Books to Recommend

[John 3rd]

I would like to thank the writers for their thoughts and recommendations.
 
Using an Amazon gift card, I just bought both volumes of The First Team by Lundstrom for only $19.00 each.  That is a pretty good deal I think.
 
I located and read up on Bloody Shambles and those books look excellent!  Rather hefty price but I will look to buy them right after Sunburst. 
 
Thanks again for the advice!

[BeastieDog]

To get a sense of the real war at ground level read With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa by EB Sledge. IMO its the best of the breed.

John Lundstrom has a follow up to First Team: The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign.

There is a cheaper book from HP Willmott in the Cassell History of Warfare series: The Second World War in the Far East. Lists for $14.95 but you can probably get it cheaper.

[Knavey]

Bloody Shambles is good...but gets a bit repetitious since it is basically a day by day account of the air war over Burma.  But overall, it is worth having on the shelf.  I had all three volumes until Feinder raided my bookshelves.[:D]

[Feinder]

I'll bring 'em back on Saturday.  Didn't actually read the 3rd one yet, but Forgotten Fleet has my current attention (about 2/3 of the way thru).
 
-F-

[John 3rd]

What is Forgotten Fleet about?
 
I couldn't handle over $45.00/book for the Bloody Shambles trilogy!
 
I'll also take a look at that Willmott book.  The Barrier and the Javelin is what I TRULY want but it is TOO much for my blood right now.
 
You are totally correct.  I require E. B. Sledge's With the Old Breed in my U.S. Military History classes at college.  It is a fantastic biography and account of those two campaigns.  If a person hasn't read them a wants a feeling for what it was like on Peleliu and Okinawa from a Marine's perspective that book is it. 
 

[Feinder]

The forgotten fleet;: The British Navy in the Pacific, 1944-1945

It's about the RN in the Pacific, 1944-1945... [:D]

Seriously tho. It's a pretty good book. Not as dry as Bloody Shambles. It's only 44-45, because the Brits didn't do much in 42-43 except provide convoy escort. It goes into the why of that (largely politics), but summarizes and doesn't dwell. The following chapters are the operations that that folllowed (thus far, raids on Sumatra, invasion of Burma, and support at Okinawa). It's a good read (I haven't finished it yet).

-F-

[John 3rd]

I have always wondered why we haven't seen anything about that topic in recent scholarship.  When was it published?
 

[Mike Scholl]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

I have always wondered why we haven't seen anything about that topic in recent scholarship.

One reason may be that by the time the Brits could afford to send their fleet into the Pacific, the whole thing wound up as Fask Force 58.7 of the US Fleet off Okinawa. They served with distinction, but were almost lost in the Massive US Naval presense.

[Tiornu]

There was a fairly good article in JMH a few year back. Here:
Coles, Michael H. “Ernest King and the British Pacific Fleet: The Conference at Quebec, 1944 (‘Octagon’).” The Journal of Military History, Vol. 65, No. 1, Jan. 2001, pp 105-129.
As you can tell, it has a strategic/diplomatic focus rather than operational. The author tackles the well-worn myth about Adm King's Anglophobia and details the real reasons for reluctance to support a British Pacific presence.

[Nikademus]

ORIGINAL: Mike Scholl

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

I have always wondered why we haven't seen anything about that topic in recent scholarship.

One reason may be that by the time the Brits could afford to send their fleet into the Pacific, the whole thing wound up as Fask Force 58.7 of the US Fleet off Okinawa. They served with distinction, but were almost lost in the Massive US Naval presense.

hmmmm....might have to put this on my wish list. Sounds interesting. I still have four Christopher Shores books to read though first though and GF is holding my cc for safe keeping. [:D]

[Skyros]

Has anyone read Paul S Dulls The Imperial Japanese Navy (1941-1945)?

[tsimmonds]

So many jokes, so little time....[;)]

[John 3rd]

Skyros--THAT book is a staple that should be on everyone's shelves.  It is a little dated but I cannot describe how many times I have pulled it as a resource when needed...
 
It is easy to read and has a goodly amount of maps, pictures, and organizational layouts.
 
 

[John 3rd]

I just got my 5th STAR!
 

[Feinder]

Which means that you *offiically* spend way too much time on the boards!
 
-F-

[Grotius]

I'm enjoying Evan Thomas's "Sea of Thunder," which focuses on the careers of four naval officers, culminating in Leyte Gulf. Here's a link: http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Thunder-Comma ... 0743252217

I also have all of Morrison's books. The writing can be rather formal for my tastes, but it's an amazing resource.

Costello's book "The Pacific War" is a good read, but the first edition had more than its share of errors, and I'm not sure one should regard it as an entirely trustworthy source. Of course, no source is perfect. My friends who are professional historians seem to regard it the same way they regard Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" -- a good first port of call, but not the most authoritative treatment of the subject. Me, I enjoyed both Costello and Shirer on their own terms.

[Feinder]

Sea of Thunder is on the Christmas list (Knavey, don't go grab it, I think Monica already got it for me).  Yeah Cosello's book is a good overview.  I don't actually fault Costello for most of the errors, it's more just bad editing in my opinion.  I think there's a map in the back that has "The Philipine Campain : 1954".  Doh. 
 
But it's a good for anybody to say, "Hm, that's kinda neat.  But 6 paragraphs isn't enough, I think I'll go buy myself a book on (whatever)..."
 
-F-

[Tiornu]

Sea of Thunder is good at what it does--presenting humans as they get mashed in the gears of planning and executing a battle. As a technical source or as a battle history, it should be ignored. And the reader should remember that the author makes little distinction between the facts and the grout he spreads between them. But I'm glad I read it. You'll see a side of things you don't often find in history books.

[Skyros]

Clash of the Carriers was a good read. It was late one night when I read the section concerning the US pilots returning in the dark and unable to find the carriers. How some completely lost it alone in the dark with there fuel gauges on E. Very powerful stuff.

[AW1Steve]

ORIGINAL: John 3rd

I just got my 5th STAR!

[:)] Congrats! Now shoot for 2500 postings! [:D]