Fix on the Rising Sun: The Clipper Hi-Jacking of 1938--And the Ultimate M.I.A.'s [Paperback]

Charles N. Hill (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: 1st Book Library; 2nd edition (December 4, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588203638
• ISBN-13: 978-1588203632
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #448,689 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Detailed But Poorly Laid Out, May 26, 2008

By 

John P. Richardson "reverendlinux" (Colorado Springs, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fix on the Rising Sun: The Clipper Hi-Jacking of 1938--And the Ultimate M.I.A.'s (Paperback)

I stumbled across a review of this book in an airline magazine I read from time to time. Being a Pan-Am fan, I thought it sounded interesting and would help to broaden my knowledge on the subject of the lost Pan-Am clipper. In the end the book succeeded on both counts, but not completely.

First, the kudos. The author has done a fantastic job of research. Mr. Hill is to be commended for the depth and breadth of material he has collected over the last two decades. His efforts to document every single facet of the mysterious loss of the Hawaii Clipper shed light into the dark recesses of aviation history. His theory's of the hijacking of the aircraft and possible murder of the passengers and crew at the hands of the Japanese military are made all the more plausible by his research and substantiating materials. Given the information Mr. Hill lays out, I dare say that anyone would come away from this book convinced that the Hawaii Clipper and those on board may have met a fate far more nefarious than just being lost at sea.

So if the author did such a fine job laying out his case, why did I give this book three stars? Two reasons: the lack of linear narrative and his vitriolic diatribes against the Japanese.

The author chose a topic based approach to presenting his information rather than telling his story in a linear fashion. In essence, it seems to be written more as a reference book than a true narrative. This would be fine if one were to use the book while verbally debating whether the case he makes did or did not happen. But in trying to read the book cover to cover, it can be tedious. Events are repeated many times, too much time is spent on the mechanics of plotting courses over open water, and once the people involved are introduced we rarely hear of them again. All this leads to a very clinical and sterile telling of the tale which is at odds with the passion for the subject that the author displays in his opening and closing chapters. Rewritten in a linear story telling fashion, this book would have been a great tale of cloak and dagger exploits in the dark days leading up to WWII.

The other stumbling block of the book is the author's mean, and almost hateful, tone towards the Japanese government and military past and present. Although I understand Mr. Hill's message (come clean about the whole affair), his writing conveys an undertone of racism and hate that almost derails the spirit of the openess and need for closure that pervades throughout the rest of the book. To me, a less spiteful, less editorial tone would have suited this book much better.

In the end, the weaknesses of this book should not stop any fan of Pan-Am history (or political history for that matter) from buying it. However, don't expect a history book; expect a reference book and you won't be let down.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hawaii Clipper Hijack?!, August 31, 2009

By 

W. Liebhauser "Captain Easy" (Nevada, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fix on the Rising Sun: The Clipper Hi-Jacking of 1938--And the Ultimate M.I.A.'s (Paperback)

The premise of the book is that that Pan Am's Hawaii Clipper was cleverly hijacked by renegade Japanese naval officers, and the passengers and crew executed and buried under a concrete slab on Truck. The plane was thehn taken to Japan for 'reverse engineering.'

The author constructed an interesting case, and many pieces seem to fit.

I went away with a few critical notions that could have made the book REALLY good.

1) The elaborate hi-jack, to reverse engineer the machine, is a little weak. But the notion of intercepting some of the passengers probably could use more research (seems like a lot easier and simpler to have the passengers wind up dead on a back street in Manila or Hong Kong - the Japanese certainly had the spy network to accomplish that). That the Japanese really wanted to see Pa Am and Americans generally out of the region is barely explored, but deserves more treatment, along with the secret arrangements between Pan Am and the US military.
2) The author expends many pages on navigational reconstruction. It seems excessively complex and not well explained to the lay person. I actually have some training in navigation from my military days, and, frankly, I was lost (no pun intended) at several points in the discussion.
3) I wasn't too sure why the discussions of Amelia Earhart were included. I have read most of what has been published on AE, and I knew Joe Gervais, so it isn't that I am not interested, but there is a lot to that story, and the inclusion of a small piece of it, the Itasca radio log, in the appendix, is a little puzzeling, although the author has a unique theory on her last messages; but it deserves a separate work.

One other reviewer took the author to task for being too 'anti Japanese.' The author's nationalistic, pro-American bias does come through, but not in bad taste. Frankly, it was a bit refreshing compared to some of the 'bad America' apologetics written on this and other topics that try to sell the notion that in the 1930s the Japanese leaders were really nice folks and it was just our evil Capitalist intrusion on their world that caused all the problems; never mind the brutality of their aggresson, the rape of Nanking and other Chinese cities, the war crimes, and the needless destruction of Manila, to name a few.

Overall, the book is worth the price paid, amd will be of interest to most Pacific Rim and WWII history buffs.