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22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Where is Task Force 34? The World Wonders, August 26, 2002
This review is from: Afternoon of the Rising Sun: The Battle of Leyte Gulf (Hardcover)
The battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle of World War II and for all practical reasons, the end of the Japanese navy as a fighting force. Kenneth Friedman has done a superior job of describing each encounter that took place between the Japanese and Americans off the Philippines. The goal of the Japanese was to destroy the American troop ships anchored off of Leyte. They devised a bold plan to trap the Americans in a pincer movement. One force was to steam through the San Bernadino Strait and attack from the center, while a second group was to attack from the South out of the Surigao Strait. A 3rd force consisting of the Japanese carriers attempted to lure the bulk of the American carrier strength North from the Leyte beachhead, leaving it virtually defenseless. American submarines spotted the Northern force and sank 2 haevy cruisers. The force reversed course, but did not retreat, much to the later surprise of the Americans. Meanwhile, a group of American battleships, some of them Pearl Harbor veterans, thoroughly destroyed the Southern force. However, the center force had regrouped and continued through the San Bernadino Strait. The only force the Americans had guarding the beaches were 3 light carrier forces under the command of Admiral Clifton Sprague. What transpired over the next couple of hours can only be described as a naval miracle. Using sheer courage and excellent tactics, the tiny carriers managed to hold off a force consisting of battleships and heavy cruisers and kept the beachhead safe. Meanwhile, Admiral Halsey's tactics were severely scrutinized. He took the Japanese bait and led his entire force of fast battleships and fleet carriers north to attack the Japanese carriers while leaving the Leyte beachhead virtually defenseless. This prompted Admiral Nimitz to send his famous message: "Where is Task Force 34? The World Wonders". If not for Sprague's heroics, the outcome of this battle could have been much different. I thought this book was very well written. The author included many tables and charts which helped me understand the battle much better. Perhaps my favorite part of the book was the story of Sprague's escort carriers. The author credits Sprague with saving the day for the Americans. I would highly recommend this book. It flows along at a good pace and does a good job of explaining one of the major battles in U.S. Navy history.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Commanding History of the Largest Naval Battle Ever Fought, August 3, 2006
This review is from: Afternoon of the Rising Sun: The Battle of Leyte Gulf (Hardcover)
This is perhaps one of the best scholarly histories of a naval battle you can buy, and a powerfully good account of the Battle of Leyte Gulf.
Although this book is more historically oriented than popularly oriented it is still very enjoyable to read as the author makes a clear effort to humanize all the facts, analysis and context behind what became the largest naval battle ever fought. This makes its long 391 page length (and each individual page is fairly information packed) far easier to digest.
He goes through all phases of the battle, which was actually a campaign of four or five battles depending on how you count, giving equal weight to the American and Japanese perspective. This paints a canvas that allows you to understand the battle in its entirety; how the strategic interplay of both sides' plans, objectives, knowledge of each other, and actions inexorably cast the outcome. Context, fact, analysis and personalized stories are presented concurrently in a seamless and skillful fashion.
He proceeds from the seedlings of the battle, where the Americans and Japanese altered their grand strategies for the war after the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Here the American debates between MacArthur and Nimitz were particularly interesting. The preceeding battles, namely the Air Battle of Formosa, which played a critical role in the upcoming Leyte campaign are then described, followed by every naval facet of the actual Leyte campaign itself that you could want to know. Everything in the book is well researched and extremely detailed. There is also a particular, and highly justified, focus on the actions off Samar on 25 OCT 1944, also memorialized outstandingly in "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors."
This is a highly recommended read for any WWII or Navy history buffs! A lot can be learned about waging wars and fighting battles in general from this pivotal action, and the author does much to teach it to you.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A story that needs to be told again and again!, February 2, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Afternoon of the Rising Sun: The Battle of Leyte Gulf (Hardcover)
This book takes a complex battle and explains it in such a way that the reader can easily understand what happened and when. The author seems to have spent considerable time doing the research for this work because he offers so much information from the Japanese perspective as well as the American. I particularly enjoyed the detail he went into explaining and analyzing the reasons the commanders made the decisions they did. Written in an easy, flowing narrative style, the book is one that I could not put down once I started reading it. It was a real page turner. A must read for those who want to know more about World War II in the Pacific!
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