The Fleet at Flood Tide

June 1, 2016

Winner of the prestigious Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature, Hornfischer has authored several New York Times best sellers about the U.S. Navy in the Pacific during World War II, including, most recently, Neptune's Inferno. Here he draws on thousands of pages of primary-source research to chronicle the most important campaign in the Pacific War: the U.S. Fifth Fleet's seizure of the Marianas, which opened the gates to the defeat of Japan.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2016

Hornfischer (Neptune's Inferno) sets out to produce a detailed account of the World War II campaigns in the Mariana Islands, including contributions from naval, marine, aviation, and army forces. Personal tales of individual soldiers and pilots recount exact maneuvers taken and numbers of enemy planes or soldiers fought. While some readers may enjoy these specifics, they become redundant and are unnecessary in a book of this scope. Although mostly U.S.-centric, the story does include some accounts from the perspectives of Japanese soldiers and citizens as well as native inhabitants caught up in the conflict. Effort is made to explain controversy over the decisions to drop atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Events depicted are described in great detail, at times too much so. The overall viewpoint is fairly objective, with the author relating how Japanese military and government officials encouraged civilian mass suicides as well as U.S. Marines not taking Japanese prisoners in certain engagements. VERDICT In spite of its overattention to meticulous information, this lengthy account of important campaigns will appeal to enthusiasts of World War II's Pacific theater. [See Prepub Alert, 5/2/16.]--Matthew Wayman, Pennsylvania State Univ. Lib., Schuylkill Haven

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.