Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, a brilliant admiral in the Japanese Navy was ordered to devise a devastating surprise attack on the American Navy. Always a realist and having spent years in America, warned that Japan could not win a war against the Americans; that Japan would do well for six months, but after that it would be ground down by American industrial might. Ordered by the Emperor to go ahead, he planned the aerial attack on Pearl Harbor with stunning success. But as he predicted, America in 1942, began to push Japan back to its homeland. Yamamoto died in late 1943.
The most important and dramatic carrier battle of World War II, which completely changed the fortunes of both Japan and America. In less than one day, the might of the Imperial Japanese Navy was destroyed and four of her great aircraft carriers sank burning into the dark depths of the Pacific. Utilizing the latest research and detailed combat maps, this book tells the dramatic story of the Japanese assault on Midway Island and the American ambush that changed the face of the Pacific war. With sections on commanders, opposing forces, and a blow-by-blow account of the action, this volume gives a complete understanding of the strategy, the tactics, and the human drama that made up the Midway campaign, and its place as the turning point in the Pacific war.
In the post-war era, American urban fiction was dominated by the imagery of containment. This book offers a critique of this familiar story, evident in the noir narratives of James M. Cain and in work by Ellison, Roth, Salinger, Percy, Capote and others.
Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku was the defining Japanese naval commander of World War II. Yamamoto's career in the Imperial Japanese Navy started in the early years of the 20th century and he saw service in the Russo–Japanese War, being wounded in the battle of Tsushima in 1904. He went on to study at Harvard University and serve as a naval attaché in the inter-war years, an experience that was to give him a unique insight into the American psyche. Despite the success of his daring pre-emptive strike on Pearl Harbor in 1941, that damaged the US Pacific Fleet and ushered in the Pacific War, Yamamoto's subsequent handling of the Japanese combined fleet can be called into question. The final campaign commanded by Yamamoto was that around Guadalcanal, where Yamamoto's myth of excellence will be totally laid bare. Despite a considerable numerical advantage over the Americans, Yamamoto never brought this advantage to bear. The result was a devastating defeat for the Imperial Japanese Navy and, eventually, the death of Yamamoto himself.
Immerse yourself in one of the most riveting World War 2 history books, The War Under the Waves. This exceptional military history book plunges you into the depths of naval warfare, highlighting the courage, resilience, and sacrifice of the British and American Navies, Air Forces, and particularly the unsung heroes of the merchant marines of World War 2. As Churchill's Britain stood alone against Hitler's onslaught, Roosevelt's America had to navigate an isolationist Congress to lend a helping hand. Britain's survival hung in the balance, hinging on the crucial lifeline of ocean shipping for sustenance, supplies, and fuel—a lifeline ruthlessly threatened by Germany's formidable submarine fleet. Britain's monumental struggle to keep the lifeline intact, initially aided by fifty American destroyers generously lent by Roosevelt, forms the crux of this gripping narrative. The book emphasizes the importance of Churchill and Roosevelt's leadership in overcoming the direst of circumstances. After Pearl Harbor, the United States became wholly immersed in the war, battling the Japanese and Hitler's forces, including the menacing German U-boats lurking in the Atlantic's depths. The War Under the Waves presents the stark reality of how close Britain came to the brink of defeat. Yet, it was through the combined bravery of British and American forces that merchant shipping, troopships, and tankers were safeguarded, facilitating the safe crossing of the Atlantic. The war's turning point emerged from these perilous battles under the waves— a tide that carried with it the defeat of Hitler's Germany and the victory of Allied forces. This compelling historical account is a testament to the audacious triumph over Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz's U-boats, charting the course of the victories that determined the Second World War's outcome. Readers of all ages, particularly young adults seeking to understand the history of the U-boat war and older adults appreciating the magnitude of the Allies' victory, will find this "war history book" unforgettable. Discover the story of survival, perseverance, and victory in The War Under the Waves, where history unfolds under the depths of the Atlantic.
In May 1942, submarines begin inflicting heavy damage on Japanese shipping. The marines and Army invade the Gilbert, Marshall and Solomon Islands. In November 1943, American forces, with heavy casualties, take Tarawa. Admiral Nimitz, over many objections, decides to bypass many strongly-held Japanese islands and blockade them to deprive the Japanese of supplies and food. Roosevelt publicly demands “unconditional surrender,” and the Japanese dig in their heels to fight to the death. American forces attack the Solomon and Marshall Islands, creeping ever closer to Japan. MacArthur attacks New Guinea. In June 1944, American forces invade the Mariana Islands of Saipan and Tinian, and later, Pelelui. With these islands in American hands, its bombers can reach the Japanese mainland. Saipan and Pelelui are captured with many American casualties. Fighting becomes a vicious no-holds-barred affair. A famous American, now a pilot, is rescued by submarine, after his plane crashes into the sea.
Hitler, not satisfied with taking over Austria and part of Czechoslovakia, breaks his promises and overruns the rest of Czechoslovakia but Britain’s Prime Minister declines to intervene. When Hitler then also attacks Poland, Britain and France finally declare war but do little else. However, Poland with its horse cavalry fights on heroically by itself, but is no match for the highly mechanized German Army tanks, artillery, and Luftwaffe Air Force Stukas and Poland is quickly overrun.
Having come off vicious battles in Saipan and Peleliu, this volume continues the war with the invasion of the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. The battle for Iwo Jima, coming ever closer to Japan, caused many casualties, the most so far in the Pacific war. But it did not compare to the next battle, the one for Okinawa, where heavy casualties were incurred not only by the troops on the ground but by the sailors on ships, attacked by suicide bombers whose pilot’s sole mission was to crash his bomb-carrying plane into an American ship. With the death of President Roosevelt, Harry Truman faced the momentous decision of dropping the atomic bomb on Japan, wiping out tens of thousands of civilians, or instead invading Japan and face perhaps a million casualties among American forces, given what happened on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Truman drooped the bomb and the Japanese, after much soul searching, surrendered. Enter General Douglas MacArthur, appointed Supreme Commander for the occupation of Japan. He retained the emperor against the howling of those calling for revenge and retribution, ending up with a totally peaceful occupation up to the time the occupations forces left Japan.
German Jews who could, escaped the extermination frenzy of Hitler against the Jews. They had lost relatives—murdered by the Nazis-- and fled to America. The men were drafted into the U.S. Army. Many of these were ordered to Camp Ritchie and its Military Intelligence Center because of their ability to speak native German. Intensively trained to use their native language abilities, they became known as the “Ritchie Boys.” These Ritchie Boys were trained to interrogate German prisoners of war to obtain current battlefield information and plans to help the Army commanders anticipate the German military moves and defeat them; they translated and interpreted German documents taken off prisoners and dead Germans reflecting current German military thinking. They risked their lives sneaking behind the German lines to capture prisoners and documents. They turned out to be a tremendous asset to Generals like George Patton, commander of the Third Army, and John Gavin, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division. The Ritchie Boys did not avoid danger, and many lost their lives in the war against--and defeating--the Nazis.
This book is a ground-breaking transnational study of representations of the environment in Asian American literature. Extending and renewing Asian American studies and ecocriticism by drawing the two fields into deeper dialogue, it brings Asian American writers to the center of ecocritical studies. This collection demonstrates the distinctiveness of Asian American writers’ positions on topics of major concern today: environmental justice, identity and the land, war environments, consumption, urban environments, and the environment and creativity. Represented authors include Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, Ruth Ozeki, Ha Jin, Fae Myenne Ng, Le Ly Hayslip, Lan Cao, Mitsuye Yamada, Lawson Fusao Inada, Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston, Milton Murayama, Don Lee, and Hisaye Yamamoto. These writers provide a range of perspectives on the historical, social, psychological, economic, philosophical, and aesthetic responses of Asian Americans to the environment conceived in relation to labor, racism, immigration, domesticity, global capitalism, relocation, pollution, violence, and religion. Contributors apply a diversity of critical frameworks, including critical radical race studies, counter-memory studies, ecofeminism, and geomantic criticism. The book presents a compelling and timely "green" perspective through which to understand key works of Asian American literature and leads the field of ecocriticism into neglected terrain.
