Customer Reviews

Zero

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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.

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!

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!

Masatake Okumiya, Jiro Horikoshi, and Martin Caidin teamed up in 1956 to write a balanced account of the Battle of Midway. Zero! is such a book. It tells, from the Japanese point of view, the story of the Battle of Midway. It goes from China through the Battle of Midway and beyond. A rip-roaring good read. It makes you feel like you're in the cockpit of the famous Japanese naval fighter alongside the likes of Saburo Sakai.

It's been a long time since I read the book, but I particularly recall Okumiya telling about losing an eye in aerial combat, and returning to fly and fight again, as a one-eyed fighter pilot. Also, the accounts of how he felt about seasoned pilots being "invited" to fly Kamikaze missions; and his description of the conditions late in the war when the Japanese pilots were out-planed, out-gunned, out-numbered, and virtually starving on remote islands. I think this book is well worth the read.

Patriotism should never be out of date. Books like Zero! help us to relive the gripping examples of the torpedo bomber pilots that kept their course of attack against the Akagi Japanese carrier regardless of deadly Zero opposition.
The stupidity of the attack against the USA and England is also frankly discussed by the two authors, Japanese military veterans of the Pacific War.