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Kamikaze: Japan's Suicide Samurai (Cmp) Paperback – May 1, 2000
by
Raymond Lamont-Brown
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Raymond Lamont-Brown
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Print length192 pages
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LanguageEnglish
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PublisherUNKNO
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Publication dateMay 1, 2000
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Dimensions5 x 0.5 x 7.75 inches
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ISBN-100304352004
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ISBN-13978-0304352005
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Product details
- Publisher : UNKNO; Reprint. edition (May 1, 2000)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 192 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0304352004
- ISBN-13 : 978-0304352005
- Item Weight : 7.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 5 x 0.5 x 7.75 inches
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Best Sellers Rank:
#4,648,459 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #6,748 in Japanese History (Books)
- #39,849 in World War II History (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
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Reviewed in the United States on March 27, 2014
Verified Purchase
Not what I expected of a written documentary. Not a interesting reading. I am presently reading another book on the topic. Will evaluate that one when I finsh it. I do not recommend this book.
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Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2017
Raymond Lamont-Brown seems to have many books to his name though this is the first I've read. The pace is quick as befits a fairly brief book and there is little time spent on the psychology of the major players or their interactions. Often the reader gets the feeling the whole subject is being 'skimmed'. Much of the book reads somewhat like a catalogue of attacks and results - probably because at times that is very much what the book is. The author does better when looking at the vibe within the kamikaze units and has quoted a number of very interesting quotes from the young Japanese pilots who were waiting for their turn to die. In fact one section of the book is given over to a range of very brief thumbnail portraits of individual pilots to give the reader a look at what sort of young men they were.
The book is assisted by a number of photographs that are useful to set the scene and the author doesn't shy away from pointing out some of the grislier aspects of the cruelty of war. Which is to be commended.
It should be noted that the book is not entirely given over to the aerial warfare aspect of kamikaze but that there is indeed sections on the Japanese navies midget submarine program and human manned torpedoes.
A book that appears to have little meat on the bone, presumably to bring it in under a certain size and weight and which has lost a lot in the process. Not without its uses however if you are after a concise detailing of the kamikaze and their place in the dying days of the Japanese Empire.
The book is assisted by a number of photographs that are useful to set the scene and the author doesn't shy away from pointing out some of the grislier aspects of the cruelty of war. Which is to be commended.
It should be noted that the book is not entirely given over to the aerial warfare aspect of kamikaze but that there is indeed sections on the Japanese navies midget submarine program and human manned torpedoes.
A book that appears to have little meat on the bone, presumably to bring it in under a certain size and weight and which has lost a lot in the process. Not without its uses however if you are after a concise detailing of the kamikaze and their place in the dying days of the Japanese Empire.
Reviewed in the United States on October 20, 2008
This book is interesting on two different levels. On one: it provides a great deal of information concerning World War II (WWII) as fought in the Pacific and as seen from the perspective of Japan's military leaders; I.e., what they were thinking, how they saw the war progressing, what their plans were, and how they tried to implement those plans. The primary thrust of the book, however, is to broadly explore the history of Japan's Kamikaze, with emphasis on WWII.
I suspect that most readers, coming new to this subject, will know very little about the Japanese Kamikaze and what little they do know will likely be based on film footage shot by U.S. Navy photographers during Kamikaze attacks toward the end of WWII. From this footage, one might conclude that these attacks were largely ineffective, and, when viewed from a Western perspective, that these suicide pilots were crazy or had been forced into such action. As this book makes clear, however, although done partly out of national desperation, these attacks were effective to some degree and the pilots were volunteers who knew exactly what they were doing.
As a case in point, consider the woman whose husband's application to become a Kamikaze pilot had been turned down several times because he had a wife and three children. To free him to become a Kamikaze, she killed her three children and committed suicide. Crazy? Perhaps, but that was the Japanese mind-set at the time.
The thing which interested me most about this book, however, was that it examined the history of the Kamikaze in Japan and then explored the Kamikaze in its larger sense. In doing so, it explained how the well known Kamikaze attacks came about and delved into lesser known Kamikaze. For example: I had never considered that the Banzai attacks carried out by Japanese soldiers on various islands in the Pacific were actually Kamikaze attacks, nor did I know that the two-man mini-subs which attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, were essentially Kamikaze, nor that Japanese fighter planes which rammed U.S. bombers during WWII were considered Kamikaze, nor that the Japanese built and deployed a fleet of torpedoes manned and guided by Kamikaze volunteers, nor that the small balloons launched from Japan and carried to the United States, 7000 miles away by the "Divine Wind" were by definition "Kamikaze," "Kami" (Japanese pantheon of Gods) "Nishi Kaze" ((West Wind).
I have only one complaint about this book. The author uses way too many repetitive and italicized Japanese words, which makes for difficult reading by a Westerner. But, if you're interested, that's the price you'll have to pay. So, if you are interested in learning a bit more about WWII history, especially from the Japanese perspective, and would like to learn about Japan's extended Kamikaze force, you should enjoy reading this book. In doing so, you'll likely find that the Kamikaze was much more than you thought it was.
I suspect that most readers, coming new to this subject, will know very little about the Japanese Kamikaze and what little they do know will likely be based on film footage shot by U.S. Navy photographers during Kamikaze attacks toward the end of WWII. From this footage, one might conclude that these attacks were largely ineffective, and, when viewed from a Western perspective, that these suicide pilots were crazy or had been forced into such action. As this book makes clear, however, although done partly out of national desperation, these attacks were effective to some degree and the pilots were volunteers who knew exactly what they were doing.
As a case in point, consider the woman whose husband's application to become a Kamikaze pilot had been turned down several times because he had a wife and three children. To free him to become a Kamikaze, she killed her three children and committed suicide. Crazy? Perhaps, but that was the Japanese mind-set at the time.
The thing which interested me most about this book, however, was that it examined the history of the Kamikaze in Japan and then explored the Kamikaze in its larger sense. In doing so, it explained how the well known Kamikaze attacks came about and delved into lesser known Kamikaze. For example: I had never considered that the Banzai attacks carried out by Japanese soldiers on various islands in the Pacific were actually Kamikaze attacks, nor did I know that the two-man mini-subs which attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, were essentially Kamikaze, nor that Japanese fighter planes which rammed U.S. bombers during WWII were considered Kamikaze, nor that the Japanese built and deployed a fleet of torpedoes manned and guided by Kamikaze volunteers, nor that the small balloons launched from Japan and carried to the United States, 7000 miles away by the "Divine Wind" were by definition "Kamikaze," "Kami" (Japanese pantheon of Gods) "Nishi Kaze" ((West Wind).
I have only one complaint about this book. The author uses way too many repetitive and italicized Japanese words, which makes for difficult reading by a Westerner. But, if you're interested, that's the price you'll have to pay. So, if you are interested in learning a bit more about WWII history, especially from the Japanese perspective, and would like to learn about Japan's extended Kamikaze force, you should enjoy reading this book. In doing so, you'll likely find that the Kamikaze was much more than you thought it was.
6 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2007
I have read many works on Japan's special attack units, and this is the best. The book is lucid, fact-filled, and objective.
As for the so-called "spelling errors" mentioned by the other reviewer, the author is British! British spelling is different!
As for the so-called "spelling errors" mentioned by the other reviewer, the author is British! British spelling is different!
4 people found this helpful
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