Customer Reviews

Marine Tank Battles In The Pacific

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4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
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The book's information is priceless, and I AM glad I bought it, BUT Amazon dropped the ball by not revealing the actual publisher. This is a reprint done by DaCapo Press, and they cut corners. The pictures are terrible and nearly indistinct. The slip-cover is fine, but you look at the spine, and there's one word printed : Gilbert. The quality of the binding is good, but these guys didn't give this wonderful book the treatment it deserved.

If this all that we have, and if you are a collector of US Marine histories, then you'd better grab up that last copy. Be forewarned, though, that this is a subpar reissue of the original Combined Press edition.

This superb book gives exciting descriptions of tank battles fought by Marines during WW2. Since both the American and Japanese used tanks in an infantry support role, most battles were fought with small groups of tanks. The book describes the battles in which tanks were used in support of infantry. This includes use of Japanese tanks in support of their infantry against the US troops. The book also details the few, brief tank vs. tank battles between the US Marines and the Japanese. The author does an excellent job describing the overall battle of each island, the roll of the American and Japanese tanks in them., and first hand accounts of small actions. The book also includes about 100 photographs which provide a good idea what much of the terrain and combat were like. This is a must have for anyone interested in armored warfare or the WW2 war in the Pacific. I only wish I could find a comparable book on the US army tank battles in the Pacific.

Marines and tanks? Who would ever write about this? This book is long overdue. Every book on the Pacific was mentions breifly the role Marine Tanks. This book covers that gap in grand style. I shows the development of Marine Armor, and its employemnt in some of the bloodiest battles of the war. This book on the Corps unsung heros, is faced paced and very easy to read. If you read other books about the USMC in the Pacific, read this very worthy book.

As a retired Marine officer, amateur historian and former newsman, I can say Gilbert is a knowledgeable and facile writer. I thoroughly enjoyed "Marine Tank Battles in Korea." Gilbert knows how to write popular history, and he gets it right. This volume reads beautifully, however the half-tones are the pits. The original version of this volume was published by Combined Publishing on quality paper with excellent photo reproduction. The volume I received from Amazon was not the Combined Publishing edition, but one by DaCapo Press. It looks like a photocopy of the original done overseas. Most of the pictures are muddy and indecipherable. Useless as a modeling reference, but great reading.
BF Halloran

As a former U.S. Army Tanker in the late 1960s I could empathize with the tankers daily routine of movement and maintenance. The long underpaid overworked hours one puts in as a track-head. Being couped up, nearly blind in a turret wondering what was going on outside of one' pony. I was truly amazed at the bravery and dedication of the WWII Marine Corp. Tankers, the appalling carnage they witnessed and the pathos of combat. The author brought all this and more to life in his writing. At times I got sick from the bloody battles they and the infantry fought in the Pacific Theater. Having served in the far east I can imagine easily the mental and physical toll the heat, humidity and insects took on one's mind and body. I feel that the political leaders of this county should read this before committing us to war.

This is an excellent read that has been well researched with great accounts by the battle participants. However, the Da Capo edition is of extremely poor quality. The photos provided to supplement the stories and provide a visual understanding of the conditions that confronted the tankers are worse than bad photo copies. Not a single picture is clear - all are dark and indiscernible. I'm now on the hunt for a hard to find Combined Publishing first edition for my collection -- this poor reprint is a throw-away. Let me emphasize--the book is superb, the Da Capo published version is terrible.

Well researched and well written, a very detailed account
of Marine tankers in WWII. Fascinating details, such as
tank crew members being shipped to the Pacific without
ever SEEING a tank!Photo reproductions, however, were
badly subpar, which lessens the enjoyment of this type of
book.