Eagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan

The author engages in an active reinterpretation of the war based on declassified intelligence files, archival material, Japanese documents and an impressive collection of interviews with principals involved in the almost five year struggle to defeat the Japanese after the events at Pearl Harbor. It is interesting to learn that the U.S. planned to wage a wide-ranging campaign of submarine attacks against enemy shipping even before the start of the war, and also indicates that MacArthur was lucky not to be unceremoniously dumped after his bad bungling of the defense of the Philippines and also because of his active disregard for a number of important intercepts of Japanese messages that could have saved literally thousands of American and other lives. Spector also reveals that U.S. decisions were often more influenced by the nature of our stormy relationship with our British allies and our own inter-service rivalries than by strategic concerns.

The author vividly conjures up accurate and spell-binding accounts of the major battles of the war, and provides a number of intriguing descriptions of lesser known aspects of the Pacific campaign, as well. He takes the reader on a fascinating whirlwind tour of the war, leaping from details of critical meetings between war planners in the Pentagon to social, economic, and political aspects of the engagement to excellent on-the-scene coverage of the battlegrounds. He shows us how the war against the Japanese was different from that being waged in Europe, and how this intensely naval type of conflict was in a number of ways much more risky and innovative on our part than its European counterpart. I was particularly fascinated by his interesting argument that the most critical Japanese mistake of the war was in allowing itself to be drawn into fighting the war of attrition we had always preferred to wage based on its defeat at Midway. This is an important, magisterial, and comprehensive book that is undoubtedly the single best one-volume treatment of the war against Japan and it belongs on every serious World War Two student's bookshelf. Enjoy!


A "Must have" for any serious WWII student   March 10, 2000
Greg Phillips (Hull, Georgia USA)
23 out of 25 found this review helpful

This is probably one of the BEST single volume works in the field. ANY student of the US Navy, or World war II who doesn't have this on their shelf isn't serious about the field. I CANNOT recommend it too highly, both for content and for readability. Buy it.... you WON'T regret it.


The classic story of the Pacific War   February 15, 2001
Stephen M. Bainbridge (Los Angeles, CA USA)
22 out of 22 found this review helpful

As a history of the Pacific War, Eagle Against the Sun is rivalled only by Samuel Eliot Morison's 15 volume classic. Ironically, however, Spector packs far more detail into this classic one volume narrative than Morison managed to include in 15. Where Morison slighted organization, logistics, and sociological issues in favor of action, Spector gives such issues the attention they deserve. The Pacific War was a war of logistics--moving massive volumes of men and material across thousands of miles of ocean. The Pacific War was also a fascinating study in race and gender relations, with early and problematic evolution towards the modern integrated force. Spector addresses all these issues, while still telling an exciting story of action and heroism.

Spector is eminently well-qualified to write such a history. A Marine Corps veteran (Viet Nam), Spector is also a professional historian. He understands combat as few historians do. Spector is also a talented writer, whose prose flows quickly and powerfully.

Spector's careful analysis of the controversial decision to use atomic weapons against Japan is especially well-done. He acknowledges that there are legitimate arguments--both moral and military--against their use. He notes that critics of the decision included not only left-leaning academics, but also army and navy leaders resisting air force officers who believed that SAC rendered the other branches obsolete. Yet, he persuasively argues that tha atomic bombs, coupled with Russia's invasion of Manchuria, were the exogenous shocks that finally destabilized Japan's militarist regime.

In sum, very highly recommended.


Rousing Fight, Good Read   April 16, 2001
Nicholas E. Sarantakes (Newport, RI)
16 out of 17 found this review helpful

An extremely worthwhile survey of the war in the Pacific. Spector argues that America won the conflict against Japan using its industrial strength in a war of attrition. Spector notes that for the two years following the Battle of Midway the United States had no engagements with any major-sized Japanese fleet or field army. During this two year period, though, the Japanese were for all practical purposes defeated.

Spector observes that Pearl Harbor and the use of the atomic bombs are the only two major aspects of the war in the Pacific theater that garnered much historical attention. His major area of focus is on the period in between these two events. He explains "that many other aspects of the war are worth close examination, even reexamination." Such topics include the leadership of Douglas MacArthur, the often ignored topic of supply and logistics, the command relationship in the Pacific, and the ultimate factors that brought about victory.

The most glaring problem with this excellent study are Spector's repeated errors of minor facts. For example, he describes the Emperor's uncle, Prince Higashikuni as the monarch's brother. These type of stupid, little mistakes happen over and over again throughout this book. The lack of detailed maps is frustrating, but that more than likely is the publisher's doing, or not doing. These shortcomings, however, are minor irritants in a book that anyone with an interest in this conflict should read.


Definitive account   July 25, 1999
15 out of 15 found this review helpful

Reading about the Pacific War in the new WWII novel, "The Triumph and the Glory", spurred me into exploring the topic further, so I picked up a copy of "Eagle Against the Sun" and was very impressed. It is solidly researched, very readable, all in all one of the better history volumes about the great struggle in the Pacific between the United States and Imperial Japan.