The Pacific War: From Pearl Harbor to Okinawa

by Gordon L. Rottman, Dale A. Dye (Foreword), Robert J. O'Neill (Introduction)

On December 7, 1941, Japanese fighter planes appeared from the clouds above Pearl Harbor and fundamentally changed the course of history; with this one surprise attack, the previously isolationist America was irrevocably thrown into the fray and World War II had begun in earnest.

This definitive history reveals each of the major battles that America would fight in the ensuing struggle against Imperial Japan, from the naval clashes at Midway and Coral Sea to the desperate, bloody fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Each chapter reveals both the horrors of the battle and the Allies' grim yet heroic determination to wrest victory from what often seemed to be certain defeat, offering a valuable guide to the long road to victory in the Pacific. It is the definitive guide to a unique conflict in history, documenting the rise of naval aviation, spectacular amphibious operations, co-ordinated suicide tactics, and the birth of the atomic age.

328 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2015

About the author

Gordon L Rottman served for 26 years in the US Army in Special Forces, airborne infantry, long-range reconnaissance patrol, and military intelligence assignments in the Regular Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve. He has worked as a Special Operations Forces scenario writer for 14 years at the Army' s Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk , Louisiana where he developed training exercises for Special Forces.
Gordon began writing military history books in 1984 and is currently a full-time author. He has written 50 books for Osprey.He is married with four children and lives in Cypress, Texas.

Reviews

[Corey Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was well written and I enjoyed the way that it give perspectives from both sides for each battle. One thing I wished was added to the end of the book was a total of all resources spent on this war.

[Trevor Schoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is not full of personal stories of soldiers but it contains a well written overview of the Pacific theater during World War Two.