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MWSA Review
Retired USMC Brigadier General Jerome T. Hagen has put together a great series of books called War in the Pacific. His first volume of that series – America at War is an engrossing history of WWII as fought in the Pacific. He writes history like I love to read it and makes it educational, exciting and entertaining.
Volume I (subtitled “America at War”) comes across as sounding like an insider briefing on what happen and why it happened. Almost any writer can write about what happened after the fact but General Hagen gives the reader new insightful looks at the reason things occurred as they did.
Little know facts about the other surrendering ceremonies, besides the one everyone knows about from history books, makes for an eye opening account of history. His book takes a look at everything from POW issues to the atomic bombs dropped on Japan. It flows with great energy and lots of excellent researched information, and data. This is the best history book on the war in the pacific ever written!
It is a part of a must read book series – War in the Pacific.
Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2006)
Author's Synopsis
War in the Pacific begins with Japan's interest in colonialism, the assassination of Marshall Chang Tso-lien in Manchuria, and Japan's subsequent decision to 'Strike South.' The attack on Pearl Harbor is examined in light of the difficulties Japan's navy had to overcome to launch such an attack.
The atrocities inflicted upon innocent people and prisoners of war, even prior to the Rape of Nanking, are covered in detail throughout Japan's conquest and reign of terror. Here, in succinct and lucid presentation, is all the information you wanted to know about the Bataan Death March, the Burma Road, Doolittle's Raid on Tokyo, the Death Railway, the Kamikazes, the Firebombing of Japan, and difficulties Japan had in ending the war.
The chapters on 'Other' Surrender Ceremonies and 'Independent Forces and Unnecessary Battles,' reveal new information never before published.