AnyBook4Less.com	Find the Best Price on the Web Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Home  |  Store List  |  FAQ  |  Contact Us  |
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money Keyword AuthorISBN

Title: Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II by John Prados ISBN: 1-55750-431-8 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: 05 November, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.95

Your Country USA Canada United Kingdom Australia Austria Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands Switzerland Currency AutoUSD CAD GBP EUR AUD CHF Delivery Only cheapest delivery All delivery options Include Used Books Are you a club member of: Barnes and Noble Books A Million Chapters.Indigo.ca

Average Customer Rating: 4.78 (9 reviews)

Rating: 5
Summary: masterwork
Comment: An exhaustive review of the subject and well-written.
But it is evident the author is a scholar, not a sailor.
The slips in nautical terms can be irritating. For example,
"knots per hour". A knot is a nautical mile per hour, so
what you have is nautical mile per hour per hour.

Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent detail -- but a great narrative too
Comment: The detail in examining all aspects of intelligence in the Japanese and American navies during WWII -- from fleet recognition, to traffic analysis, to wartime production information, to the role of Ultra and decryption -- make Prados' book an excellent study. Those familiar with WWII issues will find lots of fresh material.

Prados is wise enough to limit the topic to just naval intelligence issues, but still fills 735 pages with detail and skill. The pleasant surprise is that it's so well-written, building each issue to its climax in the wartime theater. And, with 50+ years of perspective, you can feel the tide of the war shift after Guadalcanal.

The art of intelligence-gathering increased dramatically during this war because of radio intercepts, so Prados covers the topic chronologically. He has an excellent analysis of Japanese Naval strategy at Pearl Harbor, during the Pacific conquest period, and the shift to a "defensive" strategy of the homelands.

Prados does an excellent job comparing the structure of Japanese and American intelligence-gathering; also in indicating both opportunities and limitations of intelligence in war-time. The reader also sees the dramatic impact that war-time propaganda has in mis-leading military leaders.

Surprisingly low-tech intelligence issues are important at various points during the war: such as the absence of photo-reconnaissance early in the war for Americans. For the Japanese navy, poor ship-recognition skills by Japanese pilots and skippers leads to assumptions that American carriers present no threat because they've been reported as sunk -- or that destroyers were cruisers or even battleships.

The book is closed by an excellent post-war period which does two things: follows the careers of major intelligence participants and discusses social aspects of military training.

Rating: 4
Summary: Misleading title
Comment: This book starts off describing both sides' codebreaking efforts prior to WWII, something not available elsewhere, certainly not in such stunning detail.

With the onset of the Pacific War, though, there's a new thread to follow: naval operations (hence my review's title). John Prados certainly excels at describing naval operations in the light of knowledge gained through intelligence, all the while throwing in an amazing amount of detail, but there are other books describing operations (although minus the recent codebreaking informations), and better ones at that.

Sadly, by switching to operational history, Prados almost forgets about the war behind the scenes, the sleepless nights in crowded rooms, during which some "super-brains" solved incomplete puzzles, which were to prove vital in the war effort, without earning themselves the honors they deserved. Only this reason keeps me from awarding 5 stars - there are 4 for being one of the most detailed and fascinating to read operational histories of the Pacific War.

Similar Books:

	Title: Double-Edged Secrets: U.S. Naval Intelligence Operations in the Pacific During World War II (Bluejacket Books) by W. J. Holmes ISBN: 1557503249 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: September, 1998 List Price(USD): $16.95
	Title: The Emperor's Codes: The Breaking of Japan's Secret Ciphers by Michael Smith ISBN: 014200233X Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: November, 2002 List Price(USD): $15.00
	Title: Battle Of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II by Stephen Budiansky ISBN: 0684859327 Publisher: Free Press Pub. Date: 10 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $27.50
	Title: History of United States Naval Operations in World War II 15 Volume Set by Samuel Eliot Morison ISBN: 0762854316 Publisher: Book Sales Pub. Date: June, 2001 List Price(USD): $149.99
	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: 1557504288 Publisher: United States Naval Inst. Pub. Date: March, 2001 List Price(USD): $19.95