The War with Japan: The Period of Balance, May 1942-October 1943 (Total War: New Perspectives on World War II)

H. P. Willmott addresses a critical juncture of the Pacific War―a roughly eighteen-month period when victory turned on the skills, planning, and adjustments of the protagonists. He weaves a fascinating argument―that Japan faced defeat, but the means and dimension of that defeat were not a foregone conclusion. That shrewd judgment, one self-evident but one that historians have not adequately focused upon in previous studies, provides a convincing interpretation that underpins this well-written and accessible book. — Thomas W. Zeiler, author of Ambassadors in Pinstripes: The Spalding World Baseball Tour and the Birth of the American Empire

A must-read for the student of military and naval history and strategy and anyone interested in understanding the road to America”s greatness and the unimaginable risks and sacrifices that marked that journey. — W. Spencer Johnson, Captain, U.S. Navy (Retired)

A splendid narrative with analytical depth. Willmott challenges the common perception of the war in the Pacific: the real change of tide did not occur as early as Coral Sea or Midway, or as late as the fall of the Marianas and the Philippines. The most crucial period was between February and October 1943. The Japanese failure and the American success in fully mobilizing human and material resources during this new stage were decisive. Willmott convincingly unfolds this theory by letting every minute detail paint the larger picture of this gigantic struggle. — Haruo Tohmatsu, Tamagawa University, Tokyo

Willmott…does an excellent job of clearly delineating and explaining the complex series of events from the Battle of the Coral Sea through the grueling campaigns in the Solomans and New Guinea. The author”s style is clear and easy to read, maps are both plentiful and appropriately scaled, and the author manages to depict complex events fully without bogging down in excessive detail.

Thought-provoking, argumentative, controversial, and guaranteed to make a reader re-evaluate existing accounts of naval, air, and ground operations in the South and Southwest Pacific between May 1942 and October 1943.