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Title: Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story by Mitsuo Fuchida, Masatake Okumiya, Thomas B. Buell, Clarke H. Kawakami, Roger Pineau, Raymond A. Spruance ISBN: 1-55750-428-8 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: March, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.55 (20 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Hubris: The Price of Empire
Comment: It is clear in "Midway" that, in the pursuit of Empire, Japan paid a terrible price. In its quest for the decisive fleet engagement, and in order to prevent another Doolittle raid, the Imperial Navy sought to draw out the United States Pacific Fleet by invading the tiny island of Midway. Until Midway, the Japanese were having a free hand in Asia. The Midway plan was thus tainted by hubris. First, believing in the utter invincibility of their fleet, Japanese naval planners opted for a plan which divided their forces, clearly a violation of one of the basic precepts of war. Second, they drew up an invasion plan which relegated their powerful carriers to a supporting role. This also had the effect of unmasking the battleship mentality so prevalent at the time. Third, they assumed that the enemy would act as anticipated. Fourth, in executing the plan, they somehow lost sight of their true objective: to lure the US Pacific Fleet, especially its carriers, into a vulnerable position and destroy it.
Fuchida and Okumiya place the reader on the bridge of the Akagi as she prepares to launch her airborne armada. One can only watch helplessly as the bombs begin to fall on the Japanese carriers at the moment of maximum peril, when bombs were scattered along the decks and fuel lines snaked between planes and flight personnel.
Rating: 5
Summary: Very Interesting book
Comment: I Don't need to say much about this book that hasn,t already been said. Great book!
Rating: 5
Summary: The Battle of Midway as seen by the Japanese--powerful!
Comment: This is a splendid analysis of the Battle of Midway as seen from the Japanese side. The authors had firsthand knowledge of the plans, actions, mistakes, strengths, and weaknesses of the Imperial Japanese Navy in connection with the Battle of Midway, and they pull no punches telling us about the battle. The Battle of Midway turned the tide of the Pacific War for all time against Japan, as an outnumbered and outmatched, but plucky, U.S. Navy inflicted a devastating defeat on the greatest carrier force ever assembled up to that time. This book goes far in explaining how this miracle took place. The authors tell us about the dithering of the Japanese commander as to whether to strike Midway again, or to strike the American fleet, or do a hasty strike against the American fleet before all his planes were recovered--and how this indecision helped lose a battle that almost could not be lost. So too did the sloppiness of the deck crews, who stacked bombs and torpedos carelessly on the decks of the carriers as the Admiral kept changing his mind--this ordinance of course exploded when the American dive bombers attacked, ensuring that three Japanese carriers went to the bottom, rather than having a chance of surviving through damage control. The book is filled with excellent details like this.
The authors also do a fine job explaining the motivations and outlooks of the Japanese leaders, including the great famed Admiral Yamamoto--who evidently reacted to the Doolittle Raid by pushing for the attack on Midway. This key decision signed Japan's death warrant as regards the Pacific war. Had Japan instead turned west and attacked Russia, this could have changed the entire complexion of the war, as Germany might have prevailed against Russia, forcing the US to divert even more resources in its "Germany First" policy. The authors reveal how close Japan may have been to adopting this strategy.
This book impresses the reader not just with the mistakes the Japanese made, but also of the tenacity, skill, and competence of the former Japanese foe. The book was written in the early 1950s and the authors' viewpoints are somewhat overly colored by the aftermath of defeat--Japan had not yet shaken off the trauma of defeat and this pessimism about Japan's prospects is readily apparent. I trust the authors lived to see that in reality the Japanese people won, not lost, the war by becoming a prosperous and democratic economic powerhouse.
Incidentally, it appeared clear to me that the movie "Battle of Midway" with Henry Fonda was essentially based on this book.
This is a fine analysis of the most important battle of the Pacific War and constitutes essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the Battle of Midway and the reasons that Japan was defeated in both the battle and the war.
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Title: Miracle at Midway by Gordon William Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, Katherine V. Dillon ISBN: 0140068147 Publisher: Viking Press Pub. Date: November, 1983 List Price(USD): $20.00 |
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Title: The Reluctant Admiral: Yamamoto and the Imperial Navy by Hiroyuki Agawa, John Bester ISBN: 4770025394 Publisher: Kodansha International Pub. Date: November, 2000 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: How They Won the War in the Pacific: Nimitz and His Admirals by Edwin P. Hoyt ISBN: 1585741485 Publisher: The Lyons Press Pub. Date: August, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Zero by Masatake Okumiya, Jiro Horikoshi ISBN: 0743444914 Publisher: I Books Pub. Date: 01 September, 2002 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
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Title: At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor by Gordon William Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, Katherine V. Dillon ISBN: 0140157344 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: December, 1991 List Price(USD): $20.95 |
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