dereck -> RE: Question on Good Books on the Pacific War (11/27/2004 9:10:21 PM)
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ORIGINAL: Mike Hayday I'm looking for a good history of the Pacific War as a present. Any suggestions guys? Glad to hear your reccomendations. Books I personally have: 1. The Rising Sun by John Toland , 1,072 pages ... provides the Japanese side of the war. Sort of an Asian Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Plus side: very good information and point of view from the Japanese side and it covers from before the war through to the end ... minus side: it is LONG and takes a lot of time to read [:D] 2. Double-Edged Secrets: U.S. Naval Intelligence Operations in the Pacific during World War II by CAPT W.J. Holmes, 231 pages ...plus side: written by someone who served in the Combat Intelligence Unit in Hawaii so it's inside information ... minus side: it is geared toward US operations and doesn't have much if anything concerning SEAC. 3. And I Was There: Pearl Harbor and Midway - Breaking the Secrets by RADM Edwin T. Layton, 596 pages ... plus side: written by the intelligence officer to both ADM Kimmel before Pearl Harbor and to ADM Nimitz after Pearl Harbor until the end of the war so there is also plenty of inside information and shows how Washington turf wars basically ended up keeping vital information from Pearl Harbor before the attack ... minus side: definitely geared toward American operations and it also only mainly covers the time before the war to around Midway (June 1942) although it DOES provide really good background information prior to Pearl Harbor. 4. At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor by Gordon W. Prangle, 889 pages ... plus side: it's focused on events leading up to and the attack on Pearl Harbor ... minus side: it's about 20 years old so new information may be available which could be more accurate than this book and the plus side could also be a minus 5. The Pacific Campaign: The US-Japanese Naval War 1941-1945 by Dan van der Vat, 430 pages ... plus side: it gives a very good overvue of the entire war and also has good insites into the political situation/relations between the US and the British and Australians, etc ... minus side: as the book said it only covers the US-Japanese part of the war so the Burma and China Theatres are not included.
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