Midway: The Turning Point

Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II / the Violent Century: Battle #20

by A.J. Barker

Vintage WWII softcover

Genres: Nonfiction, World War II, History

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Lieutenant Colonel Arthur James Barker served as a regular infantry officer in the British Army from 1936 to 1958. Since leaving the Army he has written a number of books on military history, as well as numerous technical articles dealing with weapons, tactics and equipment.

Reviews

[Pablo Almeida · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is by far the best world war history book i ever read. You can actually build up in your mind what is being told. This whole collection is gold stufd, but this issue is the best.

[D-day · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man I loved this book as a kid. So much so that I went through at least two, maybe three copies. I guess it has been superceded by more modern accounts but it had a clear narrative, great maps and pictures and most importantly to a young me, artists silhouettes of the main combat planes of the battle- F4F Wildcat, A6M2 'Zero', TBD Devastator, SBD Dauntless and others. Whew memories.

[George Kasnic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read the trade size book version. Still chock full of photos, drawings, and maps, all the Ballantine goodness. Something about this author resonates. I felt the uncertainty of the participants, my adrenaline pumped. I swear I smelled the oil, felt the heat of the flames, sensed the sweat of men and the diesel of engines of war. Yep, even now this book brings the battle to life on the strategic, operational, tactical, and personal levels.

[Gigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

...será que dá tempo de jogar heroes of the pacific nas férias?

[Kandace · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very in depth book. I liked the background and everything, but unless you know a lot about boats in general and Navy boats and planes specifically you'll get a little lost with all his technical jargon. Plus he didn't put it into the broader perspective of what happened afterwards, just that it was the turning point. The long and short of it is, the Japanese were over confidant and had a culture unconducive to working together for the best possible outcome (whoever had the best reputation made the decisions and nobody outright disagreed) so Admiral Yamamoto over extended his troops placing them too far apart to help eachother if the Americans were to do something. The Americans had technology on their side, radar and the ability to decipher the Japanese transmissions, so they knew when and where the Japanese were going to be and do. They also got lucky finding the Japanese ships because their pilots were fairly experienced in battle tactics even if they didn't have superior machines and fire power. I've wanted to learn a little more about the Pacific half of WW2 and this did have a lot of good background.

[Bill V · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a very general military historical information on the battle of Midway. For the defintive work on the Battle of Midway read Shattered Sword by Jon Parshall. Most of the western histories, including this one, about the battle have several facts incorrect.
The collection of photographs in this book is quite unique and is the major strength of the book. There's quite a bit of sloppy editting; misspellings and at least one factual mistake. There's also a tendency to repeat a few items over and over again.