cantona2, how would you argue a case for Bloody Shambles as a must-have? Looks like a 3 volume series. Is any one better than the others?

thanks, Wirraway

ORIGINAL: HansBolter

Personally I would add Guadalcanal by Franks, Sea of Thunder...not sure of the author and Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors (again not sure of author).

I read all three and loved all three.

Other favorites of mine.

Abandon Ship! and

In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and The Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors

both deal with the same subject matter and are great books. I did like In Harms Way better though.


Pacific Alamo, A title I've mentioned before and is a good resource if you want to know details of the Wake Island siege in December '41. Also some chapters on their captivity and time on hell ships.

Halseys Typhoon

Glory of the Solomons

its realy sad that there are so few usable germen books about the pacific war. the only one which is also very well translated is:



in this book, you can even read some stuff about saburo sakai at guadalcanal and about the USN carrier attack at kure in march 1945 where the navy pilots faced the japanese NIK-2-J george and had some loses.

the rest of the books may be good in english, but is totaly dreadful translated into german.



i realy dont know any other good german book about this very intresting part of WW 2.

there are some books writen by experts for land warfare and also one from januz piekalkiewitz about the overall naval warfare in WW2 but without going to details about the pacific war.

you anglo-americans are very lucky with your book selection.[&o]

Battle History of the IJN by Paul S. Dull is good as well.

Military Innovation in the Interwar Period by Williamson Murray (available used on Amazon from $14.49 or new for about $29) is another good book that looks at various systems and doctrines (amphibious assault, sub warfare, carriers, strategic bombing, etc.) and typically does a case study on how three great powers approached the issues differently between the wars and then their actual wartime results.  Obviously, the armored warfare topic doesn't get involved with WitP topics, but many of the remaining ones do. 

There is three book set of US Marine Corps studies by Magee. it should be cheap.

Think he's referring to William L. McGees Alligator Navy series, Glencannon Press, 1997. I have these and they are deeply informative. Lots of my buds in the Corps read and respect this man.

John.

You guys are going to scare off the "straights". Who is going to by this game if they are obliged to read 20 books before they start? [;)]

Ah, my goal was to get it down to just a few must-haves (depending on your background).

Without any naval, aviation, submarine or SE Asia historical knowledge, I needed Fire in the Sky, Shattered Sword, The Barrier and the Javelin, Silent Victory and Forgotten Armies to feel comfortable. The rest are all window dressing...

Must haves must include:

Combined Fleet Decoded by John Prados
Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James Hornfischer
Tennozan: The Battle of Okinawa and the Atomic Bomb by George Feifer

ORIGINAL: mdiehl

Must haves must include:

Combined Fleet Decoded by John Prados
Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors by James Hornfischer
Tennozan: The Battle of Okinawa and the Atomic Bomb by George Feifer

Thanks mdiehl. Could you give some insight into why these three?

My concurance is with:
1.  The First Team books by Lundstrom.  Marvelous reading, reasonable price, and excellent sources for the development of American CV Air Group tactics through Guadalcanal.  VERY readable!

2.  The Willmott books are excellent for early history of the war.  I learned a lot more about the DEI defence and Burma in particular.

3. Frank's Guadalcanal is the single best one-volume history of the campaign. It is magnificent!

4.  I had real issues reading the Bergerud books.  I felt that they repeated things and were quite reading.  Not as readible or interesting (for me) as options 1, 2, and 3.

My .02!

I few books not listed above that I would suggest reading:
All of Samuel Morrison History of the United States Navy in World War II, not Two Ocean War or specific volumes dealing with the pacific.
Theodore Roscoe Destroyer Operations in World War II and Submarine Operations in World War II
Japanese Destroyer Captain by Hara (?)
Before Reading Prangle's books on Pear Harbor - Walter Lloyd's Day of Infamy
Before reading Prangle's Miracle at Midway and Parschall's Shattered Sword, Fuchida and Pineau's Midway the Battle that Doomed Japan - to compare advances in research, perception and accepted knowledge on the famous battle.
Doomed at the Start the American Pursuit Pilots in in the Philippines 1941-1942.
Defeat into Victory by William Slim
 
Just to rattle off a few.
 
Reading right now: Kamikazes, Corsairs and Pickets Ships by Robin Rielly
Pending:
Masters of the Air by Donald Miller
Retribution by Max Hastings