Customer Reviews

Miracle at Midway

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Just how fortunate the United States was in winning the closely contested navy engagement at Midway in the central Pacific in mid 1942 is evident to any reader of this very well documented and quite balanced account of one of the largest and most famous exchanges between the US navy and their Japanese counterparts during the course of World War Two. By using extensive inputs from both Japanese and American participants and observers of the sea battle, the authors thread together a memorable and engaging narrative of the events leading up to and involving both sides during the summer months of that fateful year. It was one for the record books, and one that demonstrated conclusively that the rules of war at sea had changed forever from one dominated by capital ships like battleships and cruisers to one dominated by aircraft carriers and attack airplanes.

In the devastating aftermath of Pearl Harbor, the American Navy was looking for an opportunity to engage the Japanese in a "mano-a-mano" confrontation, hoping to even the odds and shorten the war by using what we felt would be surprise and tactics to overcome the numerical advantage the Japanese enjoyed in numbers of both ships (especially in terms of aircraft carriers) and launchable aircraft. Even though the Japanese had blundered badly at the battle of the Coral Sea, they left the scene believing the fracas had been won, and that they had further damaged the American fleet by sinking three carriers. And though the U.S. Navy did in fact limp away having lost some of its few carriers either through sinking or damage, in actuality they had inflicted more damage than they had incurred. Furthermore, soon one of the badly damaged U. S. Navy carriers (the Yorktown) would be repaired and ready to sail in support of the Midway engagement.

Also, by cracking certain aspects of the Japanese Navy's wireless communication codes, the Americans were able to determine not only what the Japanese were ostensibly planning in terms of a strategy to take Midway, but also what the specific positioning and disposition of the various aspects of the Japanese naval force would be. Obviously, this information added to the element of surprise gave the Americans a huge tactical advantage, and made victory much more possible. Yet it did not guarantee anything. It was the tactical brilliance and contemporaneous innovation of the on-site commanders in the American force that won the day. In a series of engagements that did not change the course of the battle until the last few remaining waves of American aircraft suddenly sank or damaged the majority of the Japanese carriers, the Americans succeeded both through their own daring and a few fatal tactical errors on the part of the Japanese commanders.

The results were devastating for the Japanese, who never again could muster the kind of raw carrier power, or just as importantly, ever replace the huge number of experienced carrier-based aircraft pilots needed to successfully engage and threaten the expanding American task forces that within another 12 to 18 months would virtually transform the character of the war in the Pacific, leading the Japanese into waging an almost suicidal war of attrition which they had no chance to win. This is a well-written, well-documented, and entertaining book that helps the reader to understand just how critical to both the Americans and the Japanese the fateful naval engagement at Midway was, and how the results determined the course of the rest of the war in the Pacific. Enjoy!

In the same tradition as At Dawn We Slept, Miracle At Midway engulfs and captivates the reader. This book describes in great detail both American and Japanese plans for battle. The apprehensions of the Japanese staff to approve the Midway mission are described, as well as Washington's uncertainty of the Japanese intentions. Many believed that Japan would try to attack Hawaii or the West Coast. Thanks to the codebreakers, Midway was found to be the true objective. Prange describes in great detail how the brave torpedo bomber pilots flew undaunted against the Japanese carriers, clearing the way for the deadly attacks by the Dauntless dive bomber pilots. Also, the Japanese blunders in rearming their aircraft after the Midway strike are described. This book is a must read for any fan of naval warfare.

Gordon Prange, the late author of At Dawn We Slept, Miracle at Midway, Pearl Harbor, the Verdict of History and The Pearl Harbor Papers does an unmatched job of researching the beginnings of the Pacific War from the Japanese perspective, interviewing many of the participants of the Nihon Kaigun (Imperial Japanese Navy) especially the Kido Butai (First Striking Force). Midway was an extremely close call and victory for the Japanese might have meant conquest of Hawaii and therefore a war lasting some two years longer for America (my opinion). Prange excellently presents the intelligence dilemma and the precise interpretation which presented Admiral Nimitz with his opportunity to ambush Nagumo Chuichi and his four carriers. The author gives credit to the American commanders, Spruance and Fletcher for their flexibility and all the Americans for their courage and stamina. Midway was won by American naval airmen and Prange makes that clear.

Why is that so many good battle histories lack decent maps? The maps in this book, to use a adjective favored by my grandchildren,[are bad]. Prange's prose is dense and detailed and the absence of good maps limits the ability of the reader to understand him.

This is a good book -- maybe the best about Midway, the most important battle of the Pacific War. People these days seem to forget that in 1942, Americans were probably more worried about Japan than they were about Germany.

Prange tells the story of Midway from both the Japanese and the American side. The insights from military leaders -- now virtually all dead -- make this an irreplacable source of information on the battle. I suggest a new deluxe edition of this book -- rewritten in places to improve the comprehensibility of the prose and with detailed maps, timelines, a glossary of military terms, and more photos of the battle and the equipment in use. I would like to see, for example, photos of the many different aircraft participating in the battle.

The Battle of Midway was the most decisive battle in the Pacific in the Second World War. Prior to the battle the Japanese had one victory after another. They had put the majority of the American Pacific Fleet out of action at Pear Harbor, they had sunk the British Battle ships the Prince of Wales and the Repulse in a few minutes and they had won naval actions in conquering the Philippines.

The Japanese had in their carrier arm a superb weapon. The Zero fighter at that time was superior to any American aircraft. Their naval pilots had been fighting since 1936 in China and were superbly trained.

The Japanese fleet which sailed to Midway had four carriers and a huge battle fleet. The Americans had only three carriers available, one the Yorktown had only just been repaired after the battle of the Coral Sea. Logically the Japanese should have won and dominated the Pacific. Instead at the end of the battle all the Japanese carriers involved in the battle were sunk, the cream of the Japanese fliers had been killed and the Japanese started to lose their confidence. As the war developed the Americans were able to rebuild their fleet and to develop technology which meant by the 1944 the Japanese navy was totally outclassed both in numbers and qualitatively.

Unlike the European war there have been no real mysteries about the pacific campaign. The conquest of Japan meant that records of all major battles were available from both sides. Never the less this book is a clear well-written account of an important battle. It can be easily understood by anyone and is a delight to read.

In short the victories of the Japanese meant that they became careless. The did not do a proper search for the American forces and their carriers were caught with fully armed aircraft on their flight deck. This meant that single bomb hits detonated the weapons of the Japanese dive bombers causing multiple explosions and the destruction of the carriers. A great book of a battle in which American bravery allowed them to win against considerable odds.

For a guy who has been dead a while, the author keeps turning out some good books. At Dawn We Slept and Miracle at Midway are two of them. Midway was the battle that turned the tide against Japan. Midway is a Battle so exciting that fiction could never top it, and yet this was history. And this book captures the battle brilliantly. Walter Lord also did a great job in Incredible Victory. This battle showed the determination of American sailors and airman, the leadership of Nimitz, the importance of aircraft carriers,some luck and intelliegence. I enjoyed this book very much.

I have read several renditions of the Battle of Midway, but this is by far the most intriguing and interesting one to read. The author writes it like a story and draws you in-it was hard to put down. He has many sources and looks at the battle from both the Japanese and American perspective. This battle was probably the most important one we fought in the Pacific. If we had lost, the Pacific would have been Japanese home waters. The only book you need to read about the Battle of Midway.

Gordon Prange devoted the second half of his life to researching and writing about the attack on Pearl Harbor. He spent seven years in Japan during the occupation collecting material on this operation. He is the author of the book "Tora, Tora, Tora" and the screenplay for the film of the same name. His masterpiece on the attack is "At Dawn We Slept." He died before he could finish this book and two of his students, Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, turned his unfinished manuscript into a publishable book. In the course of his work on Pearl Harbor, he kept stumbling upon material related to Midway. Prange decided to write a book on Midway as well, which was also unfinished at the time of his death. Goldstein and Dillon finished this book as well.

The strength of "Miracle at Midway" is that Prange tells both sides of the story, American and Japanese. He offers more coverage of the American side for understandable reasons. The Japanese commander, Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi died later in the war, and valuable records were destroyed when the four aircraft carriers sank during the battle. Prange, though, makes up for these shortcomings with interviews he conducted during the occupation years with a number of survivors and important pilots and staff officers at this battle like Genda Minoru and Fuchida Mitsuo. On the other hand, developing the American side of the story is pretty easy. All the major figures in this engagement survived the war as did their records and written reports.

Developing the Japanese side of the story is important, because Prange basically argues that Japan lost the battle more than the Americans won it. The problems the Japanese faced were not the work of any one individual, but rather were large, systematic shortcomings like a flawed battle plan that had two conflicting objectives, overconfidence in their abilities, poor command and control, lack of resources, and sloppy intelligence work. The Americans owed their victory more to luck than any other factor. With those points made, Prange gives a lot of credit to Chester Nimitz for knowing how to use his theater resources, to Raymond Spruance and Frank Jack Fletcher. Prange also argues that Nagumo, who is often seen as being indecisive, made the right decision with what information he had at the time in shifting the armaments of his planes.

Luck was what carried the day for the Americans and Spruance admitted as much. The Japanese had little regard for American torpedoe attacks and with good reason. The U.S. Navy had poor equipment and lousy training. It was only Lt. Cmdr. Wade McClusky's decision to use an unconventional search pattern as his fuel was running low that allowed the Americans to pounce on the Japanese at the moment when their ordinance was unsecured and the fighter coverage was too low to stop the dive bombers.

The shortcomings of the book are more minor than substantial: the writing at times seems overly flowery. The story builds slowly. When it gets to the sexy parts, the fighting, it really gets going. The maps vary significantly in quality. Some are quite good, others are atrocious and appear to have been hand drawn.

To wrap it up: this book is a good sequel to Prang's study of Pearl Harbor. It won't be the last word on the subject, but it is an important one.

This book, in my subjective view, is inferior to Walter Lord's excellent Incredible Victory which recounted the same battle. It lacks pace and descriptions of battle scenes are tame compared to Lord's version. What it lacks in narrative, this book compensates by giving detailed information on the fleets involved in this mortal struggle and providing intelligent retrospective factual analysis on the various decisive factors which led to an American victory and a heavy Japanese defeat. Overall a reasonable read, but for a more gripping and tense pulse pounding read, i would recommend Incredible Victory.

While this is probably the best book on the Battle of Midway I noticed a couple of factual errors. The authors have fallen for one of the biggest myth of WWII in their account of the recovery of a crashed Zero. They stated that American designers tested the rebuilt plane and were able to counter its weaknesses and designed the Grumman Hellcat as a response. Totally, false, design work on the Hellcat and construction of a prototype was well underway by June 1942 and the captured enemy plane had no bearing on the Hellcat's design. This story has been repeated in so many historical works that it is rare to find a book on the Pacific War that does not mention it. Blatant mistakes like this, which can easily be checked, cast doubt on the credibility of the rest of the research.