The conquering tide : war in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944

Title:

Author:

Summary:

"This ... history encompasses the heart of the Pacific War--the period between mid-1942 and mid-1944--when parallel Allied counteroffensives north and south of the equator washed over Japan's far-flung island empire like a 'conquering tide,' concluding with Japan's irreversible strategic defeat in the Marianas. It was the largest, bloodiest, most costly, most technically innovative and logistically complicated amphibious war in history, and it fostered bitter interservice rivalries, leaving wounds that even victory could not heal"--Dust jacket flap.

Edition:

First edition.

Physical Description:

xxxi, 622 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm

Subject Term:

World War, 1939-1945 -- Campaigns -- Pacific Area.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Naval operations, American.

World War, 1939-1945 -- Naval operations, Japanese.

Publisher:

W. W. Norton & Company,

Publication Date:

2015

ISBN:

9780393080643

Publication Information:

New York : W. W. Norton & Company, [2015]

Call Number:

940.54 TOLL

Holds: Copies:

Available:*

Item Barcode	Collection	Call Number	Status	Item Holds
33607003079913	Adult Nonfiction	940.54 TOLL	Searching... Unknown	Searching... Unavailable

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Summary

This masterful history encompasses the heart of the Pacific War--the period between mid-1942 and mid-1944--when parallel Allied counteroffensives north and south of the equator washed over Japan's far-flung island empire like a "conquering tide," concluding with Japan's irreversible strategic defeat in the Marianas. It was the largest, bloodiest, most costly, most technically innovative and logistically complicated amphibious war in history, and it fostered bitter interservice rivalries, leaving wounds that even victory could not heal.

Often overlooked, these are the years and fights that decided the Pacific War. Ian W. Toll's battle scenes--in the air, at sea, and in the jungles--are simply riveting. He also takes the reader into the wartime councils in Washington and Tokyo where politics and strategy often collided, and into the struggle to mobilize wartime production, which was the secret of Allied victory. Brilliantly researched, the narrative is propelled and colored by firsthand accounts--letters, diaries, debriefings, and memoirs--that are the raw material of the telling details, shrewd judgment, and penetrating insight of this magisterial history.

This volume--continuing the "marvelously readable dramatic narrative" (San Francisco Chronicle) of Pacific Crucible--marks the second installment of the Pacific War Trilogy, which will stand as the first history of the entire Pacific War to be published in at least twenty-five years.

Author Notes

Ian W. Toll is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Conquering Tide, Pacific Crucible, and Six Frigates, winner of the Samuel Eliot Morison Award and the William E. Colby Award. He lives in New York.

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

This solid second volume in naval historian Toll's planned three-volume history of the U.S. Navy in the WWII's Pacific Theater (after 2012's Pacific Crucible) follows the campaign from the summer of 1942 through the summer of 1944. Those two years constituted the critical period where the war's momentum shifted from the Japanese to the Americans. Based on archival and respected secondary sources, the work focuses on the Central Pacific and begins with the Guadalcanal campaign, with Toll clearly describing the narrow American victory. Through the book's middle he describes the strategic decision-making that drove the direction of the campaign. Toll diverges into specialized topics that parallel or compliment the major naval campaign, including submarine warfare, naval logistics, and activities on the home front and within industry. The work ends with him addressing the decisive victory of U.S. forces in the battle for the Marianas Islands, where American numerical and technological superiority unmistakably pointed toward the war's inevitable outcome. Toll has an engaging writing style and he deftly weaves biographical sketches of the strategic leadership together with strong descriptions of the tactical battles and personal combat narratives. Experts may find nits to pick, but this is an accessible and balanced overview for lay history buffs. (Sept.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal Review

World War II has generated enormous amounts of literature, and there's no shortage of studies on the American struggle against the Japanese empire after Pearl Harbor. Best-selling author Toll (Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy) has plans for a three-volume treatment of the Pacific contest, and this book, the second in the trilogy, is a worthy successor to Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942, which dealt with the period between the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 1941) and the Battle of Midway (June 1942). Toll's well-written narrative carries the action forward from the Battle of Midway to the summer of 1944. Told with verve, this account sweeps the reader along with a fascinating detailing of the personalities and strategy on both sides of this grim series of battles on the water and in the air. VERDICT Toll successfully captures the drama and excitement of the Pacific War. Readers of military history will anticipate the final volume in this excellent history that should be a part of every library's collection on World War II. [See Prepub Alert, 3/23/15.]-Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.