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Title: The Pacific War by John Costello ISBN: 0-688-01620-0 Publisher: William Morrow Pub. Date: 01 December, 1982 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $21.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.45 (11 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: excellent starter
Comment: Although WWII began in Europe in 1939, American involvement in the war began with the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. Costello, one of the premier historians of the American involvement, has written a comprehensive one-volume history of the War with Japan that belongs on the shelf of anyone interested in the history of that war.
Beginning with a summation of the the almost two-decades long anti-Japanese (both intentional and not) activities of the United States, he analyses Pearl Harbor and its aftermath in detail without becoming either overly judgmental or overly sentimental. He covers the battle for the Phillipines, discussing the bitter decision to abandon it and withdraw MacArthur to Australia. He covers not only the major battles but the strategies behind them, awarding both the rose and the thorn impartially. And he discusses, with both facts and insight, the "Europe First" decision, which prompted so much strife, not only with the High Command but with the public at large.
It's often been theorized that WWII was, in fact, two separate wars in two separate regions. Costello's book serves as an excellent history of the Japanese War and could even be used, in conjunction with the works of Ambrose, to justify the 'two wars' theory successfully. It belongs on the shelf of any serious student of the war, US-Japan relations, or even the 20th Century!
Rating: 5
Summary: Good (detailed) history of the Pacific war
Comment: John Costello did a fine job of detailing the Pacific war from start to finish. At 800 pages this is not a quick read but all the major battles and actions are covered in detail. I found his writing style a bit more dry than John Toland but still eminently readable and engaging. My choice for a good trio of books on the conflict would be John Toland's 'The Rising Sun', Dan Van der Vat's 'The Pacific Campaign' and John Costello's 'The Pacific War'. These three belong on the bookshelf of anyone with a more than passing interest in that era and any one alone would be more than adequate for the amateur historian. Costello's book included a section at the end on Pearl Harbor that hints at more sinister behind-the-scenes actions. While I'm not a conspiracy buff, that section was intriguing and unique to the Costello book.
Rating: 4
Summary: Good Overview
Comment: I read this book for the first time two years ago. Recently I read Volume XII of the HISTORY OF UNITED STATES NAVAL OPERATIONS IN WORLD WAR II and found it helpful to get an overview by rereading the brief section on the Battle for Leyte Gulf in Costello's book before tackling the four hundred pages on the same subject written by Samuel Eliot Morison in Volume XII. This suggests to me another use for THE PACIFIC WAR 1941-1945 and I intend to continue to use it in this manner in the future.
As an attempt to write a one-volume account of World War II in the Pacific I also believe that Costello's book is largely successful.
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Title: Eagle Against the Sun : The American War With Japan by Ronald Spector ISBN: 0394741013 Publisher: Vintage Pub. Date: 12 October, 1985 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: PACIFIC CAMPAIGN: THE U.S.-JAPANESE NAVAL WAR 1941-1945 by Dan Van der Vat ISBN: 0671792172 Publisher: Touchstone Books Pub. Date: 01 December, 1992 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: The Pacific War Encyclopedia by Albert A. Nofi, James F. Dunnigan ISBN: 0816043930 Publisher: Checkmark Books Pub. Date: September, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle by Richard B. Frank ISBN: 0140165614 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: January, 1992 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: West Point Atlas for the Second World War: Asia and the Pacific by Thomas E. Griess ISBN: 0757001637 Publisher: Square One Publishers Pub. Date: December, 2002 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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