Customer Reviews

Samurai!

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Saburo Sakai was a national hero in Japan as its greatest surviving air ace of world war two. This book is his story. It is a fascinating and honest look at the air war in the Pacific from the Japanese perspective. Sakai is shown to have been a patriotic and heroic fighter, who, like most soldiers, gave little thought to the politics of the war. Like young men in many lands in many times, when his country called, he answered.

Sakai gives us an honest assessment of both sides as regards the Pacific air war. There is little or no jingoism here. He highlights some of the critical mistakes that the Japanese navy made in the war--one of which was that before the war the Navy only turned out about 100 pilots a year--not remotely enough for the total war Japan was about to wage against the world's greatest industrial power. The standards for entering and graduating from the Naval air training course in Japan were unreasonably high, and simply prevented the country from producing the number of pilots it would come to need. When the Americans eliminated over 300 Japanese pilots in 3 days at the Battle of Midway, Japan never recovered the loss of these trained men. On the other hand, Sakai reminds the American reader that in the Japanese America faced a motivated, intelligent, and very brave foe deriving from a violent military tradition.

The book also includes some very interesting glimpses at the Japanese home front during the war. Life in prewar Japan was hard for the lower classes--sufficiently hard that even the savage discipline (which Sakai describes at length) of the Japanese Navy appeared to be a reasonable alternative to the grinding poverty he otherwise faced.

Overall, a wonderful look at "the other side of the hill" and into the mind of one of World War Two's greatest air combat pilots.

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 not lost 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 (to this day he receives countless letters, all of which he answers). [Note: Sakai died of a heart attack in October of 2000.]

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.

In the Naval Air Museum bookstore when I was 14, the kindly sales rep (a retired F4F Wildcat pilot) recommended this book to me. I practically memorized it. This is the inspiring story of Saburo Sakai, one of the few Japanese pilots to survive the entire war. Highly readable, gripping, informative, and pretty accurate, although as an Imperial Japanese NAVY pilot, Sakai is a bit too hard on his Army counterparts. But any serious student of the Pacific Theater simply must read this. Take it from me-- I've been into WW2 history all my literate life, and Samurai! is one of the unforgettable highlights.

Samurai! documents the wartime exploits of Saburo Sakai, the greatest Japanese fighter pilot to survive World War 11, in which he was credited with downing 64 enemy aircraft. Sakai, who died in September 2000 of a heart attack became a legend in his own lifetime. This book explains why.
Samurai! takes us from early victories over the Chinese airforce to the later dogfights with the Dutch, the Australians and, finally, the unstoppable Americans. Sakai, in describing his journey from a rookie pilot to the final surrender, also chronicles the rise and fall of the Japanese Imperial Naval Air Force as seen from one of the most spectacular cogs in its vast apparatus.
Saka, who was never decorated for his actions, was a truly amazing fighter who was held in adulation by his mechanics and wingmen. Indeed, of all Japan's aces, Saburo Sakai was the only one who never lost a wingman in combat. This is an astounding record for a man who engaged in over two hundred aerial melees. But then again, Saburo Sakai's story is an astounding one.
His retreat from Guadalcanal is evidence enough of that. Having suffered paralyzing wounds in his left leg and left arm and having being permanently blinded in his left eye and temporarily blinded in his right eye, with jagged pieces of metal in his back and chest and with the heavy fragments of two 5-caliber machinegun bullets imbedded in his skull, he managed to fly his crippled Zero all the way back to New Guinea. That is the stuff of Hollywood legends.
So too is his dogfight against 15 Hellcats over Iwo Jima. Although he only had sight in one eye, Sakai managed to out manouver the Hellcat fighters and land safely back on the besieged island. His escape from Iwo Jima is also the stuff of Hollywood legends.
Hollywood bases its stories on legendary warriors. And Sakai and his comrades quickly became legends as their honed skills and Mitsubishi Zeros allowed them to cut a swathe through their Chinese, Dutch and Australian enemies. Sakai's accounts of those earlier battles are like reading th accounts of Cochise, Crazy Horse or Geronimo. Sakai and the other Japanese warriors of the air went out and did what they felt they had to do. Their Zeros were as precious to them as the finest steeds were to the warriors of old. They were the cream of the crop.
Unfortunately for them, their numbers were whittled down as the war dragged on. Midway accounted for over 300 of Japan's best pilots.The Americans, meanwhile, came relentlessly at them with their Wildcat and Hellcat fighters, which were purposely designed to outpace the Zero. Time and again, Sakai stresses that it was only the Americans' lack of combat experience that saved him.
They didn't save the others. As the war dragged on, the standard of the average Japanese pilot plummeted.
This book is not a glorification If this book glorifies anything, it is the futility and blaspehemy of war. Sakai describes how business went on as usuall in China even in the middle of combat zones. He describes watching Australian pilots being eaten by sharks. His account of how his superior skills saved him at Iwo Jima reflect the skills he noted in the Dutch and Chinese pilots of the earlier chapters. The Japanese, who had been the confident hunters I nthe earlier chapters, were now the prey. Usually, they were sitting ducks, powerless to do anything but volunteer for a kamikaze mission or to train the young novices who made the bult of the kamikazes.
Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, another top air ace who was later shot out of the air in an unarmed transport plane, was one of these. Sakai describes him as bing "unpredictable in the air, a genius, a poet who seemed to make his fighter respond obediently to his gentle, sure touch at the controls." Sakai constantly uses similar imagery to decribe his love for the Zero. This book has been reissued on countless occasions. Read it and find out why.

This book is a must for any history buff or anyone interested in what the "other side" of World War II was like. This work chronicles the career of Saburo Sakai and his many air battles throughout World War II. His words debunk many myths about Japanese pilots (he even admits to turning back from a suicide mission) and gives one a personal feel to the historical events that unfolded around him. One can also plot the technological climb of aircraft as Sakai describes how adversaries steadily got better and better. This book would even be good reading for "peaceniks" who think development of new aircraft and weapons are a waste of money. They will see through Sakai's work how one superior fighter plane (the Zero) was able to command the skies in the Pacific war for several years until better aircraft were turned out by the U.S. In the future, the U.S. may not be so lucky. This is a superior book and is one of the best written about World War II.

It's been five or six years since I've been trying to get my hands on this masterpiece, but it was backordered everywhere. But now Ibooks re-published the novel. This is the story of Saburo Sakai, one of the famous japanese aces. With this book you'll see how was thought the war from the japanese side. You'll also see some rectification for americans heroic tales where no american wingman could certify the stories. It brings a new light on some events of WWII that we always knew from the american side. But Mr Sakai is modest and humble and so there is no bragging story of having shot many fighters alone, also at many times he praises the ennemy for is courage and boldness, even more at the beginning of the war when Dutch, Australian and American were facing the formidable Zero fighter with their obsolete post-WWI fighters. The book originally written in the mid 50s is one of the first to be released in America after the war and so is a milestone in post-war public press.

This book shows that combat warriors on both sides have the same thoughts and concerns. They worry about their families and complain about their leadership.

I bought the Classics of Naval Literature volume after reading a library copy. That's how much the book impressed me. The top-surviving Zero naval ace of WWII, Sakai had realistic and controversial opinions of Japan's role in the war. He did much to build postwar friendships with the United States, even at risk to his own life.

Little did I realize when I bought the book that I would someday meet him. I visited him in his Tokyo home and hosted his visit to Naval Air Facility Atsugi. My book is now autographed.

This book did a wonderful job of portrying the war from the Japanese perspective, and really gave me an insight into the mind of the "enemy". Sakai proves that he is indeed human, but not in a way that many westerners readily understand. It was an eye opener for me for sure.
Have to say that Sakai has to be one of the toughest SOBs in the world, flying back to base with wounds that would have killed most people, and landing safely!!!

Saburo is a legend by himself, but his book proved that he is far more than that. He is a mundane mortal who possesed all kinds of feelings attributed to a man.

The book described his anguish, his joy and fear. He did not try to potray himself as someone who was invicible, for he was also a human being that could be overcome with emotions.

He vividly described his fear and excitement upon facing the enemeis. And he also humanely described his anguish and total hopelesness when he was half blinded and had to be grounded.

He had a deep compassion for flying. And his love for his country is something current generation has taken for granted.

This book is not simply a memoir about the air battle in the Pacific, but is is also a story about the growth and development of a man.

From the very first pages, the reader is introduced to a boy shunned by others because he had failed at school. Then we see his growth taking place as he is made into a man by the rigorous training program of the naval air force.

The early triumphs of the war quickly moves to tragedy as his friends die one by one. He also describes a sense of hopelessness as hastily trained pilots are quickly shot out of the air. At the same time, woven throughout the story, there is also a very touching love story being told.

The only quibble I had was the several glaring errors were not corrected in this latest edition. This book was written in the 50's from interviews by Fred Saito, and I suppose he just go several facts wrong (wrong persons, the B-29 incident after the end of the war). Those errors were not corrected in the Forward.

For those interested in putting a face to the various names mentioned in Sakai's book (Ota, Sasai, Nishizawa, Muto, Honda), etc., I would also recommend the book "Imperial Japanese Navy Aces 1937-45" by Henry Sakaida. In addition to pilot's photos, it has a most remarkable photograph of Sakai taken immediately after he landed his crippled airplane that was shot to pieces over Guadalcanal.