The Road to Victory: From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa

by Robert J. O'Neill (Editor), Dale A. Dye (Foreword)

On December 7, 1941, as the Japanese dived out of the clouds above Pearl Harbor, America's future was fundamentally altered. Ever since the first world conflict, the United States had resisted the temptation to be drawn into wars outside of its borders. But with this one surprise attack America was inevitably thrown into the fray as the Second World War erupted. This new history by military specialists, Osprey Publishing, reveals each of the battles America would fight against Imperial Japan from the naval clashes at Midway and Coral Sea to the desperate, bloody fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Each chapter reveals the horrors of battle and the grim determination to wrest victory from certain defeat. Using an astonishing collection of wartime imagery and complete with dozen of full-colour maps, this is an invaluable visual guide to the road to victory.

Genres: History, World War II

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Professor Robert (John) O'Neill, AO D.Phil. (Oxon), Hon D. Litt. (ANU), FASSA who served in the Australian Army, and has held a number of eminent positions in history circles, including Chichele Professor of the History of War at All Souls College, Oxford, and Chairman of the Board of the Imperial War Museum and the Council of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, London. He is the author of many books including works on the German Army and the Nazi Party, and the Korean and Vietnam wars. Now based in Australia on his retirement from Oxford he is the Director of the Lowy Institute for International Policy and Planning Director of the US Studies Centre at the University of Sydney.

Reviews

[Jay Bee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent synopsis of the Pacific campaign with lots of pictures of both ground and naval battles. The book could have used a few more maps to show the general location of the different island chains. I was constantly checking google earth to refresh myself where the Marshall Islands, Solomons, and other islands were in relation to each other. General overview of the fighting divided into individual chapters for each campaign.

[Kenneth Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a good overview of some of the major battles in the Pacific during WWII. It begins with Pearl Harbor and ends with the fight for Okinawa. For each battle several aspects are examined. These include the importance of the area being contested, the strategy of each side, the commanders of the opposing sides, and the troops involved from all the different branches of service. The book also gives a synopsis of the fighting both land,sea,and air. The book sheds slot of insight into a theater of war often overshadowed by the war in Europe.

[Dan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is far from the best book on the war in the Pacific, but it is worth more than a quick glance. It covers the highlights of what O’Neill considers the most important battles of the Pacific campaign. It excludes Tinian and some others that I would have included and merely skims the surface of the ones it does cover. The pictures are few in number and not well chosen in terms of clarity and impact. To read it is not a complete waste of time, but to pass it by will not deprive you of an essential study of the war in the Pacific.