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Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway

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12 Aug 2011 00:20 - 16 Aug 2011 19:04 #101168 by Sagrilarus
So I got this coupon for my Kindle. They show up on its screen every morning and this one caught my eye. Buy a book from our special list for just $1. I wasn't optimistic, but I took a look.

I'm cruising past Bossy Pants and A Stolen Life and the usual dregs and thinking that even having Amazon email me the coupon may have been a bad idea. You know me, that stuff isn't going to last ten minutes. Then I stumbled across Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway sitting halfway down the list. I have no clue why it was there nestled in with the chaff, but ten minutes worth of reading the free sample passage was all I needed to convince me. This is one stellar read.

Here's the link via the F:At store:
www.amazon.com/Shattered-Sword-Untold-Ba...i-20&creative=380793

I've read material on Midway and likely seen half a dozen documentaries on it as well. One of my earliest memories of going to the movies was Midway, one of the first two or three films to be produced in Sensurround, which was the 1970s equivalent of THX Audio. Doolittle's B-25s in the opening sequence of the film rattled my teeth so hard that I've never forgotten.

But the film is wrong. So are all the documentaries and virtually all of the English language books on the subject. Shattered Sword goes into excruciating detail from the Japanese side of the battle, discussing ship design, battle doctrine, protocol and execution sequences, and it upends virtually everything I thought I knew about the battle. It wasn't about broken radios, it wasn't about wrong ordinance or miraculous luck. Midway played out very differently than everything I've ever heard and let me tell you these guys literally break the morning of June 5th down minute by minute to support their conclusions, referencing original source material by the pound. This book was a fascinating read, and a pretty stunning indictment of Isoruku Yamamoto's competence as a commander, in spite of the legend that still echos in his name. Others take their share of the blame as well, and the American authors don't over-glorify the U.S. Navy commanders or flyers, meting out credit in appropriate doses where it's due.

Originally slated as my book for vacation (which starts Saturday) I've lunched all 600 pages prior to leaving. Magnificent diagrams of all four Japanese carriers, photos taken during the battle from both sides of the conflict, full orders of battle. Each air wing is identified on each attack, down to the level of naming individual pilots in the order they made their runs at the enemy ships. I've never seen a book so painstakingly researched and so richly detailed.

My Kindle has a text-to-speech capability so I was able to listen for about an hour both to and from work each day and I used that time for this entire week and last. Though obviously not mastered for digital delivery, the Kindle worked its way through this brick very well, even with all the Japanese words and Naval abbreviations. In short, I couldn't put this book down.

Likely not a book for everyone, but if you want to see in detail how aircraft carriers of the era functioned and just how close to the edge the sailors that worked on them walked, this is not to be missed.

S.
Last edit: 16 Aug 2011 19:04 by Sagrilarus.
The following user(s) said Thank You: Ska_baron, Bullwinkle

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12 Aug 2011 15:12 #101222 by Msample
Great book. Gives some interesting insight to not only carrier ops and doctrine. I found the section on the differences in carrier design between Britain, Japan, and the US to be particularly interesting.

More recently I read Neptune's Inferno, about the naval surface battles of Gaudalcanal. Very good as well and I learned a lot of new stuff.

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12 Aug 2011 15:52 #101228 by SuperflyPete
Thanks for the heads-up, Sag. I'll be getting the hardback...no kindle for me.

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15 Aug 2011 01:41 #101334 by jparshall
I just wanted to say thanks very much for the kind words regarding the book--I really appreciate them. I'm glad you liked it! ;-)

Cheers,

-jon parshall-

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15 Aug 2011 02:57 - 15 Aug 2011 02:59 #101335 by Sagrilarus
For those just tuning in, JParshall is presumably Jonathan Parshall, one of the two authors of Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway, the book I recommended above. I'm telling you, it is positively remarkable how many times people of noted expertise drop in on conversations at Fortress AT.

My praise comes due to your efforts sir, not mine. I have spoken several times in the past week of the best $1 I've ever spent on a book. Those reading this will likely have to pay more (Kindle edition is running $14.82 at the moment) but they will take solace from knowing they didn't rob you the way I did. This was one of those moments when something just fell in my lap unannounced.

I'm on vacation in Dewey Beach, Delaware this week and was spending a few moments describing your book to relatives that were sitting with me on the beach. Before long it became apparent that I had gotten the attention of several people around us as well. I made it a point to mention the name of your book and showed some of the illustrations on my Kindle like the one below of the Akagi:



It's hard to fully appreciate the impressive scope and attention to detail presented by the book. I encourage anyone with a Kindle to grab the sample chapter so you can understand where I'm coming from. This is one fine read.

Mr Parshall there's a couple of quotes from the book that I'm going to cite in an upcoming article on the heart and soul of wargaming. In case you haven't caught on this is a strategy boardgaming web site and there's a few of us that dig into traditional wargames, which continue to evolve in scope and thematic content. I'll be sure to source the quotes with a link to Amazon so that you get credit and with any luck a few more dollars for your efforts.

I'd also like to thank you for releasing the book on Kindle. If you hadn't I likely never would have stumbled across it.

S.
Last edit: 15 Aug 2011 02:59 by Sagrilarus.

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15 Aug 2011 03:00 #101336 by ThirstyMan
Dammit!! Showing up as $15 on amazon for the kindle edition. Absolutely won't pay more than $9.99 for ANY kindle edition book.

Is there some kind of discount code I can use?

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15 Aug 2011 03:47 #101339 by jparshall
If you liked that drawing of Akagi, you should see it in color. ;-) One of these days I hope to get it out there in some format other than B&W--I'm pretty proud of how those drawings turned out.

Anyway, the book was a true labor of love--it took Tony and me about six years to put it all together. But we've been constantly gratified by how much people seem to like it. And the reason I say "thanks" on forums like this is that I understand that it's folks like *you,* sitting on the beach, saying, "ZOMG this is a *great* book*!!!" to the guy sitting on the beach blanket next to him, that in turn really sells it. It's the credibility of the reader, and their word of mouth, and their buying the book, say, for Uncle Fred or Cousin Tony (cuz he fought in the war, or he's a naval warfare geek) that has made for the longevity of this thing. And I'm truly grateful for that. Because honestly, the good opinion of Joe Average History Buff is more important than the luminaries on the dust jacket (much as I love 'em) telling you how awesomely awesome I am... ;-)

Anyway, have a great vacation! And AndyinKuwait, I hope you'll see fit to shell out the $14.82--I think I can promise you a good read. Sorry, I don't set the pricing on Amazon. ;-)

Cheers,

-jon-

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15 Aug 2011 04:07 #101342 by Not Sure
Buying one. I don't have a Kindle (which is not the point), so I'm in for the dead tree edition.

Looks like one for the shelf, not just an electronic read.

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15 Aug 2011 12:54 - 15 Aug 2011 13:54 #101350 by Sagrilarus

andyinkuwait wrote: Dammit!! Showing up as $15 on amazon for the kindle edition. Absolutely won't pay more than $9.99 for ANY kindle edition book.

Is there some kind of discount code I can use?


This one isn't a lendable book, so I'll forward you half of my next special offer code.

S.
Last edit: 15 Aug 2011 13:54 by Sagrilarus.
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15 Aug 2011 19:24 #101393 by jur
Jon,

I can stick a few more feathers up your stern elevator shaft. The WWII naval buffs at my wargaming club in the Netherlands are also smitten with Shattered Sword. Pity for you they don't blog, but your fame goes far. I've browsed through a few pages and was duly impressed, but refrained from further reading as WWII naval is a bit low on my reading list right now.

Keep up the good work. Any new projects on the ramp that we can whet the appetite of friends on?

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15 Aug 2011 19:38 #101397 by jparshall
I'm working on a history of 1942. Which is a big topic, obviously--I'm reading Glantz until my head explodes. But I will be covering Pacific, Med, Eastern Front, Battle of the Atlantic, some of the strategic bombing, and the economic goings on, in a month by month narrative format. It's nowhere near done, I'm afraid, but I'm having fun.

Cheers,

-jon-

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15 Aug 2011 19:52 #101401 by jur
Glantz can make your head explode in as few as 5 pages when he's not edited well (Don to the Dnepr, and the one on the Rhzev pocket), but his one on Barbarossa is quite readable.

Did you ever check out the stuff by Richard Overy (of Why the Allies Won-fame) on the Soviets in WWII? Lots on economic production etc.

Ivan's War, by Catherine Merridale, on the transformations of the Soviet Army in WWII is also good read and well researched.

Oh well, no use doing your work for you. Good luck!

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15 Aug 2011 20:29 #101406 by Notahandle
Not really a battle of strong interest to me (nearest I've come is having the original AH Midway game), but when Sag recommends a book I know to take notice. The level of detail is definitely intriguing. Call me old fashioned, but it'll be the print version for me.

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15 Aug 2011 23:56 #101416 by jparshall
Yeah, Overy's book was one of my inspirations for doing this, although I want to do a chronological narrative, rather than a topical treatment. I'm reading several others of his as well. Mark Harrison's economics stuff is de-rigeur as well, and I also have a Russian friend that has scared up a lot of stuff on tank production and whatnot.

I enjoyed Merridale's book very much--a much needed personal treatment, although what I'm doing is mostly operational-level history. But even so, I thought her book was really useful.

Regarding Glantz, he's been very kind to me (and Jonathan House, too) answering stupid questions and whatnot. I've read his Rzhev book a couple times now--Operation Mars is badly overlooked in the standard treatments of 1942, I think, and I intend to give it more coverage, because it really is sort of the other side of the coin from Operation Uranus. But yeah, he can be tough going at times. The first two volumes of his Stalingrad trilogy are just incredibly useful, and I'm blown away by the research, but they ain't easy to get through.

On the other side of the pond, I've got a lot of Ed Drea to wolf down. And I have yet to really start on the early 1942 campaigns in Malaya and Burma. The 1942 Pacific naval stuff I have, down, ummm, pretty well. ;-) But then you still have to sew the draft together and do the maps and blah blah blah... it's a big job. But a fun job.

Cheers,

-jon-

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01 Feb 2012 19:58 - 01 Feb 2012 20:00 #114949 by Sagrilarus
Last edit: 01 Feb 2012 20:00 by Sagrilarus.

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