Bookshop: Second World War in the Pacific

Under the Southern Cross – The South Pacific Air Campaign against Rabaul, Thomas McKelvey Cleaver. Looks at the Allied air campaign that helped neutralise the major Japanese base at Rabaul without a costly invasion, tracing the growth of Allied air power in the South Pacific from the desperate days on Guadalcanal to a position where the Allies had clear air superiority and were able to subject Rabaul to weeks of near constant attack, eventually forcing the Japanese to withdraw their last aircraft from the base, but not until they had attempted to use their elite carrier aviators to defeat the Allied attacks, thus reducing the effectiveness of their aircraft carriers for the rest of the war (Read Full Review)

Dark Waters, Starry Skies – The Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign, March-October 1943, Jeffrey R. Cox. Looks at the fighting in the Solomons from the tail end of the Guadalcanal campaign to the end of the invasion of New George, along with the connected fighting on New Guinea and the naval and air campaigns associated with those campaigns. This was a period when the naval war was finally balanced, with the Americans in control in daylight and the Japanese at night, with both sides able to inflict heavy blows on the other, but against a background of growing American power and a series of Japanese setbacks (Read Full Review)

Nagasaki – The Forgotten Prisoners, John Willis. Tells the stories of the Allied POWs who were imprisoned at Nagasaki when the second atomic bomb was dropped, from their capture, through their earlier POW experiences, on to the explosion of the bomb itself and its aftermath, their liberation, return home and the long term impact their experiences had on them (Read Full Review)

Z Special Unit, Gavin Mortimer. Looks at three of the missions carried out by SOE and Special Operations Australia, two long range raids on Singapore (Operations Jaywick and Rimau) and their longer involvement on Japanese occupied Borneo. An excellent study of these daring missions, given a somewhat downbeat tone by the disastrous failure of Operation Rimau, the second raid on Singapore. However that shouldn’t distract from the impressive achievements of Operation Jaywick and the exploits of the teams on Borneo (Read Full Review)

The Defenders of Taffy 3 – Analysis and Retelling of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, Byron G. Como. A detailed account of the battle off Samar, taking advantage of the declassification of the American battle reports in 2012 and the use of any surviving Japanese reports to produce an accurate study of the defensive battle that saved the escort carriers of Taffy 3 from total destruction. Uncovers some previously lost details of the battle, and even traces the courses of individual torpedoes! (Read Full Review)

When the Shooting Stopped – August 1945, Barrett Tillman. Looks at the final weeks of the Second World War, from the initial rumours of a possible Japanese surrender, through all of the uncertainty caused by the different factions in Tokyo and on to the official surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay. Looks at the intercepted intelligence that guided American actions, the political debates within Japan, the confusion faced by the various fighting forces as peace got closer, the last military actions of the war, and the initial stages of the occupation of Japan and the surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay (Read Full Review)

Japan’s Pacific War – Personal Accounts of the Emperor’s Warriors, Peter Williams. A fascinating series of interviews with Japanese veterans who had been involved in the fighting against Australian forces during the Second World War, with a focus on the land battles, but also interviews with pilots and sailors. An invaluable series of accounts that give us some idea of what life was like in the Japanese armed forces during the war, as well as the veterans attitudes to the war in general, to their own superiors and to their opponents (Read Full Review)

The Netherlands East Indies Campaign 1941-42 – Japan’s Quest for Oil, Marc Lohnstein. A look at one of the less familiar Japanese conquests of 1941-42, the complex but rapid conquest of the vast areas of the Netherlands East Indies, a skilful campaign marred by the sadly inevitable war crimes and massacres by the conquering Japanese. A good narrative of the battle that clears up the confusion that can come from shorter overviews, and shows the Japanese to have had a clear plan that they implemented successfully (Read Full Review)

Pacific Carrier War, Carrier Combat from Pearl Harbor to Okinawa, Mark E. Stille. A look at the five main carrier battles of the Pacific War – Coral Sea, Midway, the Eastern Solomons, Santa Cruz and the Philippine Sea – the five times that Japanese and American fleet carriers clashed during the war, with most coming in 1942 before the final destruction of the Japanese naval air arm in 1944. Looks at the state of both naval air forces before the war, how they performed in each battle, how they changed over time, and what gave the Americans the edge that saw them achieve their aim in five of the six battles (Read Full Review)

Battle of Manila – Nadir of Japanese Barbarism, 3 February-3 March 1945, Miguel Miranda. An account of the brutal battle to liberate Manila, a battle that happened because the Naval forces holding Manila ignored the Japanese Army’s plans to withdraw from the city and fight elsewhere. The result was a month long battle that left large parts of the city devastated, and huge numbers of civilians dead, many as a result of Japanese massacres. Written by an inhabitant of Manila whose family were caught up in the events of the siege,so we get an unusually personal connection to the battle, combined with good research (Read Full Review)

Morning Star, Midnight Sun – The Early Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign of World War II August-October 1942, Jeffrey R. Cox. A splendid account of the early days of the Guadalcanal campaign, when the Americans were operating on a shoestring, and the Japanese probably missed their best chances to win the battle by underestimating their opponents. A fascinating tale of a battle that was fought at the extreme end of both side’s supply lines, and in which the Americans came to dominate the day and the Japanese to dominate the night, told in a very entertaining, if sometimes rather judgemental way, with a great deal of excellent material on both sides of the campaign(Read Full Review)

Darwin 1942 – The Japanese Attack on Australia, Bob Alford. Focuses on the Japanese air raids on Darwin on 19 February 1942, the first and by far the largest of the ninety seven Japanese air attack on the Australian mainland during the Second World War. A very detailed account of the air battle, with eyewitness accounts from both sides, and an excellent analysis of experiences of the airmen on both sides and their losses. (Read Full Review)

Japan’s Asian Allies 1941-45, Philip Jowett. Looks at the surprisingly numerous and varied forces raised by the Japanese across their short-lived Empire during the Second World War, ranging from the large, moderately well equipped forces of the Indian National Army to small occupation forces armed with spears or clubs. Includes a number of forces that were later remembered as part of post-war independence movements, and quite a few that changed sides as the war progressed (Read Full Review)

Malaya and Singapore 1941-42, Mark Stille. Looks at one of the most disastrous campaigns in British military history, from the Japanese landings in northern Malaya and southern Thailand to the failed attempt to defend Singapore. Starts with an examination of the justifiably criticised British commanders and their more experienced and capable Japanese opponents, and of the opposing forces, before moving on to a good clear account of the skilful Japanese advance and the often woeful British defence, which led to the eventual surrender of Singapore and over 130,000 POWs. (Read Full Review)

US Navy Ships vs Kamikazes 1944-45, Mark Stille. Looks at the reasons for the kamikaze attacks, the techniques used by them, the aircraft involved, the ships they targeted, the American response, and the effectiveness of the attacks. Includes a useful statistical analysis of the campaign, looking at if it was an effective use of resources. A good short account of the kamikaze campaign, looking at it from both sides (Read Full Review)

Rikugun - Guide to Japanese Ground Forces 1937-1945 - Volume 2: Weapons of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy Ground Forces, Leland Ness . Looks at an impressively wide range of the weapons used by the Japanese military during the Second World War, covering personal weapons such as machine guns or grenades, the full range of artillery and anti-aircraft guns, aircraft detection systems, tanks, mines, chemical weapons (including smoke generators) and even river crossing equipment. A very useful reference work on the equipment of the Japanese armed forces, providing both a narrative account of developments in a particular area and weapon by weapon technical details [read full review]

Rikugun - Guide to Japanese Ground Forces 1937-1945 - Volume 1: Tactical Organization of Imperial Japanese Army & Navy Ground Forces, Leland Ness. A valuable reference book that provides a well researched and detailed guide to the often confusing ground forces of the Japanese army and navy, tracing the creation, career and end of every significant unit, as well as their many changes in organisation, and the actual troops allocated to these units (often very different to the official structure). Includes some interesting material on how the army in particular reacted to the changing war situation, but is mainly intended as a reference work [read full review]

Burma Road 1943-44 - Stilwell's assault on Myitkyina, Jon Diamond. Looks at the multinational Allied invasion of northern Burma, which ended with the capture of Myitkyina and the opening of a land route to China. Nice to have a book that looks at this battle in its own right, rather than a preliminary to the reconquest of southern and central Burma or a footnote to the Chindits [read full review]

Special Operations South-East Asia 1942-1945: Minerva, Baldhead and Longshanks/ Creek, David Miller. Focuses on three Special Forces operations in South East Asia – a failed attempt to gather intelligence on Sumatra, a series of similar but successful operations on the Andaman Islands and a 'cutting out' operation conducted in the Portuguese enclave of Goa. These were three very different operations, and perhaps the only thing they have in common is that they are now hardly remembered, so this is a useful study of the three. [read full review]

Escape from the Japanese - The Amazing Story of a PoW's Journey from Hong Kong to Freedom, Lt. Cmdr Ralph Burton Goodwin. Compelling story of a rare successful escape from Japanese captivity, followed by a journey across war-torn China. The author was captured at the fall of Hong Kong. After two and a half years he escaped, and made his way across very difficult terrain into Chinese-held territory. We then trace his journey across wartime China, from the Communist held area around Hong Kong to the Nationalist capital at Kunming, so the fascinating escape story is followed by a very valuable insight into conditions within China. [read full review]

Hong Kong 1941-45 - First strike in the Pacific War, Benjamin Lai. Looks at the eighteen day long battle of Hong Kong, a gallant but doomed British and Commonwealth attempt to defend the colony against a larger Japanese army with powerful air support. Also covers the Chinese resistance, the fate of the POWs and the eventual liberation of Hong Kong. A good history of one of the earliest battles of the Pacific War. [read full review]

Storming the City - U.S. Military Performance in Urban Warfare from World War II to Vietnam, Alec Wahlman . Looks at four city battles - Aachen in 1944, Manila in 1945, Seoul in 1950 and Hue in 1968 to see how the US military coped - what plans it had in place for urban warfare, how effective they were, and how things changed over time. A useful volume that analyses a key aspect of military operations across four rather different battlefields. [read full review]

Rising Sun, Falling Skies: The Disastrous Java Sea Campaign of World War II, Jeffrey R. Cox. A brilliant account of the doomed desperate attempt by the Allies to defend the Dutch East Indies, focusing on the naval campaign that ended with crushing defeats in the Java Sea and the loss of most Allied warships either in battle or while attempting to escape. [read full review]

Tank Tracks to Rangoon - the story of British armour in Burma, Bryan Perrett. Interesting history of an unfamiliar aspect of the Burma campaign, looking at the massive effort that went into making the tank an effective weapon in some of the most difficult terrain in the world. Covers the entire campaign from the longest retreat in British military history to the eventual rapid advance on Rangoon. [read full review]

The Rice Paddy Navy, US Sailors Undercover in China, Linda Kush. The story of a US Navy weather reporting service that expanded into a major military force in China, training guerrillas, running an intelligence network, and also managing to report on the weather in China, a key factor in forecasting the weather over the Pacific theatre. [read full review]

Pacific War Ghosts: Travels to the South Pacific Battlefields of World War II, Tony Maxwell. Combines a history of four key Pacific island battles and an account of visits to Papua Mew Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Bougainville, Ballale and Tarawa. Supported by a good mix of wartime and modern photos, the travelogues are interesting but a little too short, while the battle histories are clear and well written. [read full review]

The British Pacific Fleet: The Royal Navy's Most Powerful Strike Force, David Hobbs. A history of the most powerful fleet in British naval history, tracing its rapid development from shaky early days in the Indian ocean to its involvement in the invasion of Okinawa and operations alongside the Americans off the coast of Japan. [read full review]

The Pacific War Uncensored, Harold Guard with John Tring. The memoirs of a British war correspondent who covered the disastrous campaigns in Malaya, Singapore and Java, before escaping to Australia from where he reported on the Allied fight-back on New Guinea. An invaluable first-hand account of the British and Allied defeats in south-east Asia from someone who was caught up in them. [read full review]

The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Imperial Naval Air Service, Peter J. Edwards. An unusual book, containing some fascinating material on the early development of Japanese naval aviation, its increasing efficiency during the 1930s and the dramatic early victories and eventual costly defeat of the Naval Air Service during the Second World War. Written very much from the Japanese point of view, and in a rather breathless style [read full review]

Rising Sun, John Toland. A well researched and compelling history of the Second World War in the Pacific, mainly told from the Japanese point of view. As a result we learn more about the Japanese strategy for the war, the reasons for each decision, and the political background in Japan. [read full review]

The Pacific: Hell was an Ocean Away, Hugh Ambrose. Closely linked to the HBO TV series, this sizable book follows the experiences of five US servicemen (four Marines and a Navy aviator) during the four years of the Pacific War, tracing their experiences from the Japanese invasion of the Philippines to the preparations for the invasion of Japan, through the battles of Midway and Guadalcanal and the long island hopping campaign that followed. [read full review]

Pacific: Hell on Earth (DVD). Eight documentaries looking at different battles of the Pacific War, from Pearl Harbor to Okinawa, with a bonus disc containing a biography of Eugene B. Sledge, author of 'With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa'. A good mix of interviews with surviving veterans, contemporary film and a nice use of wartime aerial reconnaissance photos overlaid onto a 3D map of the battlefields [read full review]

World War Two: U.S. Military Plans for the Invasion of Japan, Thomas Fensch (Editor) This is a very useful collection of official American documents relating to Operation Downfall, the plan for the invasion of Japan. The invasion never needed to be carried out, but the plans had reached a very advanced stage by the time the two Atomic bombs ended the war. [see more]

World War II Jungle Warfare Tactics, Stephen Bull, Osprey Elite. The subject of jungle warfare tactics has fascinated many people and contains many myths. This book tries to cover a large subject in 64 pages, a mammoth task but one which it does remarkably well. The content is clear and very interesting de-bunking various myths such as Japanese superiority in jungle warfare but without throwing the baby out with the bath water and does highlight some of the Japanese strengths in this area. The book is an excellent introduction to the subject.

Eagle Against The Sun, Spector, Ronald, Cassell Military, London, 2001.

McMillan, George. The Old Breed: A History of the First Marine Division in World War II, Infantry Journal Press, Washington DC, 1949 (Battery Press Reprint available).

The Pacific Campaign , Vat, Dan van der, Simon & Schuster, New York, 1991.

Alexander, Joseph H. Storm Landings, Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, MD, 1997. A detailed account of the major amphibious assaults of the Pacific War.

Wheeler, Richard. A Special Valor: The US Marines and the Pacific War, Harper & Row, 1983, New York.

The Real Tenko, Mark Felton. A grim account of the ordeals suffered by female prisoners of the Japanese during the Second World War, starting with a series of atrocities that took place during the initial conquests, and continuing throughout the war in the huge network on internment camps established across the new Japanese empire. [read full review]

Darkness before the Dawn, Sgt. J.N. Farrow. This is the wartime diary of Sgt. J.N. Farrow, a prisoner of war in Changi for four years from the fall of Singapore to the end of the war. The book in provides an invaluable insight into the life of a P.O.W. in the Far East. [see more]

Children of the Camps: Japan's Last Forgotten Victims, Mark Felton. A study of the fate of the children taken into internment camps by the Japanese after their rapid conquests in the Far East in 1941 and 1942. Covers a wide geographical area, from China through Malaya and Singapore to the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines. [read full review]

Lost Souls of the River Kwai, Bill Reed with Mitch Peeke. An often harrowing account of the suffering inflicted on British Prisoners of War who were forced to build the Burma Railway for the Japanese. Reed's vivid memories of these events tell a tale that needs to be remembered [read full review]

The Quiet Admiral, A Biography of Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, Thomas B. Buell. This is widely considered to be the best biography of Spruance, currently available in this reissued edition. Buell nicely contrasts Spruance with Halsey, his co-commander of the combined third and fifth fleets from 1944, as well as looking at his handling of Midway, the battle that made his name.

In Bitter Tempest: The Biography of Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher, Stephen D. Regan. A much needed biography of one of the most important American admirals in the year after Pearl Harbor. Regan had rare access to Fletcher's papers, as well as to a wide range of interviews given before his death, and has produced a very valuable work on a neglected figure.

Attack on Pearl Harbor - Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions, Alan D. Zimm. A very detailed look at the Japanese plan for the attack on Pearl Harbor and its implementation, challenging the idea that the attack was brilliantly planned and executed, and convincingly arguing that luck played a major part in the Japanese success on the day. [read full review]

The Cabanatuan Prison Raid, The Philippines 1945, Gordon L. Rottman. An engaging account of one of the most successful raids of the Second World War - the rescue of over 500 POWs from the Japanese camp at Cabanatuan on the Philippines by a force made up of US Rangers, Alamo Scouts and local guerrillas. [read full review]

Leyte 1944 - The Soldiers' Battle, Nathan N. Prefer. A very detailed account of the land battle on Leyte, where the Japanese decided to make their main defensive stand in the Philippines and where the American victory ensured that the Japanese would be unable to hold on to the rest of the Philippines. This will stand as the definitive account of this little known but crucial battle in the Pacific War. [read full review]

Crisis in the Pacific - The Battles for the Philippine Islands by the Men Who Fought Them, Gerald Astor. An excellent account of the Second World War in the Philippines, from the pre-war American colony to the disasters of 1941-42, the long struggle of the resistance to MacArthur's eventual return and the costly battles that followed. The excellent text is based around first hand accounts of the fighting from the American point of view, both military and civilian. [read full review]

The Coral Sea 1942: The First Carrier Battle, Mark Stille, Campaign 214. A useful account of the battle of the Coral Sea and the thinking and events that led up to it, supported by some effective '3D' diagrams showing the series of aerial attacks on enemy carriers that were the most important aspect of the fighting. [read full review]

The Battle for Tinian, Nathan N. Prefer. A study of an opposed landing on a Pacific island where the American worked nearly perfectly, Japanese opposition ended comparatively quickly and with a lower cost than on most of the island invasions. Prefer looks at the reasons for the American success, the course of the battle and the lessons that could have been learnt from the success on Tinian. [read full review]

Wake Island 1941, Jim Moran. A well-illustrated look at the Japanese siege of Wake Island in 1941, which involved two amphibious assaults and repeated aerial assaults, and saw the only unsuccessful amphibious invasion of the Second World War when the first Japanese attack on the island was defeated. Well supported by some excellent maps, and with a clear, well written text. [read full review]