The Pacific

Hugh Ambrose has produced a book worthy of his father's legacy

I received an early release of Hugh Ambrose' "The Pacific," which is an intriguing addition to the literature of the Pacific Theater in World War II. Human elements added to the battle narrative personalize the war, and Hugh Ambrose brings out aspects to the war's familiar history that I either had forgotten or learned for the first time.

I think this is Hugh Ambrose' first work on his own, and I was suspect that he might be trading too much on his father's legacy--somewhat as the younger Shaara (whose works are good, but not truly great)--or too commercialized alongside the forthcoming HBO series. However, Hugh Ambrose has produced a book worthy of his father's legacy. It's a solid narrative, which seems consistent with Steven Ambrose' "Band of Brothers," "Citizen Soldiers," "D-Day," and "The Wild Blue" -- perhaps to be expected as Hugh Ambrose was a close collaborator on his father's projects.

The book purports to go beyond the forthcoming HBO series of the same title, which I expect will also be outstanding. It's just too bad that so many of the Marines who served in the Pacific Theater won't be able to experience this tribute, having already slipped from this world to join their friends lost 70 years ago.

If you enjoy history with strong narratives, such as the works of Steven Ambrose, Shelby Foote, David Hackett Fischer, or David McCullough; you are sure to find this book irresistible.

16 out of 17 people found this review helpful.

The Pacific theater of WWII is a topic far larger than the somehwhat misnamed book by Hugh Ambrose. Ambrose's book, however, is an excellent summary of the violence which distinguished service in that theater from Europe.

Readers seeking an exciting narrative will find (as in Band of Brothers, to which it has been compared)an engaging summary of the personal experiences of its characters. However, unlike BoB which had the structural assistance of a story told about protagonists and events within a single group of men interacting over an extended period of time, those written about here served in different branches of the services, in different units within the branches, and were involved in different battles during different years of the war. Most did not know one another or share the same events.

Standing alone, the individual narratives do provide some fascinating insights not widely written about elsewhere. Two examples from many: (1)the differences in performance of the various naval dive bomber aircraft placed in the context of life and death of their crews, and (2)the weather and logistics challenges which were often determinant in whether or not the initial US assaults on Japanese held islands were successful.

Given this structure, it is perhaps inevitable that even clever fitting-together does not prevent occasional fragmentation and a lack of continuity of time, place and the characters. Readers with a solid understanding of the historic events will have less trouble understanding the big picture within which the individual stories take place.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

The Pacific by Hugh Ambrose

The book The Pacific was recomended to me by the wonderful people at Barns And Noble. On the basis that I am interested in World War II topics and have injoyed the Band of Brothers book and show. In my oppinion it was very readable even for me because i hardly ever read books and I am not the best of readers but it was well wrighten and very understandable.
The style is historical with a little bits of facts mixed in. A good compareson would be Band of Brothers or Fly Boys. The book is about 5 different guys in different parts of the military and there adventures in the pacific front. I would highly recomend this book to any one that wants to learn about the pacific front on a first hand basis and like to learn about World War II.

3 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Poorly Written

Reads like a High School Term Paper

2 out of 9 people found this review helpful.

Understanding the war inthe Pacific

I really liked the way the book was written like fiction and told their stories, but stayed with historical facts.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Absolutely Outstanding

This book was written for anyone to understand. It surely gave me a feeling for the turmoil that the soldiers went through. It appears that the soldiers did the work and killing and the brass took the credit for what they did.

I find what the Japanese did to the American POWs appauling. It gave me a different understanding of what was happening.

Thank you Hugh Ambrose for your excellent job!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

This book was a gift from my wife.

I have not finish the book but so far it has been excellent. I am an avid reader of World War II books.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

The Pacific

The author captures many essenses of Infantry combat: the smell of death, sitting in a flooded foxhold and sharing a ration spoon with a buddy.

The book is a thoughtful blending of historic happenings in World War II and the inner feelings of the individual Marines that lived through them.

Through the thoughts and conversations of the principal characters, the reader is reminded of many controversal events of the times (General MacArther's pre-war planning, the write-off of the troops of Bataan and the design faults of Navy carrier aircraft) without the hindsight and softning of 65 years.

Particularly poignantis the recounting of the battle for Pelilu, with the loss of so many Marines to capture an airfield that was no longer needed.
The incident also demonstrates the unfortunate inflexibility of some senior military leaders to deviate from a plan once the plan is initiated.

The book gives due honor to the Marines of the "Greatest Generation" and demonstrates that they are the finest Amphibious forces in the world.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Would recommend the book.

The book kept me intrigued and waiting for the next event. The book details the lives and events of each of the characters and there is a lot of detail in the book. The Movie on HBO is closely following the book as well. Would recommend the book to anyone who enjoyed Band of Brothers. Lots of detail in the book, my wife read it as well and is watching the series with me.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

SEMPER FI

BEING A RETIRED U.S. MARINE, WHO MISSED WORLD WAR ii BY A FEW YEARS, I ENJOYED THIS BOOK VERY MUCH AND HOW IT POINTED OUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE WAR IN EUROPE, WHICH WAS MUCH MORE HUMANE AND THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC. THE JAPANESE ARMY DID NOT CARE HOW MANY OF THEIR SOLDIERS DIED, AS ALONG AS THEY COULD KILL AS MANY MARINES AS POSSIBLE. I HOPE THE HBO SERIES IS A GOOD AS THE BOOK.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A good read but

All in all a good read, but like the ground war in the Pacific in WWII, it grinds on through the island battles providing little differentiation from one battle to another. The book also omits major elements of the war in the Pacific, including the crucial role played by the Navy's submarine service; and loses focus on major elements when key characters are rotated out of the Pacific theater.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I love history

I like the book if u like historical fiction i recommend this book

Great stor

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Must watch show!!!!!

Show is just as good if not better than the boooook........!!!!!!!!!:p

WW II - leaves nothing to the imagination

Being an avid WW II reader I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book about the 3 greatest U.S. Marine island invasions. The book lets you live it all in the safety of your living room.

If you are a big fan of WW II books you must read this one. It won't let you down.

Awesome

I love world war two books and I highly reconmend it.


Usa rules!



Japan sucks like crap.

Asome book

This book is for kids from 9 and up i love this book love love by the way i am a girl i love the book ilove the book

To the bottom

At the one star all the way at the bottom you are not an american for saying that. Millions of men and women died because of the war, the japanese attacked us beccause we supported the allies. The book tells a sad but amazing story of how we beat the axis and became the most powerful nation and military force on this planet.

Basically History! Statistical repetition!

Impressive research, but not an adventure story.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

yikes!

highly recomended