book of the month
Midway: The Pacific War’s Most Famous Battle
Mark E. Stille
Published by Osprey Publishing, Kemp House, Chawley Park, Cumnor Hill, Oxford OX2 9PH; email info@ospreypublishing.com; website www.ospreypublishing. com; price £25.
In April 1942 the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy was at the zenith of its power. It had struck a severe blow against the US Navy at Pearl Harbor in December 1941, before spearheading the Japanese advance through South East Asia, rampaging across the South Pacific and hunting the Royal Navy in the Indian Ocean.
But only a few months later, in June 1942, the US Navy managed to inflict a decisive defeat on this mighty force off Midway Atoll. The Japanese lost four fleet carriers to the American’s one, and the strategic initiative in the Pacific Theater passed to the US Navy. Midway is the most famous naval battle of the Pacific War, and one of the most mythologised. The traditional view of the battle, popularised in its immediate aftermath and surviving through to the present day, is of a heavily outnumbered American force snatching victory in the face of overwhelming odds. This view is simplistic and, mostly, incorrect.
Pacific War expert Mark E. Stille provides a detailed analysis of this pivotal battle, and argues that Midway was neither a miraculous American victory, nor a product of good fortune, but that the plans, personalities, doctrines, ships and weapons of the two sides meant that a Japanese defeat was the more likely outcome. This 400page hardback book provides an unparalleled level of insight and analysis into one of the decisive moments of the Pacific War.
PS