Book recomendations on WW2 in the pacific

I recently read "The Battle of Midway" by Craig Symonds, which is by far the best account of the events leading up to and the campaign itself that I have enjoyed. Symonds is a Distinguished Professor of American Navel History at the USNA; he combines his extensive knowledge of sea operations with the personal narratives of the officers and pilots into a fascinating and factual record.

Oxford University Press ISBN 978-0-19-539793-2

If fiction is more your interest, "The Thin Red Line" is a good book and a pretty good movie.

So many, so little time.

I recently read "Stay The Rising Sun", the engagement and sinking of the USS Lexington and more broadly the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Very well written book.

Stafford's "The Big E" is a good history of Enterprise's (CV-6) operations based on interviews and memories of those on her.  For some short stories of several submarines, "The Silent Service" by Chambliss.  Couple of books out there on Wahoo (SS238), and Richard O'Kane wrote a good one as well.....Morton's XO on Wahoo, later skipper of Tang and POW guest of the Japanese.

Samuel Elliot Morrison's books are a pretty definative look at the Pacific.

Pig Boats by Theodore Roscoe-A nice account on the exploits of US submarines.

Rampage: MacArthur, Yamashita, and the Battle of Manila-by James M. Scott

The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire.

by John Toland

GMorrison

The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire.

by John Toland

 

Very good,very expansive,really touches on a lot of stuff,but doesn’t overwhelm you,a great overview 

Flags of our fathers and Flyboys both by James Bradley. 

Here's a few that are good reads.

"Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan 1942 - 1945" by Barrett Tillman.

Has an interesting summary at the end that goes against a lot of the common knowledge for results of the air campaign presented by a lot of historians.

"The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" by James D. Hornfischer.

Excellent account of the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the heroic stand of Taffy 3.

"At War With the Wind" by David Sears.

History of the fight against the Kamikaze.  A good overview of the men who fought.

"Halsey's Typhoon" by Bob Drury and Tom Clavin.

A little told story of a disaster that befell the US Navy due to weather and poor communications.

"Pacific Crucible" by Ian W. Toll.

Good overall history of the early part of the war in the Pacific from 1941 to 1942.

That should get you started!

Gary 

Lightning Strike by Donald A. Davis. 

The story about the assassination of Yamamoto. 

T e d

One of the pilots who claimed that kill grew up and returned to Culver, OR.  He also flew a P80 under both bridges in the Crooked River Gorge a few miles from there.  Rex Barber.

In fiction, one of the best is James Jone's From Here to Eternity.

I'm very fond of that writer; this was his first major novel and probably his best.

The movie is very good as well, as is the TV adapt with William DeVane as Sgt. Warden.

Ian Toll's Pacific Crucible and The Conquering Tide are excellent, as are James Hornfischer's The Fleet at Flood-Tide and Neptune's Inferno.

There is the official naval history of WW2, by Samual Elliot Morrison but I forget the exact title.  There is a paperback version.  It covers the war in the pacific in great detail.

I cannot find my copy- try amazon and enter his name and that should bring up his books.

Found the 15 volume set and individual volumes on Amazon, but seem to recall there was a two book set back in the 60's specifically on the Pacific. Hardbound in maroon/wine and about 2 inches thick each.

Thank you all, great suggestions and most of the books are available in the local library.

Cheers...

GMorrison

In fiction, one of the best is James Jone's From Here to Eternity.

I'm very fond of that writer; this was his first major novel and probably his best.

The movie is very good as well, as is the TV adapt with William DeVane as Sgt. Warden.

 

All of James Jones trilogy novels are great- From Here to Eternity, The Thin Red Line, and Whistle. Semi autobiographical with the same four central characters under different names in each of the three novels. 

Incredible Victory by Walter Lord, At Dawn We Slept & Miracle at Midway by Gordon Prange, and Ghost Soldiers by Hampton Sides are excellent reads as well. 

stikpusher

All of James Jones trilogy novels are great- From Here to Eternity, The Thind Red Line, and Whistle. Semi autobiographical with the same four central characters under different names in each of the three novels. 

You are absolutely correct Stik...all 3 of them were outstanding books.

This is a great thread. I have written down the titles of books I need to get my hands on and read.

A few more to add... The Utmost Savagery, by Alexander, about the battle of Tarawa; Guadalcanal by Eric Hammel; Oba, The Last Samurai by Don Jones; Get Yamamoto by Burke Davis.... and at least two of the wartime classics- Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by Ted Lawson, and Guadalcanal Diary by Richard Tregaski.

Ghost Soldiers and A Helmet For My Pillow are good ones too

Yeah this is a great thread.  I'm very interested in the books about Guadalcanal as my grandfather served there.  Every once in a while he would talk about it.  

I marked the thread as a favorite. 

Thanks guys. 

T e d

John Lundstrom's "First Team" books, about US naval aviation in the first six months of 1942, are excellent books to read.   They are, "The First Team", "The First Team:  The Guadalcanal Campaign", and "The First South Pacific Campaign:  Pacific Fleet Strategy, December 1941-June 1942".  I learned about Lundstrom from reading "Shattered Sword".  Parshall and Tully credit Lundstrom with inspiring the line of questioning and research that led them to publish their book.

I'll second James Hornfisher's books, too:  "Neptune's Inferno" covering the naval combat in the Guadalcanal campaign; "The Fleet at Flood Tide" covering the Mariannas campaign to the end of the war; and "The Last Stand of the Tin-Can Sailors" on the Battle off Samar.  That story should be made into a movie.

I also recommend, "In Harm's Way", by Doug Stanton, about the sinking of the Indianapolis.

Reading the Lundstrom books, especially, filled in gaps in what I knew previously about the Pacific War.  It's almost as if the focus in so much of what we read as kids lead one to think that we go from Pearl Harbor, to the Coral Sea and Midway, and Guadalcanal, and then all of a sudden, the Mariannas Turkey Shoot happens, then Leyte Gulf, and then Hiroshima and the deck of the Missouri.  There's a lot in between that didn't get as much coverage, generally speaking.

stikpusher

...Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by Ted Lawson, and Guadalcanal Diary by Richard Tregaskis.

stikpusher

Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo by Ted Lawson

I loved that book Stik. Great selection to read!

the Baron

John Lundstrom's "First Team" books, about US naval aviation in the first six months of 1942, are excellent books to read.   They are, "The First Team", "The First Team:  The Guadalcanal Campaign", and "The First South Pacific Campaign:  Pacific Fleet Strategy, December 1941-June 1942".  I learned about Lundstrom from reading "Shattered Sword".  Parshall and Tully credit Lundstrom with inspiring the line of questioning and research that led them to publish their book.

Brad,

Thank you for posting this. I was told about this series of books and forgot about it until I saw your post. I'm going to hunt these down. Are they in paperback?

Here is a few from my stacks.

The Fleet the Gods Forgot: The U.S. Asiatic Fleet in World War II by. W.G. Winslow. Covers the early months of the war.

Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors by James D. Hornfischer. The Houston was sunk at the Battle of the Sunda Srait, her survivors would then be sent to work on Burma-Thailand Railway, made famous in Bridge Over the River Kwai.  The author of The Fleet the Gods Forgot was an officer on USS Houston.

The books that started it off for me were Midway by A.J. Barker and Baa Baa Black Sheep by Greg "Pappy" Boyington. I still have them but haven't read them since I was a kid.

Hope this helps and enjoy.

For the Aleutian Campaign, you want Brian Garfield's Thousand Mile War; and John Haile Cloe's The Aleutian Warriors and Top Cover For America.

Hello!

I'm a bit surprised that nobody mentioned it earlier, but I would like to recomment the book "With the old breed" by E.B. Sledge - a very good account of an infantryman's struggle in very hard fights on Peleliu and Okinawa.

Have a good read!

Paweł

E.B. Sledge's book was a reference used in Ken Burns' The War and the mini-series The Pacific.