Gamble in the Coral Sea: Japan's Offensive, the Carrier Battle, and the Road to Midway

by Michał A. Piegzik

The opening salvos of the Battle of the Coral Sea, the first large-scale carrier clash in history, were fired one month before Midway. Gamble in the Coral Sea recounts, for the first time in English, the story of this battle from the Japanese point of view. Based on extensive Japanese-language sources, author Michał A. Piegzik forcefully challenges established Western narratives surrounding this critical engagement in the Pacific War.

Operation MO, the Japanese plan to seize Port Moresby, kicked off in early May 1942. By committing three carriers, including the famous Shōkaku and Zuikaku, the Nippon Kaigun’s command risked a critical part of their fleet just before the envisaged decisive battle at Midway in the Central Pacific, scheduled for early July. The operation was considered a vital part of Japanese strategy. Victory would isolate Australia and New Zealand and extend access to vital resources crucial to Japan’s war effort. Victory, however, would prove elusive after American codebreakers deciphered Japanese radio traffic that revealed their plans in the weeks leading up to the launch of Operation MO.

Using this intelligence to their advantage, U.S forces located elements of the Japanese navy as they steamed through the Coral Sea. Soon after, history’s first carrier battle began. Piegzik combines expertise in military history with mastery of the Japanese language to provide a rare perspective on the Imperial Japanese Navy’s operational choices during the battle. His use of Japanese archival documents and personal testimonies from surviving Japanese crew members uncovers new dimensions to the battle. The clash proved to be a Pyrrhic victory for the Japanese, who sunk the Lexington and crippled the Yorktown but were forced to call off Operation MO due to the severe damage inflicted on Shōkaku and the heavy losses among their aircrews.

Revealed here are the circumstances and actual reasons for the Japanese failure and the revised impact of the Battle of the Coral Sea on the Battle of Midway. Beyond tactical details, Piegzik offers insight into the broader consequences of the battle. He engages with sources previously underexplored and integrates them with Allied perspectives to ensure a well-rounded understanding of the events. A vital addition to any World War II collection, Gamble in the Coral Sea offers a nuanced and thorough exploration of a battle that significantly shaped the trajectory of the war in the Pacific.

384 pages, Hardcover

First published November 18, 2025

About the author

Michał A. Piegzik has a PhD in Japanese private law, lecturing family law and children's rights law at Edinburgh Napier University. He was awarded the Japanese Ministry of Education scholarship for exceptional research results. In 2016–2017 and 2020–2022, he researched Japanese legal history at the Tokyo Metropolitan University.

Reviews

[Vitek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I genuinely enjoyed Gamble in the Coral Sea. I'm not a historian, but I've read other books about WWII in the Pacific theater, and I greatly appreciate this book's unique, in-depth look at the Japanese perspective. It provides excellent detail on the strategic thinking from the Imperial Japanese Navy, complementing and enriching the accounts from American historians.
As a history hobbyist, I found the book compelling and highly engaging. If you want a counter-balance to the standard histories of the Pacific War, this is an excellent choice.