The Rising Sun in Pacific, 1931-April 1942: History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume 3

History of United States Naval Operations in World War II #3

by H.P. Willmott, Samuel Eliot Morison

The third volume of Morison's History of the United States Naval Operations in World War II examines the incidents that began the Pacific war and Japan's internal conflicts, drawing on data secured in Japan. It then presents a detailed account of Pearl Harbor and discusses the Philippines, Wake Island, the Malay Barrier, and carrier strikes, among other subjects.

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

448 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1948

About the author

Hedley Paul Willmott (H.P. Willmott) was a widely published military historian, author, former Senior Lecturer at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. He has written extensively on modern naval and military history.
He had retired and lived till his death in Surrey, England.

(source: http://www.goodreads.com/author/edit/... & http://www.potomacbooksinc.com/Books/...)

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Masterful. The benchmark for all naval histories written about WW2. Morison's work is relatively free of the racism that mars many works written by Americans during or shortly after the war (this book came out in the early fifties). In fact, his account of Japan's masterful execution of an extremely complex operation that resulted in the occupation of countless Pacific islands, as well as most of southeast Asia, leaves the reader astounded. This book, part of his multi volume naval history of the Pacific War, also includes clear intimations of the dysfunction in the Japanese government and military command that helped speed their undoing. The book ends in April 1942, which marked Japan's high water mark. The battle of Midway happened in June 1942, and that was the turning point.

Morison was a commissioned officer in the Navy, but he pulls no punches in his analysis of US failings that lead to the Pearl Harbor debacle, or the even more inexcusable collapse of the US military in the Philippines. This is my second trip through Morison's books and I find the narrative almost Tolkeinesque in its depiction of a plucky band of allies set back on their heels by an implacable force bent on domination.

[John Albers · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published in 1948, The Rising Sun in the Pacific is still one of the best books covering the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941. Morison, who was allowed access to Naval documents during and after the war, made a much detailed (maybe too much detail), of the US navy during World War II. Even after close to 80 years it is still the book that historians and writers of history use as their model. Beware though that Morison was old school: an Ivy League educated historian whose racial prejudices sometimes show up a bit too much. Still, it's worth reading.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a classic of World War II history. Morison writes with verve and brings the figures like MacArthur and Halsey to life. With respect to the attack on Pearl Harbor, he pretty much gives a 9/11 style report on all the failures that led to the attack. Highly recommended. My grandmother's brother-in-law served in the India-China-Burma theater in WWII. It was interesting read about the actions around Java that opened Rangoon to invasion.

[Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was only interested in the part of the Battle of the Java Sea (defense of the Malay Barrier and the ABDA Command). A good read, with a slightly different look on the decision making. You only get a good picture of this battle when you read the Dutch, British, Australian, USA and Japanese version of the story. This was a time when the coordination between the allied navies was still at a low. This has cost many lives. This book is the best USA-version I have read so far.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good. Good. Good. This book discusses the early losses of the East Indies and the Japanese advance.

[lbert buro · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the entire series excellent

[Michael Mandaville · Rating 5 out of 5]

A superb book in the series by an author who was there under the behest and order of President Roosevelt.