Finally!!

[Don Boyer]

"Allies Against the Rising Sun: The United States, the British Nations and the Defeat of Imperial Japan." By Nicholas Evan Sarantakes. University Press of Kansas, Lawrence, KS. 2009.

This book is highly rated by the U S Naval Institute Press in their May 2010 issue, calling it a "...wonderfully well-integrated work of imperial, military, naval and diplomatic history." The book covers the history of the military and political alliance between the US and the British Commonwealth nations who would fight together in the Pacific in WWII. It focuses on, and provides fresh insight into, the formation of the British Pacific Fleet and it's combat operations in the Pacific War as well as a look at the planned deployment of a Commonwealth army and air force that would have participated in the assault on the Japanese home islands were it not for the atomic bombs.

This is a long overdue American work that puts credit where credit is due for our somewhat overlooked compatriots in that great struggle. The book has been rated as and exceptional work by both "Diplomatic History" and the "English Historical Review." This will be a must for Pacific War fans.

[INVINCIBLE]

Don,

Many thanks for your strong recommendation. It certainly sounds tempting, though there are so many excellent books on this subject it is very difficult to decide on the best ones to read and also the best ones to buy. How does it compare with 'Eagle against the Sun' by Ronald Spector and 'The Pacific Campaign' by Dan Van Der Vat? How much does it cost? Has it been brought out to coincide with the new 'Pacific' (Band of Brothers) TV series?

[airlana]

Thanks Don for posting the details.

Sounds like a 'must have' book judging by the reviews so I've just ordered a copy from Amazon.

regards Ash
airlana

[Don Boyer]

Invincible:

The book has nothing to do with the latest "fad" on "The Pacific" (a pretty good series. I have downloaded all ten episodes and they are a real step up in quality over many movies/series, a trend continued by the Tom Hanks/Spielberg team that I hope continues).

I have read "Eagle Against the Sun" but not the van der Vaat book. The former is an excellent overview of the war, a bit heavy on the politics, but highly readable and informative. This new book is a good read to me because it finally highlights the effort and contribution of Britain and the Commonwealth nations who were often "left out" of the Pacific war story, particularly by the egomaniac glory hound MacArthur who has been rightfully pilloried for his conduct toward Australian and New Zealand troops. For an American raised on Morison and his successors, this is a "fresh" look at things, and thus a good read in my book.

The reviewer of the book in USNI Proceedings for June works for King's College, London, and I don't know any English experts who would tout an American book without good reason. I've barely started it, so will reserve my own comments for the moment. The reviews in USNI are usually pretty indicative of the quality of the book and I usually trust them.

Regards,

[astraltrader]

Thanks for the heads up Don.

"Allies Against the Rising Sun" sounds like a book worth reading and I will make sure I get a copy.

[INVINCIBLE]

Invincible:

The book has nothing to do with the latest "fad" on "The Pacific" (a pretty good series. I have downloaded all ten episodes and they are a real step up in quality over many movies/series, a trend continued by the Tom Hanks/Spielberg team that I hope continues).

I have read "Eagle Against the Sun" but not the van der Vaat book. The former is an excellent overview of the war, a bit heavy on the politics, but highly readable and informative. This new book is a good read to me because it finally highlights the effort and contribution of Britain and the Commonwealth nations who were often "left out" of the Pacific war story, particularly by the egomaniac glory hound MacArthur who has been rightfully pilloried for his conduct toward Australian and New Zealand troops. For an American raised on Morison and his successors, this is a "fresh" look at things, and thus a good read in my book.

The reviewer of the book in USNI Proceedings for June works for King's College, London, and I don't know any English experts who would tout an American book without good reason. I've barely started it, so will reserve my own comments for the moment. The reviews in USNI are usually pretty indicative of the quality of the book and I usually trust them.

Regards,

Don,

Many thanks I much look forward to your comments and in the meantime I will look for it on the USNI site, though it is not always easy to find books on their site because of the way it is organised.

[JarrowDave]

What about "Task Force 57" by Peter C Smith, ISBN 0 947554 45 9?

I've just finished reading "The New Dealer's War" by Thomas Fleming - Basic Books - ISBN 978-0-465-02465-0. An interesting read on Fleming's view of how America saw WWII from the top.

I like to think that I'm a pretty good historian, I've a Bsc and an MA, though not in history. I always reccomend:-

E.B. Potter's "Nimitz - Naval Institute Press - ISBN 978-1-59114-580-6.

and

Louis Morton's "The Fall of the Philippines" - University Press of the Pacific, Honolulu, Hawaii. ISBN 1-4102-1696-9.


Regards

JD

[JarrowDave]

And :-

HMS Leviathan.

John Winton.

Severn House Publishing

ISBN-13: 978-0727846754

A very highly regarded fictional account.

JD

[Don Boyer]

I note that Task Force 57 is always spoken of very highly by you RN types and others. It's on my "gimme" list. Nimitz is one of the finest biographies of an American naval officer out there, and also gives a perspective of WWII from someone with four stars on their shoulders (later five) who earned every one of them by being an outstanding naval officer instead of a cocktail-balancing careerist.

The others that JD mentions I have not run across yet, but obviously they need to be on the list.

:)

[INVINCIBLE]

And :-

HMS Leviathan.

John Winton.

Severn House Publishing

ISBN-13: 978-0727846754

A very highly regarded fictional account.

JD

Dave,

I agree that 'LEVIATHAN' is a great read and having served in two carriers a lot of it rings true from my experience. The end, with the effective dismissal of the Commander is rather sad after what he went through, but a very similar thing happened in one of the carriers I served in. Not sure if John Winton ever served in a carrier. Somebody might know

[scjon]

Task Force 57 is excellent. I have always found the irony in the similarity of the situation the US Battleships came into in WWI and the one the BPF came into in WWII. The USN and RN have always shown remarkable ability to work together for a very long time now. A tradition on its own now I feel.
And agree about Don's opinion about Nimitz. One of the finest officers to ever don a USN uniform. It is incredibly rare to read a bad word about him, even from the revisionists...