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Twentieth-Century Battles
Midway Inquest: Why the Japanese Lost the Battle of Midway
Midway, the most famous naval battle in American history, has been the subject of many excellent books. However, none satisfactorily explain why the Japanese lost that battle, given their overwhelming advantage in firepower. While no book may ever silence debate on the subject, Midway Inquest answers the central mystery of the battle. Why could the Japanese not get a bomber strike launched against the American carrier force before being attacked and destroyed by American dive bombers from the Enterprise and Yorktown? Although it is well known that the Japanese were unable to launch an immediate attack because their aircraft were in the process of changing armament, why wasn't the rearming operation reversed and an attack launched before the American planes arrived? Based on extensive research in Japanese primary records, Japanese literature on the battle, and interviews with over two dozen Japanese veterans from the carrier air groups, this book solves the mystery at last.
432 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
February 14, 2016
The subtitle of the book is Why the Japanese Lost the Battle of Midway. It is a very, very detailed examination of the battle, why the Japanese lost it, and what would have happened if they had actually won the battle. This is the type of book that is strictly for those who want to go into very minute detail about what happened in the battle. For other people, the book could prove boring.
The basic concept is that, with the destruction of four of their carriers, the Japanese air war capability was severely damaged, so much so that it had a major effect on the war. From this point on the Japanese forces were almost entirely on the defensive and, bit by bit, they were pushed back and back, unable to protect their ships and men with adequate air power.
The book does go into the things that led up to the war, and discusses the Rape of Nanking, holding that about 150,000 had been killed by the Japanese in the attack.
The Battle of Midway was meant, again, to be “the decisive sea battle†that would be fought by the Japanese, destroying the American ability to make war at sea. It seems that almost every battle they fought was considered to be “the decisive battleâ€, whether it was on land or on sea. The author does speculate on what would have happened if the U.S. had lost the battle, which was something that was quite possible, and he says that the U.S. still would have won the war, but it would have taken perhaps a year or two more and could have led to the use of some twenty atomic bombs on Japan. Such a scenario would also have had Russia invade Japan and take control of its northern islands, probably leading to a split Japan like German was split after the war.
The main cause for the Japanese loss at Midway, the author says, was a failure of communications between elements of the Japanese forces. He goes into considerable detail about what those failures were and why they happened.
The author discusses the Japanese carrier pilots, and how they had a rather limited number of really good ones at the start of the war. Attrition reduced this number, and new pilots simply did not have the training that the original ones did. This also had an effect on the Japanese ability to wage war. (Eventually, pilots had almost no training at all and were used for kamikaze missions almost entirely.)
The author notes that, if the U.S. had lost the battle of Midway, it is possible that the Japanese would have attacked Hawaii again. It is doubtful that they would have taken over the islands, though.
So, in summary, the book is very well done but is so filled with details that he casual reader would find it overwhelming.
The basic concept is that, with the destruction of four of their carriers, the Japanese air war capability was severely damaged, so much so that it had a major effect on the war. From this point on the Japanese forces were almost entirely on the defensive and, bit by bit, they were pushed back and back, unable to protect their ships and men with adequate air power.
The book does go into the things that led up to the war, and discusses the Rape of Nanking, holding that about 150,000 had been killed by the Japanese in the attack.
The Battle of Midway was meant, again, to be “the decisive sea battle†that would be fought by the Japanese, destroying the American ability to make war at sea. It seems that almost every battle they fought was considered to be “the decisive battleâ€, whether it was on land or on sea. The author does speculate on what would have happened if the U.S. had lost the battle, which was something that was quite possible, and he says that the U.S. still would have won the war, but it would have taken perhaps a year or two more and could have led to the use of some twenty atomic bombs on Japan. Such a scenario would also have had Russia invade Japan and take control of its northern islands, probably leading to a split Japan like German was split after the war.
The main cause for the Japanese loss at Midway, the author says, was a failure of communications between elements of the Japanese forces. He goes into considerable detail about what those failures were and why they happened.
The author discusses the Japanese carrier pilots, and how they had a rather limited number of really good ones at the start of the war. Attrition reduced this number, and new pilots simply did not have the training that the original ones did. This also had an effect on the Japanese ability to wage war. (Eventually, pilots had almost no training at all and were used for kamikaze missions almost entirely.)
The author notes that, if the U.S. had lost the battle of Midway, it is possible that the Japanese would have attacked Hawaii again. It is doubtful that they would have taken over the islands, though.
So, in summary, the book is very well done but is so filled with details that he casual reader would find it overwhelming.
October 21, 2025
Interesting book. It's not really a play by play history of midway, more of an exploration of why the Japanese lost the battle the way they did. Dallas Isom contests the long-held chronology of key events and disputes some of the more conventional interpretations of Midway. His main argument is that Nagumo failed to receive timely intelligence on the American carriers when they were discovered by the morning reconnaissance flights. This is the reason why, despite having hours to do so, the Japanese were never able to get their strike off the decks of their carriers before they were bombed; because they had to spend substantially more time rearming their planes than previously considered.
He approaches from the perspective that the Japanese were as competent and skilled as their American counterparts- not irrational and prone to victory disease as has been portrayed in other accounts. Isom says that the decisions Nagumo made during the battle, leading up to the disaster, were ultimately understandable based on the information he had on hand. He also has a very interesting chapter exploring what the likely outcome would've been had the Japanese gotten their strike launched and actually won the battle of Midway- it all seems very plausible and he looks at the repercussions on the US and Japan for the rest of the war. Big fan of this book, but it's probably not the best introductory book on Midway, and it definitely benefits from some knowledge of what happened before reading.
He approaches from the perspective that the Japanese were as competent and skilled as their American counterparts- not irrational and prone to victory disease as has been portrayed in other accounts. Isom says that the decisions Nagumo made during the battle, leading up to the disaster, were ultimately understandable based on the information he had on hand. He also has a very interesting chapter exploring what the likely outcome would've been had the Japanese gotten their strike launched and actually won the battle of Midway- it all seems very plausible and he looks at the repercussions on the US and Japan for the rest of the war. Big fan of this book, but it's probably not the best introductory book on Midway, and it definitely benefits from some knowledge of what happened before reading.
November 26, 2019
This is a unique, well thought out book. The author is a lawyer. And he takes a commonly held speculation - that the Japanese lost the battle of Midway because of excessive caution, or of complacency - and tackles all the facts with extensive research and carefully puts the pieces together, just like you would expect a lawyer to do. This is why it’s titled Midway Inquest. He lays out the case and then carefully called in various facts, and an abundance of them, and plays out the debate from all sides of each issue. It’s obvious he has studied this battle and the whole Pacific war to an expert level. I’ve read other authors on the Midway conflict ( Lord and Prange) and I liked Isom as a contrast - as I said he writes as more of lawyer writing out a brief rather than as a scholar teaching a class.
If you like great WWII strategy and stories about the great conflicts, and if like the debate about why and what if .... than this your book.
If you like great WWII strategy and stories about the great conflicts, and if like the debate about why and what if .... than this your book.
November 13, 2012
Excellent summary of the battle. It seems to correct a lot of popular misconceptions and explains very well the background as well as "whodunnit" of the battle.
October 17, 2020
4.5 stars, rounded up.
Very detailed analysis of the Japanese side of the battle, essentially a defense of Admiral Nagumo's actions.
Partly a refutation of some parts of "Shattered Sword"-- I'm not convinced of some of Isom's points here, but he does a good job of throwing light on those. I haven't deep-read Sword recently enough to make a real comparison. Wish I'd read this a few years ago.
Thought-provoking enough that I was pushed to make notes in the margins of my copy-- something I almost never do!
There is a "what-if" chapter that looks at the follow-on effects if Nagumo had been able to get the 2nd strike away in time: Isom posits the destruction of all 3 American CVs. His analysis/wargame is thorough, and the wargamer in me approves of most of his projected outcome, though I feel that American carriers seemed to be more resistant to sinking than he shows.
The follow-on effects that he projects-- beyond June 7-- are, in my opinion, very optimistic for the Japanese, though they still end up in total defeat and massive destruction of the home islands. The American response he posits seems far too passive to me. Again, just my opinion, since this is entirely a counterfactual exercise.
Very detailed analysis of the Japanese side of the battle, essentially a defense of Admiral Nagumo's actions.
Partly a refutation of some parts of "Shattered Sword"-- I'm not convinced of some of Isom's points here, but he does a good job of throwing light on those. I haven't deep-read Sword recently enough to make a real comparison. Wish I'd read this a few years ago.
Thought-provoking enough that I was pushed to make notes in the margins of my copy-- something I almost never do!
There is a "what-if" chapter that looks at the follow-on effects if Nagumo had been able to get the 2nd strike away in time: Isom posits the destruction of all 3 American CVs. His analysis/wargame is thorough, and the wargamer in me approves of most of his projected outcome, though I feel that American carriers seemed to be more resistant to sinking than he shows.
The follow-on effects that he projects-- beyond June 7-- are, in my opinion, very optimistic for the Japanese, though they still end up in total defeat and massive destruction of the home islands. The American response he posits seems far too passive to me. Again, just my opinion, since this is entirely a counterfactual exercise.
June 26, 2024
Not anything new
This attempts to give a postmortem spin on why the Japanese Navy lost The Battle of Midway, but for me it meanders longer than really necessary and doesn't really offer anything new that people well versed in its history don't already know.
This attempts to give a postmortem spin on why the Japanese Navy lost The Battle of Midway, but for me it meanders longer than really necessary and doesn't really offer anything new that people well versed in its history don't already know.
March 27, 2009
Another very good book about the Battle of Midway, one of a spate of recent books on the subject.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews