The Pacific Campaign: The U.S.-Japanese Naval War 1941-1945

In the movie "In Harm's Way" Kirk Douglas's character Commander Paul Eddington tells John Wayne's Captain Rockwell Torrey: "Old Rock of Ages, we've got ourselves another war. A gut bustin', mother-lovin' Navy war." This book is the literary equivalent. A British military/naval affairs journalist who grew up in the Netherlands during the Nazi occupation, van der Vat brings experience and knowledge to the telling of this story... Read Full Review

Dan van der Vat's account of the Pacific theater of operations of the Second World War is a master piece of millitary history. Well written, it is both rich in detail and easy on the eyes. This book grabbed me in the first paragraph, something that is a must with a work of this scope. I didn't want to put this book down and was sorry the story was over when I was through; I wanted more. I came to know the leaders of both... Read Full Review

I'm not really a military history buff, but I got curious to know more about the war in the Pacific than I remembered from high school. This was a good book and an easy, enjoyable read, which was exactly what I was looking for. Some minor criticisms (which others may disagree with entirely) : I could have done with less exacting details of some of the military specifics, but serious military historians would want far more... Read Full Review

I thought Van der Vat did a good job outlining the Pacific war- with a few criticisms. He was occasionally a bit heavy handed and moralistic in his assesments, rather than letting the facts speak for themselves. I thought he was overly critical of MacArthur (for example: referring to him striding ashore in the Philippines as 'an old ham'). For a single volume history of the Pacific John Toland's "The Rising Sun" is still the... Read Full Review

Good analysis of Pacific campagin with detail to back up explanations which current historians have not addressed or were scared to write. The failure of Japanese military to see their situation as it was may have contributed the most to the American victory. His 2 chapters on the underlying causes of the Pacific conflict and the perspective of Japan removes the sterro typed Japanese aggressor. He clearly faults military... Read Full Review