The Eagle and the Rising Sun: The Japanese-American War 1941-1943: Pearl Harbor through Guadalcanal [Hardcover]

Alan Schom (Author), Alan M. Schom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2003

A fresh and provocative account of the greatest naval campaign of the twentieth century.

Alan Schom's histories and biographies have been celebrated for their iconoclastic approach and a dramatic focus on extraordinary personalities meeting at the crossroads of history. In this magisterial history of World War II in the Pacific, he shows how the conflict was in neither the United States's nor Japan's best interest. On one hand, the American government and people were as inadequately prepared for war as any major power has ever been; on the other hand, Schom's close reading of Japanese military and political documents reveal that their supreme command knew they could not possibly win. 32 pages of photographs

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This opinionated but cluttered history covers the dramatic slugfest in the Pacific during the first year and a half after Pearl Harbor. Schom's treatment of historiographical issues-the rise of Japanese militarism, the need for raw materials that set Japan on the path of conquest, America's woeful unpreparedness and obliviousness to warnings of the impending Pearl Harbor attack-is usually well judged, although not groundbreaking. He emphasizes naval operations, and his analysis of initial American tactical ineptitude, especially in handling aircraft carriers, is particularly acute. Schom (Napoleon Bonaparte: A Life) turns a beady eye to history's personalities here, offering gossipy character studies of its leading (and not-so-leading) participants. This approach sometimes yields pungent insights, as in his blistering attack on MacArthur, a "befuddled" self-promoter and "greatest natural-born autocrat of them all," whose bungled defense of the Philippines Schom pegs as the worst American failure of the war. But the frequent intrusion of extraneous biographical detail (e.g., "Chester Nimitz walked to school barefoot as a child") disrupts coherent thematic development, while the author's fondness for living-history tableaux ("the smiling FDR wore a Panama hat and light beige tropical suit, his cigarette at its usual jaunty angle") pads the narrative. Schom has done a lot of research, on everything from the love lives of American commanders to the London theater season during Hirohito's 1921 state visit, to a strained encounter between Roosevelt and a nude Churchill, and he seems determined to let none of it go to waste. Some readers will love this; others may find themselves wishing he would lay off the human interest and get on with the war. Photos.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

This stout, imposing history of the first year and a half of World War II in the Pacific resembles Barbara Tuchman's World War I classic, The Guns of August, even if the blurbs say so themselves. Schom is a master of narrative technique, though not always of minor details of naval technology. He depicts the Japanese navy as probably superior in fighting power as well as numbers during this phase of the war. But it was critically weakened by poor logistical support against an American navy slowly learning to fight and rapidly building strength, thanks to America's matchless war productivity. A particular strength of the book consists of Schom's portraits of numerous leaders, some well known, such as MacArthur, about whom Schom is scathing, and Nimitz, about whom he waxes just this side of hagiography; and others who have been out of the limelight, such as Richmond Kelly Turner, an implacable and effective sea warrior with a terrible temper, and Frank Jack Fletcher, whose grasp of carrier warfare badly needed improvement. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 416 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; First Edition edition (December 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393049248
• ISBN-13: 978-0393049244
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.5 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,089,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good operational history from Manchuko to Guadalcanal., March 8, 2005

By 

Kevin C. B. "Opportunistic reader" (Kansas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eagle and the Rising Sun: The Japanese-American War 1941-1943: Pearl Harbor through Guadalcanal (Hardcover)

Having read extensively on the subject matter within this book previously, it was nice to read a build up to Pearl Harbor (making the subtitle of the book somewhat of a misnomer) and not just diving into the war in the first chapter. I had read the history of SE Asia preceeding WWII in bits and pieces mainly, but had never read anything where the author skillfully and successfully put it all into a compelling narrative before.

Additionally, the author frequently added small biographies of many important historical figures. Some last less than a page, others up to five pages of information (like McArthur). Regardless, these are revealing and convey excellent information to the reader regarding motivations, personalities, and mannerisms.

In several cases the author presents evidence about such historical figures in a somewhat objective manner and lets the reader form their own opinion before either lambasting or praising the actions of such figures. Never over the top however.

Largely, the author doesn't get into much minutiae regarding combat operations and instead concentrates on policy decisions and operational history and the people that made or reacted to these events. That's not to say there aren't any reference to combat and it's impact, however it's just not a history intended to be that detailed in this regard. Regardless, it is still compelling and highly informative about the personages and policies of the period in question.

Overall, a highly regarded operational history with detailed information on the people who made the deicions at the time. Maps are decent, but not detailed and the bibliography is well documented as well. Not an unflawed history by any means, but certainly full of relevant and detailed information in the areas specified earlier.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Shoddy, December 29, 2003

By 

Dave Ostlund (Kodiak, AK USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Eagle and the Rising Sun: The Japanese-American War 1941-1943: Pearl Harbor through Guadalcanal (Hardcover)

I could not finish this book. I had to put it down after finding myself wanting to hurl it across the room at every third page. This book is not "fresh", his opinions and conclusions are hardly "iconoclastic" (let alone having much of a foundation), and the author's tendency to back- and sidetrack is maddening. This book is rife with mistakes, both grammatical and factual. There were enough mistakes, in fact, that I began to doubt the veracity of the few bits of information that I hadn't read before. About the only point on which I agree with Mr. Schom is MacArthur. All due respect to the opinions of other reviewers on this page, but my grandfather knew MacArthur at that time, and had nothing good to say about him. Furthermore, I doubt very much that Mr. Schom intended to, nor do I feel that he did, diminish the heroic efforts of the Battling Bastards of Bataan.

That being said, here are a few things that stand out to me as being particularly irksome:
Mr. Schom's apology (to the Japanese, I would imagine) for the use of the word "Jap", by historical figures, in his work. Since when do "historians" apologize for the use of material that they may not agree with?

Mr. Schom's unfairly harsh treatment of Lt. Kermit Tyler. Lt. Tyler was the duty officer that took the call from Opana Point about the large air contact approaching Oahu. Tyler's attitude merely reflected the attitude of his command. If this were not so, why wasn't a tracking party assigned around the clock?

"And thus was cast the proverbial dye, blood-red, as in the imperial flag"[sic]. Words fail me.

If one more author describes the angle of FDR's cigarette holder as "jaunty", I'm going to ....well, you get the idea.

If you want to read this book, I'll send you mine.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Avoid it all costs unless you like to laugh, January 7, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: The Eagle and the Rising Sun: The Japanese-American War 1941-1943: Pearl Harbor through Guadalcanal (Hardcover)

I had high hopes for this work - I specialize on the Pacific campaign and the period covered by Schom is the most vital and interesting of the war. Unfortunately, the book not only fails to deliver anything new, it fails to deliver the old information accurately. Despite the rather impressive footnote section, the massive number of errors (historical and grammatical) call the veracity of the entire work into question.

Schom's attempts to offer something new and exciting lead to him focus on ADM Turner, a highly under-rated actor in the Pacific War and someone deserving of far more attention in historiography than he has yet received. But the work's massive flaws dilute even this impact.

The errors range from minor to gigantic. Many are small things or even editorial errors; i.e. the statement that the 1922 Naval Treaty limited the USN to 100 million tons of shipping - a rather astonishing amount - or reflecting on ADM Yamamoto eagerly awaiting word of the outcome of the attacks on Pearl aboard his flagship YAMATO - a peculiar statement when the YAMATO was not even formally commissioned until mid December 1941 and did not become the Combined Fleet flagship until Feb 1942.

Other issues cause problems for the work as well. Schom takes continual personal asides to discuss the upbringings or backgrounds of actors in the events he covers, but they are constantly distracting from the narrative. Other items, like his constant minor snipes at the French performance in the war, are puzzling at best. He tosses in glib comments about the Vichy French using American planes to bomb Allied troops in Syria and North Africa without mentioning the little fact that both areas were being invaded by British or American forces. Likewise, he somewhat snidely comments on the Vichy government's decision to break diplomatic relations with England in July 1940, but again fails to mention the minor detail that it followed the British attacks against the French naval forces at Oran. None of these are central to his work, but all call into question the balance and research of the views provided to the reader. While all historians (myself included) have axes to grind, care needs to be taken to present more balance and background - particularly if authors wish to take time away from their topic to address tangential issues.

Overall, I had high hopes for the book that were invariably dashed. Though the book appears well-researched from the extensive notes section, the glaring and continual errors and sidetracking editorials call all of the author's conclusions and balance into serious question and eliminates any utility to this work. So approach with caution...