Hirohito's War: The Pacific War, 1941-1945
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-04-18 11:56:06
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Francis Pike
- ISBN：1472596714
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
In his magisterial 1，208 page narrative of the Pacific War， Francis Pike's Hirohito's War offers an original interpretation， balancing the existing Western-centric view with attention to the Japanese perspective on the conflict。 As well as giving a 'blow-by-blow' account of campaigns and battles， Francis Pike offers many challenges to the standard interpretations with regards to the causes of the war; Emperor Hirohito's war guilt; the inevitability of US Victory; the abilities of General MacArthur and Admiral Yamamoto; the role of China， Great Britain and Australia; military and naval technology; and the need for the fire-bombing of Japan and the eventual use of the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki。
Hirohito's War is accompanied by additional online resources， including more details on logistics， economics， POWs， submarines and kamikaze， as well as a 1930-1945 timeline and over 200 maps。
Hirohito's War is accompanied by additional online resources， including more details on logistics， economics， POWs， submarines and kamikaze， as well as a 1930-1945 timeline and over 200 maps。
Reviews
Maria
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1077 pages， Pike strives to write one book about the entire Pacific War。 Pike outlines and narrates campaigns and battles， showing the geographical expanse of the Pacific from India to Hawaii。 He also compares standard historical interpretations and further research that has come to light， highlighting the nationalities， personalities， technology， legalities and myths of the conflict。 Why I started this book: It's huge and it called to me， when it arrived at the library。。。 reminding me that it's 1077 pages， Pike strives to write one book about the entire Pacific War。 Pike outlines and narrates campaigns and battles， showing the geographical expanse of the Pacific from India to Hawaii。 He also compares standard historical interpretations and further research that has come to light， highlighting the nationalities， personalities， technology， legalities and myths of the conflict。 Why I started this book: It's huge and it called to me， when it arrived at the library。。。 reminding me that it's been a minute since I read a book about Japan。Why I finished it: This book is dense。 All footnotes， photos， maps and tables are online so that this book could be published in one book。 That means that every page is full text and it took me a while to work my way through it。 It's important to read history by historians from other nations。 They trace different narratives and bring out points that can be downplayed by national bias。 For example， Pike has no time for MacArthur's heroic reputation and gives an accounting of how he failed， lied， and manipulated statistics， leaving out his Australian soldiers casualties to compare his methods to Marine casualties in effort to gain complete control of the Pacific theater。 For a battle by battle account of the war that starts with the end of WWI， this book ends abruptly with the surrender of Japan and the rescript of Hirohito。 Read along: Hiroshima Nagasaki: The Real Story of the Atomic Bombings and Their Aftermath written by an Australian was an interesting and eye-opening book as it explores the national myths and beliefs of both Americans and Japanese about the atomic bombs。 。。。more
Charles
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Outstanding and Eminently Readable。I love the comprehensiveness and the unique approach Pike took to reportage， by putting the particular campaigns together in sections， so you can understand what happened in each area。 This is a much clearer way to see the Pacific War， where so many actions took place in so varied and far-spaced places that the typical straight timeline way of writing tends to just make it a mish-mosh。 The war in this theater tends to be less well-known and definitely less unde Outstanding and Eminently Readable。I love the comprehensiveness and the unique approach Pike took to reportage， by putting the particular campaigns together in sections， so you can understand what happened in each area。 This is a much clearer way to see the Pacific War， where so many actions took place in so varied and far-spaced places that the typical straight timeline way of writing tends to just make it a mish-mosh。 The war in this theater tends to be less well-known and definitely less understood than the Western Theater。 I absolutely recommend it-- with the caveat that it is 1200 pages。 。。。more
Simon
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An outstanding book - well worth the 1119 pages。 Readable and thought provoking
Aditya Pareek
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The finest military history I have ever read very thorough and in-depth。 The author however seems to have a deep grudge against Gen。 Douglas McArthur to the point of lambasting him for everything humanly conceivable。Definitely a 5/5 read that transformed my personal substantial depth in the context of the Pacific War theater of WWII。
Boudewijn
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An impressive， detailed account of the Pacific War， which gives a good overview of the Japanese point of view。 Unfortunately， the account is a bit marred by the author's opinion of the character of MacArthurAfter the desillusion from World War I， the embarrasing Washington naval treaty and the rise of Japanese nationalisme and the belief in the Japanese superrace， the second Sino-Japanese conflict （the incident at the Marco Polo bridge） can be seen as the start of World War II。 In the first chap An impressive， detailed account of the Pacific War， which gives a good overview of the Japanese point of view。 Unfortunately， the account is a bit marred by the author's opinion of the character of MacArthurAfter the desillusion from World War I， the embarrasing Washington naval treaty and the rise of Japanese nationalisme and the belief in the Japanese superrace， the second Sino-Japanese conflict （the incident at the Marco Polo bridge） can be seen as the start of World War II。 In the first chapters the author deals with the run up to the crisis and the American view of the rise of Japan。 Roosevelt - stuck between the isolationists and the hawks - could not act decisively。 In the end it was the oil embargo that tipped the decision towards war with the United States。Chapter by chapter， the author then deals with the main area's of battle in the Pacific。 It also gives a good overiew of the fighting in New Guinea， where the Australians played a big part， often overseen by the American history writers。It clearly shows that the battle of Guadalcanal， rather than Midway， was the decisive turning point。 It also shows the great tactical mistakes the Japanese made and how they never could have won a protracted war against the United States。One thing is clear: the author doesn't like MacArthur。 That is clear， especially when reading this quote: "Remarkably in early 1942， Congress was already calling for MacArthur， this most preposterous egomaniac and liar to be awarded the Legion of Honor medal" - anyway， whatever your personal feelings are as an author on your subject， it is a deadly sin to let the vitriol seep out of your writing when writing a non fiction book。 。。。more
Ryan Hannay
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Incredibly detailed and yet completely readable history of the Pacific theater of WWII。 The author takes you from the semi-recent root history in Japan， through the build up and spread of aggression in the area， and all the way to the slow decline and end of the Japanese empire through the Allied resistance。 Like many people I have been fascinated with World War 2 and read countless books about individual tales and people involved。 And the focus of most of these has been the European front， both Incredibly detailed and yet completely readable history of the Pacific theater of WWII。 The author takes you from the semi-recent root history in Japan， through the build up and spread of aggression in the area， and all the way to the slow decline and end of the Japanese empire through the Allied resistance。 Like many people I have been fascinated with World War 2 and read countless books about individual tales and people involved。 And the focus of most of these has been the European front， both because of the size of this effort and the familiarity most Americans have with European locations and the Nazi party。 But the Pacific front has remained such a complicated history full of obscure locations and people， it has been hard to get a full picture of what transpired。 Much in the same way The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich gives a one volume high level but detailed history of the war in Europe， I found this to give a thrilling and enlightening view of the Pacific （and having been written much more recently it gave even more follow ups and insights that only hindsight can provide） This book was also very unbiased and described not only the American views but gave first hand accounts of Australian， Chinese and Japanese experiences on the ground， sea， and air。 Far from painting the Japanese as some faceless menace， it allowed for a human perspective of what motivated them and also explained their strengths and weaknesses in battle。I've seen criticisms regarding typos and lack of maps， and those are really the only things I could possibly fault with this book。 But anyone with a smart phone can look up the locations， and amount of typos were negligible in a book with over 1，000 pages。 Otherwise I thought it was wonderfully written and gave me a new appreciation for the insane amount of planning and sacrifice that went into probably the most complicated and hopefully most destructive war we will ever see on this planet。 。。。more
Martin
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Very comprehensive history about the Pacific War， and absolutely worth reading。 The part about Japanese politics is also interesting， but the author seems to be more comfortable writing about the military side of things， and any efforts to improve the book for the next edition could well focus on these chapters。
Christian Cederberg
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