Product Description

Alan Schom's superb histories and biographies have been lauded for their dramatic sweep, their focus on extraordinary personalities, and their refreshing iconoclastic perspective. Schom begins this magisterial account of World War II in the Pacific by demonstrating an ironic paradox: on one hand, the American government and people were as adequately prepared for war as any major power ever has been; on the other, the Japanese high command plunged headlong into the Pacific campaign despite clear evidence-from their own analysts-that Japan had too little oil and too feeble an economy to prevail against the United States. It was a war that should not have been fought.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1257210 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-29
• Released on: 2004-11-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 576 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This opinionated but cluttered history covers the dramatic slugfest in the Pacific during the first year and a half after Pearl Harbor. Schom's treatment of historiographical issues-the rise of Japanese militarism, the need for raw materials that set Japan on the path of conquest, America's woeful unpreparedness and obliviousness to warnings of the impending Pearl Harbor attack-is usually well judged, although not groundbreaking. He emphasizes naval operations, and his analysis of initial American tactical ineptitude, especially in handling aircraft carriers, is particularly acute. Schom (Napoleon Bonaparte: A Life) turns a beady eye to history's personalities here, offering gossipy character studies of its leading (and not-so-leading) participants. This approach sometimes yields pungent insights, as in his blistering attack on MacArthur, a "befuddled" self-promoter and "greatest natural-born autocrat of them all," whose bungled defense of the Philippines Schom pegs as the worst American failure of the war. But the frequent intrusion of extraneous biographical detail (e.g., "Chester Nimitz walked to school barefoot as a child") disrupts coherent thematic development, while the author's fondness for living-history tableaux ("the smiling FDR wore a Panama hat and light beige tropical suit, his cigarette at its usual jaunty angle") pads the narrative. Schom has done a lot of research, on everything from the love lives of American commanders to the London theater season during Hirohito's 1921 state visit, to a strained encounter between Roosevelt and a nude Churchill, and he seems determined to let none of it go to waste. Some readers will love this; others may find themselves wishing he would lay off the human interest and get on with the war. Photos.
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From Booklist
This stout, imposing history of the first year and a half of World War II in the Pacific resembles Barbara Tuchman's World War I classic, The Guns of August, even if the blurbs say so themselves. Schom is a master of narrative technique, though not always of minor details of naval technology. He depicts the Japanese navy as probably superior in fighting power as well as numbers during this phase of the war. But it was critically weakened by poor logistical support against an American navy slowly learning to fight and rapidly building strength, thanks to America's matchless war productivity. A particular strength of the book consists of Schom's portraits of numerous leaders, some well known, such as MacArthur, about whom Schom is scathing, and Nimitz, about whom he waxes just this side of hagiography; and others who have been out of the limelight, such as Richmond Kelly Turner, an implacable and effective sea warrior with a terrible temper, and Frank Jack Fletcher, whose grasp of carrier warfare badly needed improvement. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"Alan Schom's comprehensive and insightful history... is a surprisingly searing indictment of several prominent American military leaders." The New York Times "One can hardly wait for Alan Schom's conclusion of the Pacific war in a projected second volume, not to mention what else he has to say about Douglas MacArthur." Washington Post Book World

Customer Reviews

The Propagation of Myths
Alan Schom's book continues to propagate myths about the Pacific War that have long been discredited or revised by more recent scholarship. The most egregious is his treament of Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, the victor of the battles of the Coral Sea and Midway [he was the operational commander for both battles]. Readers who want the real story on Fletcher need to read _Black Shoe Carrier Admiral: Frank Jack Fletcher at Coral Sea, Midway, and Guadalcanal_By John Lundstrom, who is a far more honest historian than Schom. I have no very high opinion of Schom and now it is even lower. He is about two decades behind in his scholarship. He practices what is known as low criticism--and in his case he shows a shocking lack of appreciation for the details of naval warfare in 1942--what was practical versus what was presumably theoretically possible. Schom is an ideological historian who usually has his mind made up about a topic before his writes about it and then uses the evidence to support the particular axe he is grinding. There are so many better books on the Pacific War [Ronald Spector's _Eagle against the sun_ and _Guadalcanal_ by Richard Frank], but Lundstrom is the latest scholarship and he corrects an injustice perpetrated by S.E. Morison and perpetuated by the likes of Alan Schom.

John T. Kuehn, Ph.D.
Commander U.S. Navy (retired)
Associate Professor of Military History
U.S. Army Command and General Staff College
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas

A Truly Awful work
When I first read about this book coming out, I was tremendously excited and couldn't WAIT to get it. I was wrong. This book (in my opinion) is a total waste of time and money - NOT because the author doesn't have some good things to say... he does, particularly about MacArthur's failings, Hirohito's guilt, and a couple of other "human" aspects.... but because of all the factual errors in the book, far too numerous to list here. How anyone can claim to write a history of the first year of the war and not even list Eric Bergerud's Land Touched with Fire, or Fire in the Sky, and Russell B. Frank's Guadalcanal in the bibliography is beyond me. Schom (as one other reviewer says) thinks Adm. Turner walked on water, but never says WHY. He totally neglects the fundamental role of starvation and disease in destroying the Japanese Army on the 'Canal. This book is a total waste because if you already know enough to see the factual errors in it, you know enough to not need it or be interested in it -- and if you DON'T catch the errors (the "Faruna" and her 16 14" guns(!), Tanaka fleeing with his 6 DD's while 7 are named, Gatch and Lee being responsible for sinking both the Hiei AND Kirishima, why Vandergrift didn't try to capture Mt. Austen immediately, the "Gifu sector" NOT being the same thing as Mt. Austen, Kenney and his skip-bombing that did (or didn't) start in Octorber 1942, etc), then the book will fill you with "facts that ain't so", and hamper any quest to truly understand what went on. I have never rated a book this low before --- and hope I never have to again.

My Bottom Line to anyone reading this review: For now, stick with some of the basics: Spector's Eagle against the Sun, for example, or the Bergerud books cited above, or the Frank work, etc.

Nice Touch
I really enjoyed this book. Not one of the negative reviewers could point out that Schrom was wrong about any of his criticisms of the key players especially MacArthur. MacArthur has got a free ride for too long. So does the Japanese imperial familay for its part in the horrendous war crimes they committed.

If you read a lot of miltary history and want something that adds new information, this book has it.