Uncovering the Past: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Asia-Pacific War Through the Tower of Skulls

John B. Sinclair: Most Americans, including me, who are generally familiar with World War II mostly refer to the Pacific and European theaters of war. Many American historians give relatively short shrift to Japan’s invasion of China and other Asian countries. An exception is the Philippines, though one could argue even that attention is directed there mostly due to the magnetism of one Douglas MacArthur.

Author Richard Frank deftly substitutes the term “Asia-Pacific War” to underline the interconnectivity between Japan’s invasions throughout Asia and America’s involvement in WW II. Indeed, many have long argued that WW II did not start on September 1, 1939 when Hitler invaded Poland. Frank convincingly lays out a compelling case that it was Japan’s invasion of China in 1937 that set in motion all the dominoes falling in WW II.

Frank spends a great deal of time at the beginning of the book exploring the pre-war relationship between Japan and China as well as the many internal political and military forces in China. Most notably explored are the well-known figures, Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek. Chiang figures most prominently at this stage of the war (1937-1942) as he was...

United States on Aug 29, 2023

Der Wolf: Die Werbung spricht von "definite History of the Pacific War", Magisteral Triology. Ja, das mag sein.

Als interessierter Laie lese ich auch gerne das dritte oder vierte Buch zum gleichen Thema - man lernt immer etwas Neues.

Das Buch ist mit 757 Seiten hier auf Amazon angegeben. Davon sind rund 250 Seiten Notizen und Bibliografien. Das mag für eine Magisterarbeit unbedingt nötig sein, täuscht aber um über den tatsächlichen Umfang des Buches .

Und das fand ich dann doch "etwas dünn". Werde mir mit Sicherheit die Folgebände nicht mehr kaufen. Zu wenig Stoff auf zu wenig Seiten.

Dann doch lieber die Trilogie von Ian W. Toll (Pacific War Trilogy).

Germany on Jul 02, 2023

Brian Halma: In my view, Frank is one of best writers and historians of the Second World War/WW2. He is a very detailed and careful guide to the history of that conflict.
This is another excellent book from him. There are a number of things that make it stand out. One is that there are a number of books covering aspects of the war - the US Navy led drive in the Central Pacific, the UK-Japan confrontation, China's role in WW2, the air campaign, etc. - this book works to tie those elements together. This helped me to gain an understanding of events I was cognizant of but did not have a good understanding of - for instance, the Marco Polo Bridge incident. In providing a comprehensive view, Frank is also able to offer up some great insights. For instance, he discusses a US foreign policy goal of trying to deter Japan from attacking and potentially fatally weakening the Soviet Union and knocking it out of the war - this helps to explain the US approach to Japan prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Frank also weaves together factors including intelligence, social factors, economic factors and looks to tell the story of the broader impact of the conflict.
An excellent overall history, and I...

United States on May 13, 2023

Andrea: Avevo letto lo splendido libro "Guadalcanal" di R.Frank e mi sono quindi affrettato ad acquistare "Tower of skulls" nella speranza di ritrovare le ottime descrizioni delle battaglie, ma ripartendo da Pearl Harbor.
In realtà sono rimasto deluso, in quanto questi libri sono completamente diversi l'uno dall'altro.
L'opera prevede una approfondita narrazione iniziale della guerra tra Cina e Giappone, con ottime descrizioni delle battaglie ed approfondite analisi politiche degli eventi accaduti, oltre che dei protagonisti di quell'immane tragedia.
Si arriva finalmente al 7 Dicembre 41 solamente a pagina 266, dopo una profonda analisi delle fonti di intelligence e delle complesse implicazioni diplomatiche.
Le operazioni militari da Pearl Harbor in poi fino all'Aprile 42 vengono descritte su 254 pagine, in modo completo ma troppo sintetico, riservando peraltro le descrizioni più approfondite alle battaglie terrestri, descrivendo purtroppo in modo sommario gli scontri navali, con sole 6 pagine dedicate alla battaglia navale del mare di Giava mentre altre 6 sono dedicate alle operazioni terrestri sulla stessa isola.
Si arriva al termine delle operazioni militari a pagina...

Italy on Apr 04, 2023

Paul: I would have to say that not only was the book well-written, I would consider it one of the best considered of the many books written about the period. I would consider that this will be considered a classic account of this period of the conflict.

Australia on Jun 28, 2021

Shahir Ahmed: This book gives a rare inside in the China's war as well as the other parts of the War. THats not something you get all the time.

Australia on Jun 10, 2021

Edgar R Wagner: Excellent. I found it to be a very well-researched, very interesting, and very readable history of World War II in the Pacific covering the years 1937 - 1942.

What distinguishes Richard Frank's work from other truly excellent works like John Toland's But not in Shame - Rising Sun, and Ian Toll's Pacific War trilogy are basically two things: (i) a better, fuller, exposition and maybe understanding, of the Sino-Japanese conflict, and (ii) access to new material, including Willem Remmelink's edited translation of the Japanese official history of The Invasion of the Dutch East Indies and The Operations of the [Imperial Japanese] Navy in the Dutch East Indies and the Bay of Bengal, and Andrew Boyd's The Royal Navy in Eastern Waters: Linchpin of Victory 1935-1942.

Richard Frank makes a good stab at covering the war in the Dutch East Indies generally, including, the land fighting on the island of Java, (probably because he had access to the modern translation into English of the Japanese official history of the land campaign), although from a purely naval aspect I prefer Rising Sun, Falling Skies: The Disastrous Java Sea Campaign of World War II by Jeffrey Cox and Battle of...

United Kingdom on Sep 17, 2020

Writing Historian: Until a few years ago, we havent had much in English on the Sino-Japanese war that preceded the beginning of World War 2 in the Pacific. Frank has built on some of the books that have recently been published (Rana Mittler comes to mind as well as several other authors) to produce probably one of the most comprehensive and even handed volumes on the topic to date.

He covers everything - military operations in all three dimensions (air, sea and land), personalities, ideology, political and diplomatic activity, economic factors, technological advances, tactics, training, and societal influences, all of which are deftly woven into an integrated tapestry presented in chronological fashion (he does deal with some issues thematically, but these are in the minority). That said, everything he discusses either revolves around or provides context to the military operations covered in the narrative.

Its a hefty book and takes a while (a week for me) to read as Frank spares no relevant detail. I am a historian and have been interested in anything remotely resembling good military history for the past 50+ years. I do admit to skipping over some parts that I already knew about, but...

United States on Mar 10, 2020