The Battle for Leyte Gulf: The Incredible Story of World War II's Largest Naval Battle [Paperback]

C. Vann Woodward (Author), Evan Thomas (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 2007

Pulitzer-Prize-winner and bestselling author C. Vann Woodward recreates the gripping account of the battle for Leyte Gulf—the greatest naval battle of World War II and the largest engagement ever fought on the high seas. For the Japanese, it represented their supreme effort; they committed to action virtually every operational fighting ship on the lists of the Imperial Navy, including two powerful new battleships of the Yamato class. It also ended in their greatest defeat—and a tremendous victory for the United States Navy. Features a new introduction by Evan Thomas, author of Sea of Thunder.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“So soundly documented that it is hard to see how anyone, ever, will be able to improve on it.”  —The New York Times

About the Author

C. Vann Woodward was an eminent historian and author of seven major books. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1982 and was a professor at both Johns Hopkins and Yale.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing; Reprint edition (November 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1602391947
• ISBN-13: 978-1602391949
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #273,552 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #63 in Books > History > Asia > Philippines

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Old Old Book, January 28, 2009

By 

Computer User (AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Battle for Leyte Gulf: The Incredible Story of World War II's Largest Naval Battle (Paperback)

Woodward first published this book in 1947 copyright MacMillian. My Old copy is Ballantine with browning pages falling out that cost 35 cents. Woodward was a history professor who served in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations as an Intelligence Officer during WW2. This is a quite servicable account of the battle that is a little short on background, but so far it's the clearest that I have read, if somewhat dated. I don't think a reader who knows the general course of the Pacific war will be disappointed reading it. I would recomend it as a good place to start. As for it's maps even ancient original is aided by having a map of the Philippines and western Pacific available. Leyte is after all a complex action taking place over an enormous area. You will not find much here about controversy. It's a book written primarily to inform a popular audience about a large event in the War that their country had just won, an event that probably was out of common knowledge and which only a minority of even it's participants understood in total.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crossing the T for the last time, April 9, 2008

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Battle for Leyte Gulf: The Incredible Story of World War II's Largest Naval Battle (Paperback)

"Oh Hell, they got away!" - A signalman aboard the U.S.S. Fanshaw Bay after the Japanese battleships and cruisers that had been savaging two American escort carrier divisions during the Battle off Samar (Leyte Gulf) inexplicably broke off contact and retired

In October 1944, troops commanded by General MacArthur invaded the Philippines. Knowing that the loss of these islands would cut their empire in half and render inaccessible to their naval forces the fuel stores of Southeast Asia, the Japanese decided on a last ditch, do-or-die sortie of the Imperial Fleet to destroy the American naval force directly involved with the Philippine invasion, i.e. the Seventh Fleet commanded by Vice Admiral Thomas Kincaid, while luring off the covering naval force, the Third Fleet commanded by Admiral William Halsey. Thus, the Japanese unleashed a three-pronged attack on the American landing sites in Leyte Gulf involving three naval commands: the "A" (Northern) Force under Admiral Ozawa, the #1 Diversion Attack (Central) Force under Admiral Kurita, and the #2 Diversion Attack (Southern) Force under Admiral Shima.

THE BATTLE FOR LEYTE GULF is author C. Vann Woodward's superlative account of the U.S. Navy's repulse of an enemy approaching from the north, west and south. It was, because of poor decision making, faulty communications, and disunited command chains, both a near thing for the Yanks and the ultimate source of defeat for the Japanese. Certainly nearer than the final disproportionate tally of ships lost on both sides would indicate.

The Battle for Leyte Gulf was actually four separately defined and described confrontations over three days: the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea, the Battle of Surigao Strait, the Battle off Cape Engano, and the Battle off Samar. In both tonnage engaged and tonnage sunk, the Battle for Leyte Gulf was the largest naval clash in history. Larger even than World War I's Battle of Jutland.

The preponderance of the American defensive action was destroyers and/or aircraft versus the Japanese carriers, battleships, and cruisers. However, the Battle of Surigao Strait saw the last time in naval warfare that opposing capital ships would fire their heavy guns at each other, and the last time that the venerable "crossing the T" would be accomplished (although, by the time the crossbar fired, there was little remaining of the vertical leg). An era was over.

For the American reader, the most compelling of the four engagements is perhaps the Battle of Samar, during which two divisions of the Seventh Fleet's "jeep'' carriers, unprotected by the battleships and cruisers of the Third Fleet that had scampered north to engage Ozawa's decoy Northern Force, were gallantly and stalwartly defended by their hopelessly outgunned destroyer screen against the attack of the massed battleships and cruisers of Kurita's Central Force. More honor is due the men in those small ships than can possibly be conveyed by mere words.

Woodward's prose and storytelling abilities are thoroughly engaging and the redeeming reasons that I'm awarding five stars instead of (perhaps) a more realistic four as the few battle maps range from being above average to outright wretched, the latter characterized by an appearance as if they were copied (badly) from larger originals and then shrunk in size. A photo section is non-existent. Look up the Wikipedia entry for the battle on the Internet and reader interest in those two aspects of the historical record will be well satisfied.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Historical Facts but a Dry Read, December 31, 2007

By 

J.A. McMurphy "J.A. McMurphy" (Middletown, DE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Battle for Leyte Gulf: The Incredible Story of World War II's Largest Naval Battle (Paperback)

As the previous reviewer stated this boook is filled with excellent documentaion and would be a great read for WWII buffs and people who may already be somewhat familiar with the battle. I found the writing style dry and difficult to follow at times. This material in the hands of a more interesting writer such as Ian Toll (Six Frigates) would have been spectacular. The maps included on some of the pages were almost impossible to read, too bad because quality maps would have made it infinitley easier to follow what was written on the pages. Not recommended for a casual reader unless you become more familiar with the battle from other sources first.