Reviews and Comments

Nice overview of the period from the fall of the Western Roman Empire until the Mongol invasions. Great for beginners - not so much for people looking for a deeper understanding and chronology of the era. I have had this book in my shelves for ages and I read it in a couple of evenings. I wonder why I didn't do it much earlier.

First volume in a future trilogy of the Asia-Pacific War (1937-1945) by Richard B. Frank, covering the history of the conflict from the Marco Polo Bridge Incident (July 1937 until just before the Battle of the Coral Sea, in early May 1942). In essence, this is a chronicle of the Japanese high tide until things started to get sour for the Empire of the Rising Sun.

Fantastic writing, as usual, and a very welcome addition to my increasing library on the Asia-Pacific Theatre of Operations. I particularly enjoyed the description of politics and operations in China, that great forgotten part of WWII.

The last few chapters cover minor operations like the early American carrier raids as well as the fall of Bataan and Corregidor in the Philippines, and look like they have been added as an afterthought, but one must bear into account that they were not that important compared with the enormous scope of the fighting in China, Burma, Malay and the Dutch East Indies.

The next volume in the trilogy will surely come packed with codebreakers, carrier warfare, Solomons and New Guinea. ;-)

It is nice to have much of the information on the US Navy early carrier raids in one little book. But it is written in a rather dry and factual manner. Do not expect it to be on par with the works of Samuel Eliot Morison, Richard B. Frank or Ian W. Toll.

BTW, I have seen that the author is about to release what seems to be a new version of this book: "The War Begins. The Navy's Early Carrier Raids February-May 1942" (ISBN-13: 978-1612515281). I don't know what the differences will be between the new one and the one reviewed here.