The Battle Off Midway Island

by Theodore Taylor

An account of the June, 1942, air battle between American and Japanese forces which proved a decisive defeat for the Japanese and the turning point of the war in the Pacific.

Genres: History, World War II, War

141 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Reviews

[Mitchell Parish · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Battle Off Midway Island was a battle between some of the greatest military minds of World War Two. The main characters were the two admirals were American Admiral Nimitz and Japanese Admiral Yamamoto. Below Yamamoto, Nagumo was also a main leader of the battle. The battle is known as The Battle of Midway. This, however, is misleading. The battle was actually never on the island of Midway. Some attacks were made by the Japanese but most of the fighting was between ships and planes out to sea near Midway. The book follows Yamamoto’s plan was to lure out the American Fleet and destroy them. His plan went south when the Americans expected them to be there. The battles looked good for the Japanese in the beginning but the tide soon turned to the favor of the Americans. Read the book to find out exactly how the battle went down.
I wanted to read this book because I have always been interested in World War Two. I know that the Battle of Midway was a decisive battle in the war and was a major turning point. I like to learn about how the leaders think and carry out their plans. Even though these decisions don’t always work it is interesting to learn how they think. I can relate somewhat because when placed in a leadership role in a difficult situation I know that you have to make the best decisions that you can. I have learned from scouts that you can’t just give up; you have to change plans quickly and make decisions quickly and to the best of your ability.
I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in learning about naval Battles I World war two. It gives good insight on how the leaders thought and made plans as well as how those plans were carried out. I would not recommend this book to someone that is interested in an easy read. The storyline is sometimes hard to follow because it jumps back and forth between the Japanese and the Americans. That being said the book is definitely worth it if you read the whole thing. There is valuable knowledge on exactly what Happened at the Battle Off Midway.

[S.L. Lorino · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book was very informative to me. My father was at Midway during WW2 and spoke to me about the battle years ago. It was rough. This book showed me just how fortunate we were to have won this battle and therefore turned the tide of the war. The book shows how often we missed our targets and just how many men showed uncommon valor in the face of almost certain death. The book was an excellent diary of what was actually happening.

[Noel Morales · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the very first books that I read as a teenager growing up in the 80s. I was really into military history at the time. So much that I actually joined the military 5 years. The Battle off Midway Island is a faithful account of the events that took place in the early days in the Pacific during WW2. This is a great story of how US naval intelligence was able to redeem itself for the failures that allowed Japan to attack Pearl harbor. Great reading.

[jj Grilliette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short read that sums up the Pacific War before and up to Midway Island. If you are looking for just a quick read about The Battle of Midway Island, read this book. If you want details, then not this book. I plan to recommend this to friends that are interested in knowing more but not too many details. Gives good information without cutting out too much important stuff but does leave out the details that might bore some people.

[Rick Gerein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great little pocket book on the battle of Midway for WW2 buffs

[Nathan Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

With the upcoming Midway movie, I figured I might want to do a little reading. And I remembered that I have this book on my shelf. I picked it up when I was a kid...at a book fair, probably. While I don't recall having read it, the spine shows signs of having been cracked at some point, so either I started it once, or I bought it used. Anyway, I decided to give it a quick read.

And a quick read it is. Apparently intended for young readers, it's written in the present active voice and presented as a chronological narrative of events featuring the several admirals commanding both fleets. I wish I knew enough about WWII to know if there's much revisionism here, but seeing as how the author is a veteran of the Pacific Theatre himself, I rather doubt it, despite a bit of pro-USA bias. And it doesn't read that way anyway. The Japanese are not portrayed as villains, nor the American as heroes, just victors and the vanquished on the field of a battle that could just as easily have gone the other way for reasons discussed in the book.

If you're thinking about seeing the movie, you might consider reading this book first.

Addendum: saw the movie last weekend. It stuck to the history like glue! (With a couple of minor deviations that the interested reader/view can investigate on the Internet Movie Database www.imdb.com .)

[Megargee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first of a planned series of books on the great naval battles of World War II, Theodore Taylor, himself a Navy veteran of WW II and Korea, relates the story of the Battle of Midway from both the American and Japanese perspectives. This brief but comprehensive narrative, which mostly relies on secondary sources, has a bibliography, index, maps, and illustrations but no specific citations or end notes. Still it pulls together a broad array of information on the events leading up to the battle, notably the US breaking of the Japanese naval code, portrayals of the chief military figures on both sides, and accounts of the Japanese attacks on Midway Island itself, as well as the actual air and sea battles.

[Scott Hayden]

By the same author as my favorite read aloud, The Cay.

[Hank Hoeft · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good overview of the pivotal Battle of Midway, the turning point in the naval war against japan. I'm assuming, because it was published by Avon Flare, this was intended primarily for grade school or high school readers, and it has the virtues of a good YA history book. It is historically accurate without embellishments imagined by the author, and is good storytelling. I have long been interested in the Pacific War and have read a lot about the Battle of Midway, but I was nonetheless still carried along by Taylor's narrative and learned some facts about the battle that I hadn't known before.