To the Marianas: War in the Central Pacific 1944

by Edwin P. Hoyt

Recounts U.S. amphibious operations in the central Pacific, on islands like Eniwetok, Kwajalein, and Saipan, and the friction between leaders of the Pacific fleet that further complicated the Allied attack on the Japanese defense perimeter

Genres: History, World War II, Nonfiction, American History

292 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Edwin P. Hoyt was a prolific American writer who specialized in military history. He was born in Portland, Oregon to the publisher Edwin Palmer Hoyt (1897–1979) and his wife, the former Cecile DeVore (1901–1970). A younger brother, Charles Richard, was born in 1928. Hoyt attended the University of Oregon from 1940 to 1943.

In 1943, Hoyt's father, then the editor and publisher of The Oregonian, was appointed by President Franklin Roosevelt as the director of the Domestic Branch, Office of War Information. The younger Hoyt served with the Office of War Information during World War II, from 1943 to 1945. In 1945 and 1946, he served as a foreign correspondent for The Denver Post (of which his father became editor and publisher in 1946) and the United Press, reporting from locations in China, Thailand, Burma, India, the Middle East, Europe, North Africa, and Korea.

Edwin Hoyt subsequently worked as an ABC broadcaster, covering the 1948 revolution in Czechoslovakia and the Arab-Israeli conflict. From 1949 to 1951, he was the editor of the editorial page at The Denver Post. He was the editor and publisher of the Colorado Springs Free Press from 1951 to 1955, and an associate editor of Collier's Weekly in New York from 1955 to 1956. In 1957 he was a television producer and writer-director at CBS, and in 1958 he was an assistant publisher of American Heritage magazine in New York.

Starting in 1958, Hoyt became a writer full-time, and for a few years (1976 to 1980) served as a part-time lecturer at the University of Hawaii. In the 40 years since his first publication in 1960, he produced nearly 200 published works.

While Hoyt wrote about 20 novels (many published under pseudonyms Christopher Martin and Cabot L. Forbes) the vast majority of his works are biographies and other forms of non-fiction, with a heavy emphasis on World War II military history.

Hoyt died in Tokyo, Japan on July 29, 2005, after a prolonged illness. He was survived by his wife Hiroko, of Tokyo, and three children, Diana, Helga, and Christopher, all residing in the U.S.

Reviews

[KOMET · Rating 5 out of 5]

Edwin P. Hoyt provides in "TO THE MARIANAS: War in the Central Pacific, 1944" an apt and comprehensive summation of the crucial battles in the Central Pacific -- as waged in the Marshalls and Marianas Islands between late January and August 1944.

Both island groups were regarded by Japan (who had occupied them since the end of World War I; the one exception was Guam, which Japan had seized from the U.S. in December 1941) as key in defending the heart of its empire. For the U.S., with its growing naval and air power, it was an imperative to conquer both the Marshalls and the Marianas (along with the retaking of Guam) and use them as bases for bringing the war to Japan itself. Hoyt shows, from the perspective of both sides, a remarkable knowledge of the series of campaigns -- e.g. Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Saipan, Tinian, and Guam -- which decimated a large part of the Japanese naval and air power in the region til it was little more than a shadow of the colossus which had swept across Southeast Asia and the Pacific in 1941-42. For anyone seeking a general history of the Pacific War, I highly recommend reading this book.

[Hans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Leaving the Gilberts behind them, the Americans moved on to the Marshalls on their way to Japan. Lessons had been learned and so these operations should benefit from the Guadalcanal and Tarawa landings. They did and they didn't.

The author covers a lot of ground in this book: Kwajalein, Eniwotok, Saipan, Tinian and Guam, and some smaller landings. All of these operations are covered in detail, as are the naval and massive air battles that accompanied them. At times it is unbelievable how the US forces, especially the USN, stumbled around in the dark, due to a lack of good recon work, to find the Japanese fleet. The same however can be said about the Japanese. Claiming losses during air combat and attacks on ships can often be credited to the fluid and confusing nature of it. When however Japanese fliers returned to their ships, they reported inflicting losses that were far from the truth. How hard it must have been to base a next step on this information is shown in the book's pages.

There is a nice balance between land, sea and air combat in this book. All of it is described in enough detail to give the reader a good overview of what happened and why. No easy task considering the scope and scale of this part of the Pacific war. Sad part again, is the inter-service rivalry on both sides. On the Japanese side it is the Army vs. Navy, on the US side it is also about the Army vs. Navy, but with the USMC thrown in on top of it.

Again, the bravery of a single man or small group of men could make the difference on the battlefield. Several examples are described here, showing how high the price of freedom had become at that stage of the war. The battles covered here show that more of this was to come in the near future.

Another great read by Edwin P. Hoyt.

[Rick Wong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good quick read about the Marianas, though much of it was devoted to the Battle of the Philippine Sea Naval Battle. Would have liked to read more about the land campaign.

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hoyt details the campaign in the Marianas in the Pacific during World War II. One gets a sense of being there and the photos are an excellent indicator of the events.