Thomas F. (hardtack) -
Helpful Score: 2
The Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in the history of the world, stretched over such a vast area that it had several major sub-battles.
The complete destruction of the Japanese Southern force is almost anticlimatic to the other battles. The Americans did nothing wrong there. Hasley's 'failure' to defend the northern flank of the American task forces is still argued about today--over 60 years afterwards--as to whether he did the right thing.
However, the unbelievably heroic--even these words are an understatment--actions of the men manning the 'jeep' carriers and their destroyer escorts against Japanese battleships and cruisers are a testimony to the courage of "The Greatest Generation." While this book does cover this final battle in great detail, the best book on this action is found in "The Last Stand of the Tin-Can Sailors."
Overall the book is somewhat confusing, as the author jumps around and repeats information. The book is also not well referenced and you often wonder if the author reviewed information that supports his views or is just writing what he think happened. I also noticed some historical errors in the book.
While the book goes into much more detail than others which cover this battle, it becomes obvious to the well-read reader that many of the author's thoughts on the people involved are the author stating that is what he thought they thought. When you consider that there are 391 pages of text, but only 10 pages of citations, how can we be sure the author is referencing actual reports of the people involved?
Plus, the author makes interesting errors that initially led me to believed that he was an amateur historian who was not well read on the larger aspects of the war in the Pacific. These errors include:
MacArthur being in command of the Solomons campaign.
At one point, he leads the reader to believe the Solomons campaign took place in 1944.
Reports MacArthur's 'achievements' as if he were simply repeating the press releases from that headquarters, many of which were outright lies.
And he credits one Japanese admiral with saving the Japanese fleet at Midway by encouraging Yamamoto to retreat. Almost all naval historians state that if Yamamoto had continued sailing until he came upon the American fleet, the huge superiority in numbers of the Japanese fleet would have spelled the end of the American Fleet.
The book is also disjointed in that the author repeats information in other chapters or even within the same chapter. Sometimes the author switches to an entirely new direction within the same paragraph, leaving the reader to wonder where the author is going. In some cases, the author even contradicts himself in following paragraphs, and at least once in a following sentence.
I believe that the real value of the book lies in the tales told him by the men who actually fought in this battle. But readers should beware of believing events as related in the book, outside the actual battle, are history; as are many of the 'thoughts' made by historical characters, especially the Japanese.
Overall, I was very disappointed in the book. My recommendation is if you are only going to read one book on the Battle of Leyte Gulf, don't make it this one.
The complete destruction of the Japanese Southern force is almost anticlimatic to the other battles. The Americans did nothing wrong there. Hasley's 'failure' to defend the northern flank of the American task forces is still argued about today--over 60 years afterwards--as to whether he did the right thing.
However, the unbelievably heroic--even these words are an understatment--actions of the men manning the 'jeep' carriers and their destroyer escorts against Japanese battleships and cruisers are a testimony to the courage of "The Greatest Generation." While this book does cover this final battle in great detail, the best book on this action is found in "The Last Stand of the Tin-Can Sailors."
Overall the book is somewhat confusing, as the author jumps around and repeats information. The book is also not well referenced and you often wonder if the author reviewed information that supports his views or is just writing what he think happened. I also noticed some historical errors in the book.
While the book goes into much more detail than others which cover this battle, it becomes obvious to the well-read reader that many of the author's thoughts on the people involved are the author stating that is what he thought they thought. When you consider that there are 391 pages of text, but only 10 pages of citations, how can we be sure the author is referencing actual reports of the people involved?
Plus, the author makes interesting errors that initially led me to believed that he was an amateur historian who was not well read on the larger aspects of the war in the Pacific. These errors include:
MacArthur being in command of the Solomons campaign.
At one point, he leads the reader to believe the Solomons campaign took place in 1944.
Reports MacArthur's 'achievements' as if he were simply repeating the press releases from that headquarters, many of which were outright lies.
And he credits one Japanese admiral with saving the Japanese fleet at Midway by encouraging Yamamoto to retreat. Almost all naval historians state that if Yamamoto had continued sailing until he came upon the American fleet, the huge superiority in numbers of the Japanese fleet would have spelled the end of the American Fleet.
The book is also disjointed in that the author repeats information in other chapters or even within the same chapter. Sometimes the author switches to an entirely new direction within the same paragraph, leaving the reader to wonder where the author is going. In some cases, the author even contradicts himself in following paragraphs, and at least once in a following sentence.
I believe that the real value of the book lies in the tales told him by the men who actually fought in this battle. But readers should beware of believing events as related in the book, outside the actual battle, are history; as are many of the 'thoughts' made by historical characters, especially the Japanese.
Overall, I was very disappointed in the book. My recommendation is if you are only going to read one book on the Battle of Leyte Gulf, don't make it this one.
