Fantastically....

detailed and informative about the Pacific campaign during World War 2. The narrator was very good.

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Incredibly Detailed

I've read several books on the Pacific campaigns in World War II and this one has to be one of the most thoroughly researched and detailed one I've come across. The level of detail is such that it could well be used as source material to recreate key battles for documentaries and movies. The author must've laboured hard to pull together all the various personal accounts, eye witness statements and action reports to produce this incredible account. I stress the point on detail, as this book even specifies the type of aircraft that took part, right down to the mark or variant! The level of attrition documented here is astonishing. The loss of Japanese aircraft was amazing. One wonders how on Earth at this late stage of the war, how the Japanese had as many aircraft as they did.

There are plenty of stories here I'd never heard before. This is, in part, due to the level of detail on offer here. The names of so many people, both allied and Japanese is testament to the work put into this book.

There were three stories of humanity shown in the face of inhumanity that in two cases, had some form of resolution over 50 years later. Small, personal accounts that might otherwise have been lost to history.

There is an awful lot of information to absorb here, so it can be difficult at times to know what accounts relate to what battles. This is where I agree with another reviewer who stated that the book wasn't particularly well structured. I'd be reading a lot of the time and wasn't' sure which battle or action was being referred to. It was a stream of information that seems to be a linear progression through multiple campaigns with little delineation. This didn't mar my enjoyment of the book, just made it harder to grasp the bigger picture. This less organized approach resulted in the Japanese Emperor's surrender speech being included twice in the course of the book.

Narration was good, with the reader able to pronounce complex Japanese titles and names well.

One aspect that was sadly not followed up on in any detail, was the revelation at the beginning of the book how some 20 years after the war, Japanese children and young adults were not taught the truth about the way Japan waged the war. I'd have been fascinated to know what they were taught about the war. All we find out is how a young Japanese pen pal was shocked upon hearing an American's version of the events of the war.

Tidal Wave: From Leyte Gulf to Tokyo Bay is a richly detailed account of the conflict in the latter part of the Pacific campaign as told from the point of view of the men who fought it. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a lower level account, rather than the overall picture so many books cover.

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2 people found this helpful