Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

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 to tell the truth, more often than not I found myself learning stuff that I had never heard about before - such as the Chinese moving their industrial base westward into the interior after the initial Japanese advances inland. I had been very aware the Soviets did that in 1941, but did not know the Chinese performed a similar feat years before. Much to my surprise, Frank informed me that the Japanese military occupied northern Indochina without the knowledge or permission of their civilian leaders - much like they did in Manchuria years before. I also did not know that some Dutch, British and Australian troops continued to offer resistance in the Netherlands East Indies for months after the Japanese conquered that region. Franks rehabilitates some notables and excoriates others. I think for the most part he sticks to the facts and avoids partisanship. I did find his analysis of Stilwell compelling and his condemnation of the poor performance of some allied commanders in the Philippines, Malaya and the Dutch East Indies relevant. The Japanese, on the other hand, make few tactical mistakes but their successes on land are marred by a hyper-aggressiveness that all too often results in prisoners being massacred. I found his reevaluation of Chiang Kai-shek refreshing and his willingness to assign more blame than other historians to Emperor Hirohito refreshing and innovative. That said, it is hard to envision the Japanese leadership following a different road given the highly charged emotional and ideological influences on their government. As one might guess from the above observation, his research is impressive and his analysis for the most part very relevant and quite intuitive. For instance, Frank points out that the Japanese killed 250,000 Chinese civilians in retaliation for their having helped the Doolittle raiders that parachuted into China following the April 1942 raid on Tokyo. Frank notes that figure exceeded Japanese deaths from the atomic bombings, which I think adds neglected perspective and context to both tragic events. The book devotes the first five chapters to the Sino-Japanese war before venturing into the realm of international diplomacy and war planning in Chapters 6 - 10. Japan launches the initial attacks against the British and Americans in Chapter 11. Frank devotes one hefty chapter apiece to the campaigns in Malaya, the Dutch East Indies, Burma and the Philippines (in that order). The book ends with the US carrier strikes on the Marshall Islands (and Rabaul) and the Doolittle Raid. Don't be put off by the apparent lack of footnotes in the text. There are a few of the explanatory variety sprinkled throughout the narrative, but the author has opted for endnotes - several hundred pages of them in fact. Although on the surface that might seem overwhelming to some, I found many of the discursive endnotes as interesting as the core narrative. The author included - in my estimation - adequate maps and some excellent photographs. Editing was also above average so there were very few, if any, disconcerting typos. The production values for the book itself were impressive also, the binding seems sturdy and the pages appeared durable. My only quibble is that I found the author's writing style a trifle ponderous at times. I highly recommend this book. Even if you have read a number of earlier works on the topic - this book is still worth adding to your library shelves.