Customer Reviews

The Empire Falls: Battle of Midway (Graphic History)

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I purchased this book for my 9 yr old son for Christmas and we read it together. I was disappointed at the number of errors in it. I have studied the Battle of Midway for well over 20 years, and found that while the overall facts were fairly good, the number of technical errors were alarming. In one instance the type aircraft used by the Marine Dive Bomber squadron was misidentified and in a number of other instances the drawings did not match the types of aircraft or ships being described in the narrative. I primarily fault the publisher, Osprey, who normally does a pretty thorough job of fact checking in their books. Hopefully others in the series will be better prepared.

In October 2006 Osprey Publishing unveilied its 'Graphic History' line of historical comics. The first releases dealt with the battles of Gettysburg, Iwo Jima, Antietam, Shiloh and this volume. If EMPIRE FALLS, BATTLE OF MIDWAY is representative of the series, Osprey needs to work on some sloppy researching.

I realize these titles are aimed at young adults/teens but, whatever the intended audience, books need to have their facts straight.

For example, some designations/spellings in the book aren't correct. The F2 Brewster Buffalo is actually an F2A. Grumman is spelled throughout the book as Gruman. USS Hammann is misspelled Hamman and so on.

Incorrect facts: (1) Those 'Marine Gruman TBF Avengers' launching from Midway are actually USN TBFs from VT-8. (2) USS Nautilus attacked IJN units not USS Cuttlefish. (3) The VT-8 TBDs were led by Lt. Cdr. John Waldron not Waldon. (4) Akagi was hit by one bomb not two. (5) In the book's final pages, IJN cruiser Mogami has her bow bent back when she rams sister-ship Mikuma. However the cruiser depicted sinking is labeled Mikuma yet clearly has a bent-back bow!

Then too some of the drawings are pretty poor representations of their subjects (i.e. F4Fs, IJN Mogami, etc.)

To be fair, I'll try out several other 'Graphic History' titles. I trust they won't show the same degree of factual sloppiness as EMPIRE FALLS.

Bottom line: Good concept; needs lots of work. EMPIRE FALLS: Not recommended.

I'm a nine year old boy and I think this book is very enjoyable. It helps me understand what happened in Midway. I know that the reviews are bad but I think that as long as you get the point It's pretty good. I know it is a little confusing but after you read it a couple times it will seem like you have been reading it for years. The picture's help me understand what happened on the days of battle. But at least we know the important things of midway. You know that the kids are just going to read the comic's. I understand why the information should be right but as long as you know the important things of Midway. your kid is going to still enjoy the book. what can be better than that.If you know that the carrier's sunk and the other things in midway YOUR KID WILL GROW UP AND BE SUCCESSFUL.