War Stories II: Heroism in the Pacific

War Stories #2

by Oliver North, Joe Musser (Editor)

When it comes to sheer savagery endured by the American fighting man, few combat theaters could match the Pacific in WorldWar the sodden malarial and Japanese infested jungles of New Guinea and Guadalcanal, the kamikaze pilots for whom death was no deterrent, and the blood-soaked beaches taken by island-hopping Marines. Here, in their own words, are the compelling stories of American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines, as told to decorated combat veteran Lt. Colonel Oliver North.

In War Stories Heroism in the Pacific , North

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, World War II

471 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2004

Reviews

[booklady]

Yesterday at work I met a WWII, Korean and Vietnam War Vet. He flew in all three conflicts and recommended this series to me. I'm passing on the recommendation to all my fellow former military friends. These look incredible!

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and easy to read accdount of the war in the pacific.

[Ronald Kral · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book. Discusses in just the right detail the events leading up to and after the major battles and strategy in the Pacific from the Allied point of view. Intermixed are personal accounts written by men who were actually there. Learned many interesting not-well-known facts. Did you know more people died in the bombing of Toyko than in both nuclear bomb attacks? Did you know that Russia almost joined Japan in the war at the end? Or that even in in the face of the nuclear attacks, there was a large faction of the Japanese military that wanted to fight on to the last man? Technically accurate and the vignettes of the people who were there graphically exposes the horror of war. I got this as a book on CD from my local library. Have now obtained and am going to (listen to) War Stories III - The War in Europe.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're looking for a book with a decent telling of the war in the Pacific during World War II, this one should work for you. There are several first-hand accounts of combat and such, which are woven into a narrative history of the war. Some chapters have more personal accounts than others, and some of the accounts don't add very much in my opinion.

My problem with this book is what appears to be very poor proof-reading on the part of the either the publisher or the author(s). For instance, on two maps the islands of Sumatra and Java are incorrectly identified. Several ships are identified incorrectly, and one, the USS Saratoga, is mistakenly identified as being sunk (it survived the war and was sunk during the atomic bomb tests in 1946). Maybe I'm just nit-picking, but these kinds of errors really annoy me and detract from the reading experience.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a ww2 history addict like I am then this is the book for you! I listened to it on audio cd while cleaning the house or what not, but I found myself stopping what I was doing to listen to what was going on. There is so much detail, and the first hand accounts make you feel like you are right there next to the marines.
This truly is the greatest generation. Those who fought in ww2. They made the world a safer place for us. They often knew they wouldn't make it but they went and fought anyway.
I believe if you want to remember what America is all about then pick up a history book about those great men. And you, too, will come to believe in the American dream. The dream that all men are created equal and have the right to pursue what makes them happy.

[Hugh Henry · Rating 5 out of 5]

At several hundred pages, this is an excellent concise history of the Pacific Theatre of World War II. At each stage of each major battle, a veteran tells the story of what he experienced, including a number of survivors from the Bataan Death March. Veterans tell us of the Battle of Pearl Harbor, the Coral Sea, Guadalcanal and the island-hopping campaign from the Gilbert Islands to the Marianas to Iwo Jima and Okinawa. For the casual reader, or the historian who has no specialized in the Pacific War, this is a very engaging and fast-moving history of a difficult kind of war.

[Nathan Shepherd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent account of World War II in the Pacific. Written - for the most part - chronologically and by battle. Includes plenty of first-person accounts. An absolutely incredible reading experience that takes you through the ups and downs of what it would have been like to be a Marine in the 1940s.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

What you didn't learn about the war with Japan. They are called the greatest generation for a reason.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Veterens tell their stories about the war in the Pacific. I like war history, thought it was a pretty good book.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very readable explanations of what happened in the Pacific theater and in-their-own-words, personal stories by various participants. I will never go shopping on Memorial Day again.

[Tyler Hochstetler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book on the war in the Pacific feels very personal; lots of individual testimonies gives it a unique outlook. Certainly worth reading.