Pacific War
Sources for this Web Site
The following books are the most depended upon and are within reach
at the computer and used to confirm my memory. These books provide
information of the sort useful to the web pages. I am occasionally both
satisfied and embarrassed to find that others - in the hardcopy age -
have done a magnificent job of addressing topics that I have more
recently started as necessary to fill-in my own, and possibly your,
understanding of World War Two in the Pacific. If you live close to
a military historical museum, see if they have a library and join; I
wish one were close to me.
Most Used for References
- The Pacific War 1941-1945 by John Costello
- History of United States Naval Operations in World War II by Samuel Morison.
15 vol. Most used - 3, 4, 5.
- The End of the Imperial Japanese Navy by Masanori Ito
- Victory at Sea by James Dunningan and Albert Nofi
- And I Was There by Edwin Layton
- Atlas of the Second World War by HarperCollins
- Encyclopedia Britannica
- Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft, editor David Donald.
- Fighting Ships of WWII - Jane's
Most Used web sites
- Official Navy Chronology
- Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
- Hyperwar - USN in WW II
- Order of Battle
Other relevant books on the shelves:
- American Heritage New History of World War II by Sulzberger & Ambrose
- Atlas of 20th Century Warfare by Richard Natkiel
- World War II by Ivor Matanle
- Long Day's Journey into War by Stanley Weintraub, my English professor at Penn State.
- Atlas of the World by NY Times and Times of London
- Historic Encyclopedia of World War II, edited Marcel Baudot, etal.
- Japan's World War II Balloon Bomb Attacks on North America by Robert Mikesh
- The shame of Savo: Anatomy of a naval disaster by Bruce Loxton with Chris C-Clark
- "Disaster in the Pacific. New Light on the Battle of Savo Island" by Denis and Peggy Warner.
- 1942 "Issue In Doubt" Symposium on the War in the Pacific by the Admiral Nimitz Museum. Wayman C. Mullins
- Rendezvous at Midway U.S.S. Yorktown and the Japanese Carrier Fleet by Pat Frank &Joseph D. Harrington
- Miracle at Midway by Gordon Prange
- Japan's Decision to Surrender by Robert Butow
- World War II Quiz & Fact Book by Timothy Benford
- Illustrated Weapons & Warfare - 24 volumes
- The Bluejackets' Manual (2) - U.S. Naval Institute, my boot camp copy and the
early wartime edition.
Other Books, not on the shelf, but are in unlabeled boxes in the
machine shed that represent 50 years of reading about WWII. ( I have to
build some bookcases before they can be brought into the house.) These
include : The Raft, They Were Expendable, Silversides, Thirty Seconds
Over Tokyo, Guadalcanal Diary which comprise the first adult books I ever read
( from my parents book-of-the-month subscription during the War ) and set a
path to the Pacific Theater.
Of course, there are library copies read over the years which
help form one's understanding of The War which shall have to go with
titles unremembered.
In addition, acquired since getting serious about this web site, many not read cover to cover, but skimmed for the pertainent chapters and used for lookups, are:
Actually this included most of the Morison, USN Operations volumes
concerning the Atlantic Theater.
- AIR
"The First Team" Vol I&II. by John Lundstrom -- Pacific Naval Air
"USN Fighters of WWII" by Tillman and Lawson.
"McCampbell's Heroes" by Edwin P. Hoyt. - N avy air
"The Ragged, Rugged Warriors" by Martin Caidin. -- early air
"Complete Encyclopedia of World Aircraft", editor David Donald.
"The Cactus Air Force" by Thomas Miller, Jr. -- Guadalcanal.
"Black Cat Raiders of WWII" by Richard Knott -- PBY
"Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific" by Eric M. Bergerud.
"Flying Fortress" by Edward Jablonski -- B-17
"The Log of the Liberator" by Steve Birdsall -- B-24
"Air Facts and Feats" compiled by F. Mason and M. Windrow.
"Knights of the Air" by Ezra Bowen
"Aircraft of World War II in Combat", editor Robert Jackson.-- Brief, accurate summary of war w/pic.
"Point of No Return: The story of the Twentieth Air Force" by Wilbur H Morrison -- B-29
"USAAF Fighters of World War Two in Action" by Michael O'Leary -- P-35 thru P-80's.
“America in the Air War” by Edward Jablonski
"Wing to Wing, Air combat in China 1943-45" by Carl Molesworth
- ATROCITY
"Knights of Bushido" by Lord Russell
"Unjust Enrichment" by Linda Holmes. -- American POWs
"Rape of Nanking" by Iris Chang
"Last Man Out" by Bob Wilbanks -- Palawan Massacure
- BATTLES
"The Lonely Ships" by Edwin Hoyt. - US Asiatic Fleet
"Pacific Alamo" by John Wukovits - Wake Island
"They Were Expendable" by William Lindsay White
"Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo" by Ted W. Lawson -- pilot on Doolittle Raid
"The Raft" by Robert Trumbull
1942 "Issue In Doubt" : Symposium on the War in the Pacific by the Admiral Nimitz Museum. Wayman C. Mullins
"Rendezvous at Midway" : U.S.S. Yorktown and the Japanese Carrier Fleet by Pat Frank & Joseph D. Harrington
"Miracle at Midway" by Gordon Prange
"Climax at Midway" by Thaddeus Tuleja
:Midway; the Battle that Doomed Japan" by Fuchida/Okumiya
"Unknown Battle of Midway" by Alvin Kernan - VT
"The Battle of Midway: Victory in the Pacific" by Richard Hough - short summary
"The shame of Savo: Anatomy of a naval disaster" by Bruce Loxton with Chris C-Clark
"Disaster in the Pacific. New Light on the Battle of Savo Island" by Denis and Peggy Warner.
"Guadalcanal Diary" by Richard Tregaskis -- a reporter was there.
"No Bended Knee, The Battle of Guadalcanal" by Gen Merrill Twining
"The Thousand-Mile War" by Brian Garfield. -- Alaska
"War on Our Doorstep" by Brendan Coyle -- West Coast
"Storm over the Gilberts" by Edwin P. Hoyt -- 1943, Central Pacific
"Pacific Breakthrough" by Lawrence Cortesi. -- Marianas
"Great Battles of World War II', vol II: Pacific Naval Battles by Pfannes and Salamone
"Clash of Carriers" by Barrett Tillman - Marianas Turket Shoot
"Valor at Samar" by Lawrence Cortesi. - Philippines
"The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" by James Hornfischer - Samar
"War at Sea" by Nathan Miller
"Last Great Victory" by Stanley Weintraub -- July-Aug 1945
- DOWNFALL
"The Invasion of Japan" by John Ray Skates. -- Operation Downfall: Olympic, Coronet.
"Downfall" by Richard B. Frank. - Invasion of Japan
"Japan's Decision to Surrender" by Robert Butow -- intrigue timetable.
"The Fall of Japan" by William Craig
"Codename Downfall: the secret plan to invade Japan" -- Thomas B. Allen & Morman Polmar
- HISTORY
US Navy by Richard Humble
History of the U.S. Coast Guard by Howard Bloomfield.
The Influence of Sea Power upon History by A.T. Mahan
History of U.S. Navy Vol Two, 1942-1991 by Robert W. Love, Jr. -- weak details
- HOME FRONT
"Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platt Canteen" by Bob Green
"Don't You Know There's a War On?" by Richard Ligeman. -- home front.
"Japan's World War II Balloon Bomb Attacks on North America" by Robert Mikesh
"Page One: The Front Page of History of World War II" in New York Times
"Washington Goes to War" by David Brinkley
"The New Dealers' War" by Thomas Fleming
"The Home Front: U.S.A". by Ronald Bailey, Time-Life
"The Greatest Generation" by Tom Brokaw
- PACIFIC WAR
History of United States Naval Operations in World War II by Samuel Morison. 15 vols.
The Pacific War 1941-1945 by John Costello. Excellence in 1 vol.
Battle Report - Karig etal, Office of SecNavy -- 5 vols
The End of the Imperial Japanese Navy - Masanori Ito -- From Japanese side.
And I Was There by Edwin Layton -- Chief intel officer
Victory at Sea by James Dunningan and Albert Nofi
Jane's Naval History of WW2 by Ireland
Time-Life History of WWII
Atlas of the Second World War by HarperCollins
Encyclopedia Britannica
An Illustrated History of WWII edited Hammerton, Vol 5-7
US Army in World War II, Pacific, 5 volumes, editor Kent Greenfield, etal.
Pictorial History of WWII - Veterans of Foreign Wars -- 3 vols
The Pacific Campaign by Dan van der Vat.
Illustrated Story of World War II by Reader's Digest
The US Marine Corps Story by J.Robert Moskin
Dirty Little Secrets of WWII by Dunnigan & Nofi
Military Errors of WW2 by Macksen - what lead to defeats, both sides
Battle Stations, Your Navy in Action -- many illustrations by USN
The Second World War by Winston Churchill, 6 volumes
American Heritage New History of World War II by Sulzberger & Ambrose
Atlas of 20th Century Warfare by Richard Natkiel
World War II by Ivor Matanle
But not in Shame by John Toland
Rising Sun by John Toland
Atlas of the World by NY Times and Times of London
Historic Atlas of the US Navy by Craig L. Symonds
Historic Encyclopedia of World War II, edited Marcel Baudot, etal.
World War II Quiz & Fact Book by Timothy Benford
War in the Pacific edited by Ross Burns
United State Navy in World War II by S.E. Smith
The Longest Battle: The War at Sea, 1939-45 by Richard Hough
Pacific War Papers edited by Goldstein and Dillion
Espionage and Counterespionage: adventures in military intelligence by Arch Whitehouse
The Second World War in the East by H. P. Willmott - analysis of enemy position, errors in details.
Flags of Our Fathers – Iwo Jima
How They Won The War in the Pacific: Nimitz and his Admirals by Edwin Hoyt
Sea of Thunder by Even Thomas
The First South Pacific Campaign by John Lundstrom -- Dec-41-Jun'42. Great!
- PEARL HARBOR
Pearl Harbor by H.P. Willmott.
Pearl Harbor: Verdict of History by Gordon Prange, etal.
Infamy: Pearl Harbor and Its Aftermath by John Toland
Long Day's Journey into War by Stanley Weintraub, my English professor at Penn State.
Our Call to Arms: The Attack on Pearl Harbor by Time
- PEOPLE
Nimitz by E. B. Potter.
In Bitter Tempest by Stephen Regan -- Admiral Fletcher
Great Admirals World War II by Pfannes & Salamone.
Wartime Journals of Charles A. Lindbergh -- first hand
Lindbergh and the Battle Against American Intervention in WWII by Wayne Cole
Black Shoe Carrier Admiral: Frank Jack Fletcher and the Pacific Fleet by John Lundstrom
Nimitz and His Admirals by Hoyt -- war from near the top.
Fleet Admiral King: A Naval Record by King and Whitehill -- meetings
Yamamoto by Edwin Hoyt
Who Was Who in World War II edited by John Keegan (Pacific is not his strength)
A Different Kind of Victory: A Biography of Admiral Thomas C. Hart by James Leutze -- best pre-war
Adm Raymond A. Spruance by VAdm Forrester
The Days of Fletcher by Andres del Castillo .-- Admiral Fletcher
Now It Can Be Told: the story of the Manhatten Project by Leslie. R. Groves -- A-bomb
Military History of World War II by Trevor Dupuy. -- 6 vol.
Legacy of Wings by Frank Smith -- Pitcairn, rotary wings
Fletcher, Task Force Commander by James Bauer -- reference, 1942
Ernie's War: the best of Earie Pyle's World War II Dispatches -- Edited by David Nichols
- RELOCATION
"Decision to Relocate the Japanese Americans" by Roger Daniels. -- anti US policy
"America's Concentration Camps" by Bosworth -- enemy aliens
- SHIPS
Fighting Ships of WWII -- Jane's
Battleships of 20th Century -- Jane's
Hunter Killer by William T. Y'Blood. -- CVE's
The Big E -- The Story of the USS Enterprise by Cdr Edward Stafford.
The Carrier War by Clark G. Reynolds (Time-Life)
Saratoga, CV-3; Illustrated History of the Legendary Carrier by John Fry
That Gallant Ship, USS Yorktown CV-5 by Robert J. Cressman
The Ship that Held the Line -- The USS Hornet and the First Year of the
Pacific War by Lisle A. Rose
Queen of the Flat-Tops by Stanley Johnston -- USS Lexington and Coral Sea
The Fightin'est Ship: The story of the cruiser "Helena" by C. G Morris
Task Force 57" by Peter Smith -- British Pacific Fleet, 1945
Hunter Killer by Willaim Y'Blood -- CVE's Atlantic
South Pacific Destroyer: The Battle for the Solomons from Savo Island to the Vella Gulf by Russel S. Crenshaw
- STRATEGY
Planning for Victory World War II by Monro MacCloskey
Achieving Victory World War II by Monro MacCloskey
- SUBS
Silversides by Robert Trumbull
Silent Victory - Submarine War Against Japan - Blair - 2 vols
Bowfin by Edwin P. Hoyt. - Submarines.
1941-43: Against The Odds by W.J. Holmes. - Subs
Fleets of World War II by Richard Worth.
- MISCELLANEOUS
Japanese War Machine edited by S.L. Mayer.
Illustrated Weapons & Warfare - 24 volumes
The Bluejackets' Manual (2) - U.S. Naval Institute.
World War II Desk Reference by Eisenhower Center -- better for ETO
Japanese Prisoners of War - scholarly
Flag of Our Fathers by James Bradley and Ron Powers - Saribuchi flag raising.
Torpedo Junction by Homer H. Hickam,JR -- USCG vs. U-boats, East Coast, Jan-Aug'42
War in the Pacific by Jerome T. Hagen, 2 vol -- articles
The Technology of World War II by Sean Sheehan -- shallow
- Miscellaneous
Goodbye, Darkness: Memoir of the Pacific War by William Manchester. -- personal
Tigers of the Sea: 7 Vol, video
Remember Pearl Harbor: 5 Vol, video
Victory at Sea, by Richard Rogers with CBS Symphony Orchestra. -- inspiration.
The World Almanac And Book of Facts For 1943
Weapons That Wait -- Mine Warfare in the U.S. Nav by Gregory Kemeny Hartmann -- mine warfare (including last 4 months WW2Pac)
V-J Day, Time -- 60th Anniversary Tribute
- I don't have these : recommended by readers
"The First South Pacific Campaign" by John Lundstrom -- got it, reissued, Great!
"Winning the War in the Pacific" by James J. Tritten
"The Fleet the Gods Forgot" - Asiatic Fleet
"The Hands of Fate" - PatWing 10
- New or Skimmed These are sitting in the to-be-read shelf. I have skimmed through them and have occasionally used for research, but cannot claim to have fully absorbed them.
"On the Treadmill to Pearl Harbor; Memoirs of Adm J. O. Richardson" told to Dyer
"Our Call to Arms: the Attack on Pearl Harbor" by Time-Life.
"Soldier and Statesman: George C. Marshall' by Harold Faber
"On the Spot Reporting; Radio Records History" by Gordon & Falk
"Clear the Bridge" by Richard O'Kane - USS Tang
"Pacific Destiny" by Richard O'Connor - 1776-1941
"Touched with Fire : The Land War in the South Pacific" by Eric M. Bergerud
"War Without Mercy : Race & Power in the Pacific War" by John Dower
"American Military History, Oxford Companion" edited by John Chambers
"Japan's Imperial Conspiracy" by David Bergamini
"The Second World War: Vol I, II" by Winston Churchill and Editors of Life
"Flyboys" by James Bradley
"Suicide Squads" by Richard O'Neill
"The Second World War" by John Keegan
"Our Mother's War" by Elily Yellin
"Fatal Victories" by William Weir
"Illustrated World War II Encyclopedia" by Eddy Bauer
"The Greatest Generation Speaks" by Tom Brokaw
"Defining Moments: World War II" by Alex Hook
"Stillwell and the American Experience in China 1911-45" by Barbara Tuchman
"The Forrestal Diagies: -- ed by Walter Millis
"Churchill, A Biography" by Roy Jenkins
"Japan's War, The Great Pacific Conflict" by Edwin P. Hoyt
"No right to Win" by Ronald W. Russell -- Midway
Shattered Sword" by J. Parshall and A. Tulley -- Midway
Warning : these contain gross inaccuracies.
"Sweet Pea at War" - Portland (CA-33)
"Operation Cartwheel" by Lawrence Cortesi. All of his are fun to read but shoddy on details.
"Given Up for Dead : America,s Heroic Stand at Wake Island" by Slone
"The Biographical Dictionary of World War II"
"West Point Atlas for the 2nd WW, Asia /Pacific" by Griess
"The Eagle and Rising Sun" by Alan Schom
Note that very little is presented on this website without some authority's documentation,
I only claim to put it in a form that I wish I had when I
started reading every book about WW2 that I could find 60 years ago.
Readers are a source of information with sometimes unpublished
facts and insights.
See the examples of Savo Island update and Radioman
from Graf Spee are tastefully done. Reader queries can spark new
pages: I-26
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Last updated on March 21, 2011
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