Zero [Paperback]

Masatake Okumiya (Author), Jiro Horikoshi (Author), John Gresham (Foreword), Martin Caidin (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 27, 2002

The thrilling saga of war in the air in the Pacific Theater of Operations during World War II from Pearl Harbor to Nagasaki, as told by the men who created, led, and fought in the deadly Zero fighter plane. In their own words, Jiro Horikoshi (the man who designed the Zero), Masatake Okumiya (the man who led many of the Zero squadrons), and Saburo Sakai, (Japan's leading surviving figher ace) as well as many other men, tell the inside story of developing the Zero and Japan's air force.

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: ibooks (August 27, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743444914
• ISBN-13: 978-0743444910
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,664,335 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating, honest view from "the other side of the hill", January 29, 2003

By 

Roger J. Buffington (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Zero (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book. I first came upon it when inventorying my late father's estate, which contained a very old, thoroughly-thumbed and dog-eared copy dating to the first edition. (Dad was a veteran of the Pacific war). I could not put the book down. "Zero!" is a thoroughly honest, non-jingoistic view of the aerial component of the Pacific war from the Japanese perspective, beginning with "The Sino-Japanese Incident" (Japan's war of aggression against China) through the defeat of Japan by the United States. While not everything in the book is necessarily correct, I believe that most or all readers will agree that the authors were scrupulously honest in their writing, and they convey the facts of the war as they saw it.

The title of the book, "Zero" reflects the authors' view that the design characteristics of the famed Zero fighter aircraft were central to Japan's waging of the Pacific war. As of 7 December 1941 the Zero could outfly, outdistance, and outfight any fighter that the United States had in service, and was rightly feared and respected by allied fighter pilots. So were the Japanese pilots themselves, who were largely battle-hardened veterans of tough aerial campaigns over China fought during the late 1930s. The Zero's range and other attributes were what made much of Japan's Pacific campaign possible, as the Zero had an unprecedented combat radius which the authors explain was central to Japan's strategy of establishing a tough perimeter for its aspiring empire.

The book is fascinating. It fully explains how the earlier American fighters were outclassed by the Zero, how the P-38 Lockheed Lightning was the first viable answer by America to the Zero (it had wildly different flight characteristics which required both sides to modify their tactics), and how finally, by late 1943 newer American designs i.e. the Hellcat, Mustang, and Corsair, finally relegated the Zero to obsolescence even as America gained the upper hand.

Other wonderful insights abound. Japan never gave its heros medals, not even to the great Japanese pilot/ace Saburo Sakai (a great chapter is devoted to him--see also the book "Samurai" and my review thereof)-- the authors' regret and perhaps resentment of this policy is plain. Japan was in awe of America's ability to hugely supply distant outposts shortly after launching an invasion--Japanese forces in the Pacific were always undersupplied and not only due to American action--the Japanese never really developed a modern logistical capability equal to the demands of global war. Similarly, the authors lament that Japan simply did not attach importance to such things as insect control and other dimensions of jungle hygiene for their outposts. This lowered the efficiency of the men markedly, as no doubt bureaucrats in Tokyo expected the men in distant jungles to overcome disease, hunger, and discomfort with warrior zeal. And yet, throughout all of this, the American reader will gain a respect for the determination, discipline and dedication of the Japanese foe of the time.

I have never read a better book about the Pacific war. This one is a keeper.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars B-29 PILOT FASCINATED TO HEAR THE JAPANESE SIDE, October 21, 2002

By 

C P Gilson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zero (Paperback)

As a B-29 co-pilot, Saipan, 1945 (883rd BS, 500th BG, 73rd Wing), I was hugely impressed to read this sober, carefully chronicled report of how it was for the Japanese. The book is written by two intelligent, loyal Japanese aviation experts who tell it as it was. No boasting, no whining, no alibis. The authors detail the Sino-Japanese war of the late 30's, the attack on Pearl Harbour, Guadalcanal, Midway, and there are 2 chapters about our B-29's, starting with the chapter, "Defence of The Mainland, The Superfortress Appears". Some of us in the Marianas felt uncomfortable about the fire bombing in the Spring and Summer of '45. Now for the first time in my life, the Japanese explain to my complete satisfaction that the fire bombing was what ended the war, not the 2 atomic bombs. The book contains no bitterness, they just tell it as it was. This book should be a must for everyone who had anything to do with the air war in the Pacific in World War 2!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frank, brilliantly artistic, deeply and historically insightful. Absolutely necessary for Pacific Campaign research!(, February 7, 2007

By 

Ryan Fisher (Santa Maria, CA, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Zero (Paperback)

In Zero!, Martin Caidin has brought amazing insight from a perspective otherwise (at least until 1956) seldom heard within American historical literature. Zero! recalls from two first-hand sources, the development of Japanese aviation from the Sino-Japanese War to Hiroshima/Nagasaki.
The contributions of Japanese wartime senior flying officer Masatake Okumiya brilliantly and in typical Japanese style, artistically reveals the triumphant rise and embarrassing fall of Japanese air superiority in WWII. Okumiya's contemporary accounts of some of the war's most savage air campaigns are unbelievable. As one reads Okumiya's stories, you can feel the pain of defeat mounting as American technological, economical, and military superiority develop throughout the Pacific Campaign. Okumiya's brilliant insight is a frank assessment of Japan's futile attempt at a war it could not pursue beyond several months. Further, is Okumiya's conclusion of the terrible price paid by Japan with the atomic bombs. But this comes with his belief that had these weapons not been employed, a much higher price would be paid by both sides.
Jiro Horikoshi, the engineer who created the Zero has also given his thoughts of the war and the chaos it brought to the Japanese home islands. His observations are equally frank, and critical of the Japanese political system in place before and during the war.
The stories often go forward and back with some repetition, this is common in translated works, but in this case provides a more complete picture of events as they unfold.
Anyone who questions the American use of atomic weapons against Japan should read the comments written by both these men who agree, as Caidin concludes in his preface, "gave the Japanese... an excuse and means of ending a futile war with honor intact."
If you enjoy works by current authors like Donald Goldstein, or historians like the late Katherine Dillon or Gordon Prange and you haven't read this yet, do yourself the favor of reading Zero! THEN REVIEW IT! REVIEW EVERY BOOK YOU READ, AUTHORS DESERVE YOUR OPINIONS!