Customer Reviews

Second World War (1) The Pacific

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This first of six volumes from Essential Histories covering World War II focuses exclusively on the war with Japan, and covers the entirety, from the attack at Pearl Harbor, through the nuclear strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to the aftermath of the war in the Pacific. With such a long time frame, most of the action and details of engagements have been glossed over, in favor of general force movements, overall strategies, and major battles. Many will be disappointed to not get more details about the naval battles and amphibious assaults that define this war. The outcomes are reported, but there is just very little substance in reading about how many ships were sunk or soldiers died, without getting into the details of the battles. Just a couple more stories from soldiers/sailors experiences would have made this book much better. Still, this does provide a solid overview of the large picture, as what seemed to be the world united, determinedly opposed and defeated the aggressive Imperialist Japan.

Horner repeatedly states that the outcome of the war was inevitable, with the industrial might of the United States being so much greater than that of Japan, but I think he overreaches with that claim. With the war in Europe raging, and really taking more of the U.S.'s focus, a few more major victories over the U.S. navy by Japanese forces could have swayed public opinion against further pursuit. And without the invention of nuclear warheads (something that was far from certain of success), it would have been no easy task for American generals and politicians to convince the American people that the extremely high butcher's bill for invading the Japanese mainland would be worth it. The outcome of the war was dependant on more than just which country could build the most planes and ships.

It was interesting reading a book about World War II that didn't discuss the European theatre, allowing the reader (just like most of the soldiers involved) to get totally engrossed in this 'lesser war'. While it might not have involved the numbers or the uncertainty of the war against Germany, the Pacific War was nonetheless vitally important for the future of the world, and costed the lives of millions of soldiers and civilians. I think this format of dividing up WWII by regions instead of by dates will work well, and look forward to reading the rest of the series. Recommended.

David Horner did a great job of covering the entire Pacific theater. This book is succinct and easy to read. One good point is that it covers more than just the famous Marine Corps battles. It also covers the lesser known engagements of Southeast Asia.

The book has three geographic maps of the entire Pacific theater. These maps illustrate the extent of the Japanese expansion along with the allied counteroffensives. Equally good are the campaign maps of the Philippines, Burma, New Guinea, and Malaya. These maps are noticeably uncluttered. This could not have been easy given that some of these campaigns had multiple landings and complex movements.

The first part of the book deals with the origin of the war. The author gives a good description of the US embargo, the Japanese political situation, and their subsequent search for raw materials. These factors eventually led to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The chapter on "fighting" moves quickly and provides good coverage of the engagements by British and Australian forces. That said, the author did an equally good job of covering the more famous battles by the Marines under Admiral Nimitz and the Army under General MacArthur. Of particular interest is the section on US submarine warfare. This often overlooked part of the war was a major cause of the Japanese defeat

The "civilian" chapter describes an American woman who lived in Japan. Her story gives insight on how the Japanese people suffered during the later stages of the war. The author concludes the book with a synopsis of the conflicts that later emerged. These include the Korean and Vietnam wars, as well as various colonial independence movements.

Bottom line: This is a well written book. The author did a great job of providing equal coverage to both famous and lesser known battles. He also provided background on the origins of the war. All-in all, this is an informative and easy to read book.