Customer Reviews

Samurai !

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I first read this book while stationed in Korea in 1957. For anyone at all intrested in combat flying, this book is an absolute read! Saburo Sakai was not the greatest flyer in the Japanese Navy, however he was good enough to have survived 3700 hour's of combat flying from 1937 to 1945, 1500 hr's. in the marvelous Zero. He is credited with some 64 allied air kill's, and in one of these air battle's, he was badly shot up. He was blinded in one eye and shot in the leg and arm, and flew his aircraft, over water, some 100 mile's further than it could fly. (Almost 500 mile's) To read this Autobiography of one of WW2's greatest Fighter Pilot's is an All Day and half the night, do not put down, Heart Pounding Enjoyable Read ! A MUST READ !

A dramatic first-time look at the human side of a former enemy in the Pacific. All will gasp at the brutality & severity of pilot training in Japan in the late 1930's. Sakai's story will translate into any language and remain in your heart long after you've finished reading.

i can add nothing else to the above reviews except i have also been looking for this book for 20 years since i was 13! spooky or what.

I first read this book in in the eighth grade. It was so good in fact, that I literally did not put it down. I have read it three times since, and it has lost neither its freshness nor its impact.

The highest scoring Japanese ace to survive World War II, Sakai's book was the first of its kind--a first hand account from the "enemy's" persepective. It was astoundingly popular and Sakai became somewhat of a hero in the United States, and until his death from a heart attack in October 2000, he received countless "fan" letters, all of which he answered.

His story chronicles the rise and fall of not only the Japanese Naval Air Forces, but Japan itself. The thrill of victory and the bitterness of defeat are crystal clear. It is amazing that a story translated from one language to another can be so vivid and engrossing.

For a brilliant history lesson about the Pacific War during World War II that will keep you on the edge of your seat, this is the one. Through it all, you are there with Sakai be it in the cockpit or on the operating table. The "Classics of Naval Literature Series" version is superior to all others (for reasons explained in its FOREWORD). Highly recommended.

One of the best books on air combat I've read. Saburo Sakai's 500 mile trek back to Rabual from Guadacanal in his crippled zero is a testimony to the man and to the nature of war. "Samurai" is another book you won't be able to put down. It's the Japanese version of "The First and Last" and the reader follows Sakai's career from the early days of Japanese victory to the war's conclusion. I was particularly struck by the comparative decline in the Japanese Zero as America moved from P40s, P39s and F4Fs to Zero killers such as the F4U, F6F, and P38. *NOTE* Samurai has recently been under scrutiny for questions relating to its historicity. The climatic account of Sakai's encounter with US torpedo bombers has been singled out as particularly spurious. For more reviews see the "WWII Aviation Booklist" http://www.ampsc.com/~prophet/booklist.html

I first read Samurai while in High School studyhall. This was circa 1964 to 1967. I remember buying it at the school bookstore. I always thought that the Japanese were the worst race that had ever come into existance, partly because my father was in the Pacific in WWII and had been wounded. He was not a pilot but just your everyday seaman that was defending his country. My Father was killed in a car accident on Dec. 24,1953 when I was 4yrs. old. As a result, I always tried to read different books about the war in the Pacific because my Mother couldn't tell me much or just didn't want to talk about it.
After reading the book, I changed my mind about some of the Japanese Military,espically the Navy pilots. I was so impressed by the exploits of Saburo Sakai and his hornorable means of waging war, that even I thought him to be a Hero of sorts.
I hope that he is alive today...........but if not, I hope his soul rests in peace.

Stevo

This is a very readable, exciting story of a warrior, who seeks flight training in the early days of Japan's Imperialistic expansion, and who is the best Japanese Imperial aviator to survive the war and to have never lost a wingman. Many of his fellow aviators are killed in the war. In the tradition of the honor bound tradition of the Samurai, he had respect and admiration of his adversaries in this war of brutality.

I recently bought and read this book, and I couldn't put it down. I've been studying WWII for a while now, and especially the aviation aspect. I really enjoy memoirs, and this is one that is a must for any library. Sakai delves not only into flying and fighting, but also into the psychological side of war. It is a great read, and an easy read too. I definitely recommend this book.

This is a classic along the lines of any book like Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. The cold and dispassionate disection of events is chilling and explodes the myth that all Japanese fighters were mindless killing machines. I have been looking for this book for 20 years after reading it when I was 14.

An honest and straightforward journal of the life of a Japanese Naval fighter pilot in WWII. Just a fascinating glimpse at the hometown, family, sweetheart, and fellow soldiers as he remembers the daily life (and hardships) of that period; 1938-1945.