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Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/26/2004 8:29:01 PM   
Peter Fisla


Posts: 2503
Joined: 10/5/2001
From: Canada
Status: offline 		Hi All,

I'm new to the subject of war in the Pacific and I'm looking for some comprehensive overview on the whole subject. Since I care a lot about air wars of WW2 I'm looking for something that also gives comprehensive view of the whole thing from air perspective. So far I came across the following books; anything else someone can recommend ?

The Pacific War
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0688016200/ref=pd_bxgy_text_1/104-3831751-5383130?v=glance&s=books&st=*

Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0394741013/qid=1096219306/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-3831751-5383130?v=glance&s=books

PACIFIC CAMPAIGN: THE U.S.-JAPANESE NAVAL WAR 1941-1945
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671792172/qid=1096219331/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/104-3831751-5383130?v=glance&s=books


I would like to buy one book from the above selection but I can't quite decided wich one to pick...

I'm also getting this one from air war perspective:

Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0813338697/ref=pd_sim_books_3/104-3831751-5383130?v=glance&s=books


Thanks for your help!

Peter
Post #: 1
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/26/2004 8:48:38 PM   
RoyalOak

 

Posts: 35
Joined: 9/8/2004
Status: offline 		Look here

(in reply to Peter Fisla)
Post #: 2
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/27/2004 2:40:36 AM   
siRkid


Posts: 6650
Joined: 1/29/2002
From: Orland FL
Status: offline 		I think that everyone playing WitP should read Japanese Destroyer Captain by Capt. Tameichi Hara. Published by Ballantine. It’s a short read so you could get through it in no time. In his book Hara talks about many of the same issues brought up on this board. For example the issue of ships concentrating all their fire one ship.

"We were standing by burning Sendai which had stopped dead. The enemy bombardment continued to batter the crippled ship so incessantly that Shigure could not close for rescue operations."

The neat thing is after playing WitP, I could relate to the situations presented in the book and knew all of the bases that were talked about.

< Message edited by Kid -- 9/27/2004 12:41:03 AM >

_____________________________

Former War in the Pacific Test Team Manager and Beta Tester for War in the East.


(in reply to RoyalOak)
Post #: 3
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/27/2004 3:21:02 AM   
Montbrun


Posts: 1498
Joined: 2/7/2001
From: Raleigh, NC, USA
Status: offline 		Touched with Fire and Fire in the Sky are good primers....

Brad

(in reply to Peter Fisla)
Post #: 4
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/27/2004 3:30:53 AM   
juliet7bravo

 

Posts: 894
Joined: 5/30/2001
Status: offline 		Been on a book buying bender this month...

"The Japanese Merchant Marine in WW2" by Mark Parillo

"Japanese Naval & Merchant Shipping Losses During WW II By All Causes" (JANAC, GPO 1947)

"The World's Merchant Fleets, 1939: The Particulars and Wartime Fates of 6,000 Ships." Jordan

"U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War Two." Browning

"JAPANESE MERCHANT SHIPS AT WAR: THE STORY OF MITSUI AND O. S. K. LINERS LOST DURING THE PACIFIC WAR" Noma

"CONVERSION FOR WAR" Kendall

"Japanese Order of Battle in World War II. Complete Three Volume Set." Nafzinger

"Handbook on Japanese Military Forces" US War Dept. 1944

"Soldiers Guide to the Japanese Army" US War Dept. 1944

"Japanese Naval Vessels of WW2 (as seen by Naval Intelligence)" N.I.P.

"Buffaloes over Singapore: Raf, Raaf, Rnzaf and Dutch Brester Fighters in Action over Malaya and the East Indies 1941-1942"

"Bloody Shambles" (I/II) Shores, Cull, Izawa

3 that go together...Anyone know of the IJA counterpart to these books?

"Kaigun : Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941" Evans, Peatie

"War Plan Orange: The U.S. Strategy to Defeat Japan, 1897-1945" Miller

"The Road to Rainbow: Army Planning for Global War, 1934-1940" (Ausa Institute of Land Warfare Book.)

(in reply to siRkid)
Post #: 5
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/27/2004 3:35:55 AM   
juliet7bravo

 

Posts: 894
Joined: 5/30/2001
Status: offline 		Speaking of books...does anyone have any info on this book? It's about the Dutch shipping line "Koninklijke Paketvaart Maatschappij" (Royal Packet Navigation Co.) which operated in the N.E.I. Seen a mention of it on a website, can't find any info anywhere. Think it was published in Oz.

"KPM 1888 - 1967 A Most Remarkable Shipping Company." by Lieuwe Pronk

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

(in reply to juliet7bravo)
Post #: 6
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/28/2004 10:18:18 PM   
dr. smith

 

Posts: 221
Joined: 6/30/2004
From: lost in space
Status: offline 		Long list J7B!!
I'm also adding to my library, just ordered 3 volumes from the Samuel Morison 15 Volume series from B&N:

History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: The Rising Sun in the Pacific, 1931 - April 1942 ISBN:0252069730
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: The Struggle for Guadalcanal, August 1942 - February 1943 ISBN:025206996X
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: Coral Sea, Midway and Submarine Actions, May 1942 - August 1942 ISBN:0252069951

Peter:
The Best book on the entire time period (1936-45) is Toland's Rising Sun, but it uses the first few hundred pages to explain the Japanese path to war in a detailed and very exceptional way. I found it fascinating how the gov't had to tiptoe between the conflicting views of the services and how much effect the young officers had upon their seniors.

But for the ones you mentioned, for just the 41-45 period, the Costello book : Pacific War is superb. I've read it several times.

< Message edited by dr. smith -- 9/28/2004 3:20:00 PM >

(in reply to juliet7bravo)
Post #: 7
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/29/2004 1:06:06 AM   
juliet7bravo

 

Posts: 894
Joined: 5/30/2001
Status: offline 		I've been on a merchant shipping jag lately, filling in holes in my library. Also bought the Lloyd's WW2 War Loss Registry (Vol. I/II) this month...think they're all getting shipped via turtle.

Never been a Morrison fan, got "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II: The Rising Sun in the Pacific, 1931 - April 1942"...will eventually break down and buy the entire set, no library is complete without Morrison (unfortunately).

Toland a great book.

"gov't had to tiptoe between the conflicting views of the services and how much effect the young officers had upon their seniors."

I suspect it's more that the seniors influenced the juniors by tacitly allowing them to do their agitating and "wet work" deniably. Been awhile since I read it, didn't fully understand the concept...think they had a term for it IIRC.

(in reply to dr. smith)
Post #: 8
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/29/2004 2:45:30 AM   
eMonticello


Posts: 525
Joined: 3/15/2002
Status: offline 		After reading the overview books, I recommend the following:

Combined Fleet Decoded, John Prados (focuses on the intelligence war in the Pacific)
Washington At War, David Brinkley (a reasonably easy read about DC during WW2)
Nimitz, EB Potter (Potter doesn't write the book chronologically, so you'll need to jump around)
Halsey, EB Potter (likewise...)
History of Marine Corp Aviation in WW2, Robert Sherrod

Also, there are great selections from the Naval Institute Press that cover a variety of naval topics. http://www.usni.org/press/press.html

< Message edited by eMonticello -- 9/29/2004 12:51:09 AM >

_____________________________


Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example. -- Pudd'nhead Wilson

(in reply to juliet7bravo)
Post #: 9
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/29/2004 8:05:06 AM   
SpitfireIX


Posts: 264
Joined: 1/9/2003
From: Fort Wayne IN USA
Status: offline 		I plugged The Big E by Edward P. Stafford on another thread recently. I can't imagine a better source for understanding US carrier operations thoughout the entire war. (Plus it's a really great story of America's most successful warship ever.) I first read it when I was in elementary school, and I've read it about 20 times since then. It was recently republished by Naval Institute Press.

_____________________________

"I know Japanese. He is very bad. And tricky. But we Americans too smart. We catch him and give him hell."

--Benny Sablan, crewman, USS Enterprise 12/7/41

(in reply to eMonticello)
Post #: 10
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/29/2004 8:08:49 AM   
freeboy

 

Posts: 9088
Joined: 5/16/2004
From: Colorado
Status: offline 		There was one of those monster threads about this with lots of great books, before the game was released and we where waiting and waiting..
I recomemded a book writen by a b29 Bombedier in the first deployed group... very enlightening.. damn what was the title? Birds from Hell? ok, I'll look for he thread... Anyway I got this at my local library.
ok gere it is; " Hell Birds the History of the B29"
It gave a lot of info on the problems of developing a new plane, and getting it supplied in China...

< Message edited by freeboy -- 9/29/2004 2:12:26 PM >

(in reply to SpitfireIX)
Post #: 11
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/29/2004 11:44:33 AM   
strawbuk


Posts: 289
Joined: 4/30/2004
From: London via Glos
Status: offline 		Of course to discuss the REAL war in Asia one of the best books is 'Burma; the Longest War' by Louis Allen. Allen was fluent Japanese speaker working with Army in Burma, and so has access to Japanese source material as well as actually interviewing most of the surviving IJA generals od Burma/Malaya in 1946. He is surprisingly balanced - not a complete Slim groupie, manages to stay polite about Stillwell (when no one else should) and tells it like it was about genius/madman Wingate.

Ranges from combat episodes to the interaction of senior commanders - espeically fascinating is the stuff from IJA diaries and unit war diaires. Read if only for the 'wargame' planning discussion between all the IJA commanders (15 Army, Burma Area Army, South Army, Tojo rep planning) the Imphal attack - reads like that yukaza meeting in Kill Bill! A rare treat.

In same theatre the daring-do stuff comes across from Calvert's (Fighting mad et al) and Fergusson's books (Across the Chindwin) a both Chindit officers - you will be SOOO glad you were not born in 1910 when you read their stuff.

The RN equivilant of Morrison is Roskill 'War at Sea' - got a few volumes but of course written in rather closed style.

Sadly I lack enough Japanese to read what must be the fascinating 'Go-Hachi-Kai' - reminiscenses of the 58th Inf Rgt in Burma (its in the bibliography of the Allen book)

< Message edited by strawbuk -- 9/29/2004 9:44:59 AM >

_____________________________



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Flying o' the sea so high
An ill-omen in the sky
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(in reply to freeboy)
Post #: 12
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/29/2004 4:53:29 PM   
eMonticello


Posts: 525
Joined: 3/15/2002
Status: offline 		Here are two web sites that are useful as well. The first is the Naval Historical Center's web site (physically, they are located at the Washington Navy Yard in DC).
http://www.history.navy.mil/index.html

The second contains primary sources of us govt documents ... many that you can still buy at GPO bookstores, if you wish (if you are visiting DC, the bookstore is near Union Station http://bookstore.gpo.gov/ ).
http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/

_____________________________


Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example. -- Pudd'nhead Wilson

(in reply to strawbuk)
Post #: 13
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/29/2004 5:21:19 PM   
mikemike

 

Posts: 501
Joined: 6/3/2004
From: a maze of twisty little passages, all different
Status: offline 		I like Michael Slackman´s Target: Pearl Harbor
published by Hawaii University Press and Arizona Memorial Museum Association in 1990, still available from Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0824811232/qid=1096466924/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/002-6329964-8654430?v=glance&s=books

Very detailed description of the attack and and its prelude and aftermath

_____________________________

DON´T PANIC - IT´S ALL JUST ONES AND ZEROES!

(in reply to Peter Fisla)
Post #: 14
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/29/2004 6:24:16 PM   
juliet7bravo

 

Posts: 894
Joined: 5/30/2001
Status: offline 		GPO bookstores...THANKS! I'd stone forgotten about them. Check out their CD's.

(in reply to eMonticello)
Post #: 15
RE: Books about war in the Pacific ? - 9/29/2004 6:37:08 PM   
mdiehl

 

Posts: 5998
Joined: 10/21/2000
Status: offline 		Any list of books on the Pacific War is going to be so extensive that you will not likely read them in ten years. I'd cut to the chase, cut out just about everything written prior to 1985 because it is likely full of b.s. Well, you can't really do that with Japanese sources, so I'd say read the old Japanese classics like "Zero Pilot" and so forth with a hefty dose of skepticism. But bear in mind that these are often highly self serving, and make all manner of claims about Japanese martial superiority without actually substantiating these claims with hard numbers.

Before touching any Japanese source I'd recommend:

1. The Barrier and the Javelin and Empires in the Balance by H.P. Willmott. Some of the tactical assessments about the relative merits of Japanese and Allied a/c are wrong, but it is the best most recent strategic overview. Ignore ANYTHING written by Prange.

2. The Lonely Ships by Hoyt. About the rather hopeless situation faced by Asiatic Fleet. If you can't find that book, The Fleet the Gods Forgot is a second best choice.

3. Burma: The Longest War by Louis Allen. Dry but very thorough.

4. Guadalcanal by Richard Frank. Excellent operational study.

5. Downfall by Richard Frank. An excellent study that debunks latter day p.c. bullcrap whining and other unsubstantiated rumours that the A-bombs were dropped for non-military or unjustified reasons.

7. Tennozan by George Feifer. A complement to Downfall because it goes into great detail about the Okinawa operation. Once you've worked your way through this you understand why it was important to Truman to get the Japanese to surrender without an invasion for the sake of Japanese civilians. (Hint: The IJA would have killed most of the Japanese population one way or another had the US amphibiously invaded Japan.)

8. Combined Fleet Decoded by John Prados. The intelligence war in detail.

9. The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang. You can't understand the sense of determination with which the Allies were willing to pursue the war to a complete defeat of Japan without understanding the horrors routinely heaped upon civilian populations of Japanese occupied nations. Nanking was the most famous but comparable instances were numerous throughout China, the Phillippines, and in Japanese occupied American mandates.

10. For a good study of the resistence in the PI see Lieutenant Ramsey's War by Ramsey and Rivele.

About 10 years ago I had a friend/acquaintance in the US Army in a Bradlee cavalry company. He was fixing to retire (they made him a Captain before he even had his bachelor's degree!) because he was bored. I sent him a copy of this book, and told him that if he was really bored with his work he should see his c.o. and ask for something more interesting to do. I was sure that the army viewed him as an asset and would make a strong effort to keep him. Last time I heard (about a year ago) he was still in.

< Message edited by mdiehl -- 9/29/2004 4:38:08 PM >

_____________________________

Show me a fellow who rejects statistical analysis a priori and I'll show you a fellow who has no knowledge of statistics.

Didn't we have this conversation already?

(in reply to mikemike)
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