Rating: 
Summary: Revenge of the Mikado
Review: This is a fascinating series of essay-format speculations on what it would have taken for the Japanese to win, or at least do considerably better, in World War Two. Despite the title, most of the authors cannot realistically portray a scenario where there is outright victory; rather the consensus seems to be that it would have taken a hell of a lot of luck (and disasters on the American side) even to get a negotiated armistice. Japan's best shot, as told in the first chapter, would have been to invade the USSR and kept peace with America. Next best shot: get the carriers at Pearl Harbor rather than the battleships. Overall an intriguing work but it cements my view that the Imperial forces were doomed from the get-go.
Rating: 
Summary: A thought-provoking and entertaining collection of essays
Review: Title notwithstanding, this collection of essays offers for, the most part, a look not so much at how the Japanese might have won the Pacific War, but rather how the war might have gone differently as a result of different strategic or tactical decisions. Most of the authors conclude that while these decisions, and resulting successes for the Japanese, might have prolonged the war, or made it much costlier for the US, in the end the result would have been much the same as reality. For instance, one essay examines what might have happened had the American divebombers been unsuccessful in finding the Japanese carriers at Midway. As is well known, it was almost sheer luck that they were able to make the decisive attack on the carriers Akagi, Kaga, and Soryu before low fuel forced them to return to their own carriers. Had they not done this, about 30 minutes later, it would likely have been the American carriers attacked in their most vulnerable state, with flight decks full of re-fueling and re-arming aircraft, and the Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown dispatched to the bottom of the Pacific. As a result, Midway Island would have been lost, and the Japanese might even have been bold enough to launch subsequent attacks on the Hawaii and/or the West Coast of the US. In the long run, however, the author concludes that American industrial might and greater population would still have carried the day.Other well-known aspects of the Pacific War that turned on the decisions of one or two key individuals are also examined. What, for instance, if Admiral Nagumo had launched a third strike at Pearl Harbor, destroying the fuel tank farms and the dry dock facilities? Even if he had lost some of his own fleet as a result, this action would have rendered Pearl Harbor useless as a forward base, the American fleet would have found it impossible to react to Japanese advances in the Coral Sea and at Midway, and the Hawaiian Islands themselves might have been lost to Japanese invasion. Another essay asks: what if Admiral Kurita had kept his nerve and pressed on to attack the American transports at Leyte Gulf, when only escort carriers and their lightly armed escorts stood in his way? Result: perhaps the greatest disaster in American military history. This, incidentally, is one of the most plausible essays in the book. There's no question Bull Halsey almost got caught with his pants down on that one. Given that the giant battleship Yamato, which would have led this charge, was fated to be expended in a futile suicide attack just six months later, one can only wonder what Kurita thought he was gaining by withdrawing to fight another day. For the Japanese Empire, there was no other day - that was their last, best chance. Perhaps the most interesting essay examines what might have happened had the Japanese not attacked Pearl Harbor at all - if their December 7 sneak attack had instead been directed solely at the Philippines and other US, British, and Dutch possessions throughout the Pacific. The result would have been the execution of "War Plan Orange" - a sortie by the US Pacific Fleet to relieve the Philippines. Had the Japanese, with their fleet at a much higher level of training and readiness, and with their vastly superior night fighting skills, been able to lure our fleet of old battleships into a night engagement in the confined waters near the Philippines: well, it's a pretty scary thought. Think of the Battle of Savo Island writ large. This is the one essay, by the way, that actually has the Japanese winning outright, although a few others do end with them winning at least an armistice or the right to hang on to some of their captured territory, as opposed to the actual reality of unconditional surrender. Altogether, this is an interesting book sure to be enjoyed by students of the Pacific War. With one or two exceptions, the essays are detailed enough to be realistic, yet well-written enough to be entertaining.
Rating: 
Summary: Great idea... not all the authors followed through.
Review: While some of the stories were awsome, I have 2 warnings. 1.) I like literature, but this book can be very technical, it was written by Pro-military writers, so be prepared to be in that genre. 2.) I bought the book to see the "Rising Sun Victorious", but a few of the stories were more like... 'why it would have taken the Americans a couple of extra weeks to win.' Or 'how this battle the American won, wasn't really important, and if the Japanese did win, it wouldn't have mattered.' I would have liked to see more of the sories from Japanese writers who may have had a different perspective on what actions they could have taken. Otherwise, some of the stories are fascinating.
Rating:
Summary: Great idea... not all the authors followed through.
Review: While some of the stories were awsome, I have 2 warnings. 1.) I like literature, but this book can be very technical, it was written by Pro-military writers, so be prepared to be in that genre. 2.) I bought the book to see the "Rising Sun Victorious", but a few of the stories were more like... 'why it would have taken the Americans a couple of extra weeks to win.' Or 'how this battle the American won, wasn't really important, and if the Japanese did win, it wouldn't have mattered.' I would have liked to see more of the sories from Japanese writers who may have had a different perspective on what actions they could have taken. Otherwise, some of the stories are fascinating.
|
