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Crisis In The Pacific
From the depths of defeat...
On December 8, 1941, one day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Air Force struck the Philippines in the first blow of a devastating invasion.
With an undersupplied patchwork army at his command, General Douglas MacArthur led a valiant defense of the Philippines. When defeat came, MacArthur swore he would return, while thousands of POWs fell into Japanese hands — and faced a living hell that many would not survive.
To the dawn of victory...
In this gripping oral history, Gerald Astor brings to life the struggle to recapture the the men who did the fighting, the battles that set the stage for an Allied invasion, and the acts of astounding courage and desperation that marked the campaign on both sides.
From Corregidor to the Battle for Manila, from horrifying jungle warfare to cataclysmic clashes at sea, on beachheads and in the air, Crisis in the Pacific draws on the words of the men who were there — capturing this crucial heroic struggle for victory against Japan.
On December 8, 1941, one day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Air Force struck the Philippines in the first blow of a devastating invasion.
With an undersupplied patchwork army at his command, General Douglas MacArthur led a valiant defense of the Philippines. When defeat came, MacArthur swore he would return, while thousands of POWs fell into Japanese hands — and faced a living hell that many would not survive.
To the dawn of victory...
In this gripping oral history, Gerald Astor brings to life the struggle to recapture the the men who did the fighting, the battles that set the stage for an Allied invasion, and the acts of astounding courage and desperation that marked the campaign on both sides.
From Corregidor to the Battle for Manila, from horrifying jungle warfare to cataclysmic clashes at sea, on beachheads and in the air, Crisis in the Pacific draws on the words of the men who were there — capturing this crucial heroic struggle for victory against Japan.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
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About the author
Gerald Astor
52 books14 followersGerald Morton Astor, a native of New Haven, grew up in Mount Vernon, N.Y. After his Army service in the Second World War, he received a bachelor’s degree from Princeton. He was the picture editor of Sports Illustrated in its early years and worked as an editor for Sport magazine, Look, The Saturday Evening Post and Time.
Besides his accounts of the Battle of the Bulge and the air war in Europe, Mr. Astor wrote of World War II in books including “The Greatest War: Americans in Combat, 1941-1945,” “June 6, 1944: The Voices of D-Day,” “Operation Iceberg: The Invasion and Conquest of Okinawa in World War II” and biographies of Maj. Gen. Terry Allen, a leading combat commander in both North Africa and Europe, and the Nazi medical experimenter Dr. Josef Mengele.
He also wrote “The Right to Fight: A History of African Americans in the Military” and “Presidents at War,” an account of presidents’ evolving assertion of authority to take military action in the absence of a Congressional declaration of war.
Mr. Astor edited “The Baseball Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Book” and wrote a biography of the heavyweight champion Joe Louis, “And a Credit to His Race.” He collaborated with Anthony Villano, a former F.B.I. agent who recruited informants from the Mafia, in “Brick Agent.”
Besides his accounts of the Battle of the Bulge and the air war in Europe, Mr. Astor wrote of World War II in books including “The Greatest War: Americans in Combat, 1941-1945,” “June 6, 1944: The Voices of D-Day,” “Operation Iceberg: The Invasion and Conquest of Okinawa in World War II” and biographies of Maj. Gen. Terry Allen, a leading combat commander in both North Africa and Europe, and the Nazi medical experimenter Dr. Josef Mengele.
He also wrote “The Right to Fight: A History of African Americans in the Military” and “Presidents at War,” an account of presidents’ evolving assertion of authority to take military action in the absence of a Congressional declaration of war.
Mr. Astor edited “The Baseball Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary Book” and wrote a biography of the heavyweight champion Joe Louis, “And a Credit to His Race.” He collaborated with Anthony Villano, a former F.B.I. agent who recruited informants from the Mafia, in “Brick Agent.”
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
November 29, 2009
Another great effort by Gerald Astor, this time he offers the reader an oral history of the fighting in the Philippines during WW2. The author draws his narrative from the experiences of American Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen and covers the first and second campaigns conducted in the Philippines during the war. The book provides an interesting and detailed insight into the experiences of the common soldier and helps those who have never experienced such things an understanding why men do certain things. An enjoyable and easy to read account of a WW2 campaign.
October 21, 2019
My dad, a retired Army colonel, handed me this book and said "You might like this." I thought I was in for a pretty heavy lesson in military tactics. At over 600 pages, it took me quite a while before I considered myself up for this task! I was pleasantly surprised! I had recently visited the World War II museum in New Orleans, and this book was very much like that experience. Almost the entire book is comprised of first hand quotes from the men and women who were in the Philippines leading up to the Pearl Harbor attack, and all through the war. Those kinds of personal stories are fascinating, and truly a historical treasure. Some additional surprises:
1. I had heard of places like "Bataan," "Corregidor," and "Leyte" in history classes, but I couldn't have told you where they were. They're in the Philippines, and this book really fleshed out the significance of each.
2. It's not just about the men! The author also included accounts from Army and Navy nurses who were imprisoned during the war, as well as an American school girl. Very interesting.
3. The author included MacArthur's memoir in his bibliography, so there were also some of the supreme commander's points of view.
4. The final chapter, "Mopping Up," wasn't what I thought it would be, namely how the Philippines transitioned from Japanese occupation to a constitutional republic. Instead, this chapter was the author's opinion on what went wrong, what went right, etc in 1942, when the US left, and 1945, when the US came back to defeat the Japanese and return the archipelago to the Filipinos. Also about MacArthur: was he an effective leader, an egomaniac, or a little of both? Fascinating.
The aspect of the book that I had the most trouble with were the military unit designations. All the strict detail about what company/battalion/regiment/division etc each person quoted belonged to served as a distraction to me. Whether someone served in B Troop, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division or 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, 38th Division did not mean anything to me at all. (What do those numbers mean anyway?)
Astor has written a whole series of these types of first-person collections regarding other battles and locations in World War II. I would expect they'd all be equally as interesting, though it might be quite some time before I'm ready to bite into another!
1. I had heard of places like "Bataan," "Corregidor," and "Leyte" in history classes, but I couldn't have told you where they were. They're in the Philippines, and this book really fleshed out the significance of each.
2. It's not just about the men! The author also included accounts from Army and Navy nurses who were imprisoned during the war, as well as an American school girl. Very interesting.
3. The author included MacArthur's memoir in his bibliography, so there were also some of the supreme commander's points of view.
4. The final chapter, "Mopping Up," wasn't what I thought it would be, namely how the Philippines transitioned from Japanese occupation to a constitutional republic. Instead, this chapter was the author's opinion on what went wrong, what went right, etc in 1942, when the US left, and 1945, when the US came back to defeat the Japanese and return the archipelago to the Filipinos. Also about MacArthur: was he an effective leader, an egomaniac, or a little of both? Fascinating.
The aspect of the book that I had the most trouble with were the military unit designations. All the strict detail about what company/battalion/regiment/division etc each person quoted belonged to served as a distraction to me. Whether someone served in B Troop, 12th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division or 1st Battalion, 149th Infantry Regiment, 38th Division did not mean anything to me at all. (What do those numbers mean anyway?)
Astor has written a whole series of these types of first-person collections regarding other battles and locations in World War II. I would expect they'd all be equally as interesting, though it might be quite some time before I'm ready to bite into another!
June 25, 2019
Gerald Astor does a great job of telling the story by weaving participant accounts to move the events forward. An amazing amount of research was required resulting in a unique perspective. The story of the Philippines in World War II has been somewhat neglected. Crisis in the Pacific corrects this overlooked campaign.
February 22, 2017
A bit of a slog; nevertheless, it's a worthwhile read. The sacrifices of WWII vets (especially in the Pacific Campaign) are under appreciated. The books' candid accounts bring home the reality of war in a overlooked campaign.
September 8, 2023
Good description of the Philippine War.
November 6, 2017
Read for study group lots of detail but very informative
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews