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Rating: 
Summary: Good Overview of the Pacific War
Review: All the essentials needed to understand the war in the Pacific are well presented here, as Van der Vat offers a broad overview of the war in a way that covers all the aspects from both sides and neglects no significant area. Granted, the information is only relatively in depth, this book is not intended for utilization as an in depth historical analysis. However, some of the material presented early in the book on the subject of intelligence and its role in the conflict was very original and is worthy of attention from even scholars. The discussion of the actual battles is well written and entertaining. There is no better way to begin understanding the war than to utilize a book like this, and Van der Vat certainly provides a worthy opportunity here.
Rating: 
Summary: Rich in detail and easy on the eyes.
Review: Dan van der Vat's account of the Pacific theater of operations of the Second World War is a master piece of millitary history. Well written, it is both rich in detail and easy on the eyes. This book grabbed me in the first paragraph, something that is a must with a work of this scope. I didn't want to put this book down and was sorry the story was over when I was through; I wanted more. I came to know the leaders of both sides of the conflict. One must respect the cunningness of Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku and the strategy of Vice Admiral Ozawa Jisaburo while admiring the dertermination and indomitable spirit of Admirals Nimitz and Spruance. The graphic depictions of eyewitness accounts made this book haunting and unforgettable. Anyone with the slightest interest in the greatest naval war in history should read this book.
Rating:
Summary: A good introductory book on WW2 in the pacific
Review: I found this book very interesting and has a good level of details, expecially if the scope of the subject is taken into consideration. After a couple of chapters about the evolution in the pre-war years of the two major powers (US and Japan) that fought WW2 in the pacific, the author basically takes you through every major engagement in this theater, up untill the end of the war.The only major drawback is hidden in the title itself. Trying to cover such a long period of time and so many events sometimes it gets a little confusing. In the end I would suggest this book if you are approaching the subject for the first time. Otherise get a more specific book.
Rating:
Summary: Good Primer of the Pacific War
Review: The Pacific Campaign offers a very good overview of the complexities, personalities and actions in the Pacific. It does not break any new ground in what it offers to readers and, as a hefty primer, there is lots left out of its 400 pages.
Having said all of that, if you are looking for a good long overview of the sea campaign, then Van der Vat offers one of the best. Main themes in this book include: - an appreciation of the role of intelligence in both the Navy and Army in winning the war. - an American distain for concentrating their forces and going for a single defeat of the Japanese Navy close to home. Instead Van der Vat maintains that the US unneccesarily lengthened the war by splitting forces into two: one for an island hopping drive across the central Pacific; the other to assuage the vanity of a prima donna Douglas MacArthur in his New Guinea, Philippines campaign. - a readiness to call into fault some popular icons on both side of the war, looking at Admiral Yamamoto as morally culpable in the expansion of Japanese seapower and, by definition, the criminal regime of Militaristic Japan. His feelings on MacArthur have already been noted. - the American shunning of all other allies in this crusade in the Pacific and their sometimes utter disdain for her allies, especially the wastage of the Australian Army, tying up some of the finest infantry in the Pacific in useless rear area campaigns. The narrative read well and fast at times. It does lack detail on some very important aspects of the campaign that I found a little annoying: a cursory look at the effectiveness of the Kamikaze, a lack of the detail on the carrier-based operations against Japan and by extension, the actions of the tactically significant British Carrier group in the Pacific. This is a narrative of sea and not land battles, but there appears to be no real formula for deciding which land battles to decribe and those not to describe. I enjoyed the read, I would probably read one of Van der Vat's other books in the future. But if you are looking for something new in Military History you are unlikely to find it here.
Rating:
Summary: Good introductory book about WW2 in Pacific
Review: When I decided to purchase a single volume book about WW2 in Pacific I narrowed my choice between two titles: this one and Costello's book. Since I didn't know anything about these books nor their authors I based my decision on Amazon reviews and the fact that Van der Vat was European which I though would add to his objectivity. Now, I am not so sure I made the right decision and I'll probably go after Costello in the future. Why? Well, as I wrote in the title, "Pacific Campaign" is good book on introductory level, but I wanted more. To be honest, Van der Vat gives us good introduction (which I wasn't particularly interested in), he describes all the important campaigns and offers his own view about some key characters and their acts which I commend. Maps are well done and serves their purpose. Van der Vat's writing style is very good and easy to read. Unfortunately, I already read book with similar characteristics written by Croatian author so "Pacific Campaign" didn't give me any new information. I wanted more detailed descriptions, more study about the strategies of opposing sides, more data about the battles. When I read about the battles like Midway or Philippine Sea I want to know every ship that participated down to cruiser level. I don't criticise Van der Vat for not having all I wanted, but I unless it would be your very first work about WW2 in Pacific I suggest some other book with more detailed approach.
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