I finished the John Costello's The Pacific War. It is not hyperbole to say this is the best single volume history on the Pacific War.

At just under 600 pages of reading not including a fair amount of pictures and maps, John Costello has written the one volume history that all who are passionate about the Pacific War should read.

The book digs into all major operations and includes both Nimitz's and MacArthur's command as well as the CBI Theater, the bombers War and some inclusion of the submariner's war specifically on Japanese merchant shipping although I would say this is the weakest section of the war.

In addition the book gives ample discussion to the antecedents of the U.S. and Japanese relationship and the cause of war and a chapter at the end which goes into the revisionist history to apply blame for Pearl Harbor. In the end Costello follows the path that while the signs were there all the pieces of intelligence were never put together together to lead the military or civilian leadership to conclude that Pearl Harbor was a target. It blames some but not the preponderance of blame on General Short and Admiral Kimmel.

A 5 star read which I enthusiastically recommend. ( )

Well researched and written with excellent campaign and battle maps. It would have befitted greatly from being published five years later. The British perspective of the author was balanced and appreciated. ( )

The Pacific War: 1941 – 1945 covers WWII in the Pacific, from the preparations for Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines to the dropping of the atomic bombs and the subsequent surrender. Preceding the narrative of combat operations is a 100 page (or so) geopolitical history of the western Pacific, where Costello introduces us to the players -- the United States, Japan, Britain, the Netherlands, China, Australia – and describes what each had at stake in the conflict and the historical animosities and alliances that defined their relationships.
That beginning section is a little slow, but interesting and very important to the story. Once the bullets fly the pace picks up, and the author gives us a brisk, thorough history of the conflict in 659 pages that seems shorter. It is fast-paced, but Costello introduces enough asides and anecdotes and crafts a sentence well enough that it is never tiring. He doesn't discount luck as a factor in events, to his credit, and pays adequate attention to how national character influenced military decisions.
Originally published in 1981, I read a 2009 re-issue that had some poor typesetting that garbled the text in a few places. Though annoying, that didn't really damage the experience, but it's worth noting that much information has been de-classified in the 30 years since the book was published and several volumes on the same, or overlapping, topics have come out reflecting more current scholarship. That fact doesn't effect the quality of this work, but you might want to plan on reading something more recent in addition to this one. ( )

This book is about the Pacific theater of war in WWII. This book talks about how pacific theater was fought. The harsh living condition or troops who fought in the pacific lived in. The battles that were fought and won or lost. It show images from that time this is a good book to read for history reports.

I like this book because it gave me more facts about WWII that I didn't Know. This book would be best read by middle school and up. This book is full of information on the pacific war. This book is good to read for history book reports. ( )

This is the book laying beside me when ever i research or read about the Pacific Theater of WW II. Great synthesis of the entire war, from the tactics of each battle, to strategey on every level, the importance of intellegince, the goals and thoughts behind not only American leaders but Japannesse as well. Great book. ( )