SOCIAL SCIENCES

The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942–1944

by Ian W. Toll
Norton. Sept. 2015. 672p. maps. notes. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780393080643. $35; ebk. ISBN 9780393248203. HIST
COPY ISBN
OrangeReviewStarWorld War II has generated enormous amounts of literature, and there's no shortage of studies on the American struggle against the Japanese empire after Pearl Harbor. Best-selling author Toll (Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy) has plans for a three-volume treatment of the Pacific contest, and this book, the second in the trilogy, is a worthy successor to Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941–1942, which dealt with the period between the attack on Pearl Harbor (December 1941) and the Battle of Midway (June 1942). Toll's well-written narrative carries the action forward from the Battle of Midway to the summer of 1944. Told with verve, this account sweeps the reader along with a fascinating detailing of the personalities and strategy on both sides of this grim series of battles on the water and in the air.
VERDICT Toll successfully captures the drama and excitement of the Pacific War. Readers of military history will anticipate the final volume in this excellent history that should be a part of every library's collection on World War II. [See Prepub Alert, 3/23/15.]
Reviewed by Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames , Jun 01, 2015

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