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Ian W. Toll

Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941–1942 (The Pacific War Trilogy, 1) Paperback – Illustrated, November 26, 2012

by Ian W. Toll (Author)

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Book 1 of 3: Pacific War Trilogy

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Winner of the Northern California Book Award for Nonfiction

"Both a serious work of history…and a marvelously readable dramatic narrative." ―San Francisco Chronicle

On the first Sunday in December 1941, an armada of Japanese warplanes appeared suddenly over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and devastated the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Six months later, in a sea fight north of the tiny atoll of Midway, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sent into the abyss, a blow that destroyed the offensive power of their fleet. Pacific Crucible―through a dramatic narrative relying predominantly on primary sources and eyewitness accounts of heroism and sacrifice from both navies―tells the epic tale of these first searing months of the Pacific war, when the U.S. Navy shook off the worst defeat in American military history to seize the strategic initiative.

24 pages of illustrations; 12 maps

Print length

656 pages
Language

English
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

November 26, 2012
Dimensions

6.1 x 1.8 x 9.2 inches
ISBN-10

0393343413
ISBN-13

978-0393343410
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Popular Highlights in this book

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Between 1940 and 1943, Britain tripled its war production; Germany and Russia doubled theirs; and Japan increased its war production fourfold. In that three-year period, the United States multiplied its war production by twenty-five times.
Highlighted by 635 Kindle readers
More directly to the point, King would never consent to place the Pacific Fleet under the command of the messianic, fame-seeking General MacArthur.
Highlighted by 425 Kindle readers
That was the sole instance in the entire war to come in which shore batteries turned back an amphibious invasion force.
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From the Publisher

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An entertaining, impressively researched chronicle of the tense period between the bombing of Pearl Harbor and American victory at the battle of Midway."
― Kirkus

"Revealing and poignant, Toll’s latest deftly navigates the rough waters of the Pacific struggle with flying colors."
― Publishers Weekly

"Excellent. The research is thorough, the writing clear, and the narrative flow exemplary…It is difficult to think of a recent book on this subject that is of such consistently outstanding value."
― Roland Green, Booklist (starred review)

"Well documented―albeit from previously published materials―and well written. Experienced World War II history buffs may bypass if they feel no need to read another retelling of this phase of the Pacific War, but nonspecialists and general readers will want to consider it."
― Library Journal

"Toll’s book does a good job of capturing strategy, tactics, weaponry and, especially, people, on the Japanese side as well as the American…You won’t set [Pacific Crucible] aside."
― Harry Levins, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

About the Author

Ian W. Toll is the author of the New York Times bestsellers The Conquering Tide, Pacific Crucible, and Six Frigates, winner of the Samuel Eliot Morison Award and the William E. Colby Award. He lives in New York.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Reprint edition (November 26, 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 656 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393343413
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393343410
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.6 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.1 x 1.8 x 9.2 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #13,724 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #25 in Naval Military History
- #105 in World War II History (Books)
- #112 in American Military History

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Ian W. Toll

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Ian W. Toll is an independent naval historian, the author of PACIFIC CRUCIBLE: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 and SIX FRIGATES: The Epic History of the Founding of the U.S. Navy. SIX FRIGATES won broad critical acclaim and was selected for the Samuel Eliot Morison Award, the William E. Colby Award, and New York Times “Editor’s Choice” list.

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Charlie Watanabe

Contemporary General History of the Pacific War

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2017

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I started reading this after finishing Atkinson's "The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945" . I wanted to balance my reading on the European Theater of WWII with the Pacific.

Toll is a good writer. His style is similar to Atkinson's in that in includes extra details that add perspective. For example, a description of the Japanese planes flying so low over Honolulu, that the Americans on the ground saw the pilots faces covered by "their cats eye flying goggles".

Toll does a fairly good job at keeping the narrative level at 10,000 feet. Modern war involves men, machines, doctrine, politics and strategy. Toll's story dips into all of these, but never too deeply. Politics and some doctrine are mainly through the focus of President Roosevelt and the Hirohito (the Japanese emperor). Mahan's contribution to the footings of the combatants doctrine and strategy is emphasized. The compare and contrast between American and Japanese warfighting was instructive. I would have appreciated a deep dive into the strengths and weaknesses of the American Navy's pre-war organization. There seemed to be more of an emphasis on the Japanese weaknesses . The thumbnail description of the Japanese A6M Zero was particularly good for aircraft technology. Naval vessels and evolving marine technology get less attention. Strategy comes later with the rise of Halsey, Spruance, and Nimitz vs. Yamamoto and Nugamo.

If I find fault with this book, it's that it does not cover the submarine campaign at all. There are a few scant references to submarine reconnaissance. There are also a few oblique references to the notorious 'Torpedo Problem' that plagued the fleet at the beginning of the war. However, compared to the carrier actions, there is nothing on the beginning of the submarine actions against the Japanese by boats based out of Australia and Hawaii. In addition, Japanese submarine campaign has never been documented well, at least not in English language publications. Its not documented here either.

This book was very readable. It's a good beginner to intermediate introduction to the beginning of the naval war in the Pacific. This book is part of a trilogy. This is the first book. I'm looking forward to reading the next in the series "The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944". The third book in the series is supposed to be published in 2018.

Readers of this book might find reading books like Toland's "The Rising Sun: The Decline & Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-45" likewise interesting. Although, that book is dryer than this one. "Silent Victory: The U.S. Submarine War Against Japan" may be helpful in making up for lack of coverage of the submarine campaign.

181 people found this helpful

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Alan Dale DanielTop Contributor: Drawing

Excellent Book

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2017

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Pacific Crucible, the War at Sea 1941-1942 is the first volume of a three-book series by Ian W. Toll. This review covers Pacific Crucible and The Conquering Tide, the second volume in the series. I have not read the third volume, The Fleet at Flood Tide.

Ian W. Toll is a gifted writer. He manages to plug in interesting details, gluing the reader to the page. While most of these tidbits are not of immense importance, they are exactly what makes reading history fascinating. Mr. Toll moves a story along at speed, avoiding wording and phrasing leading to boredom. Pacific Crucible and The Conquering Tide are appealing as fact based books and as compelling stories.

Pacific Crucible begins at Pearl Harbor and explains Japanese decision making behind the raid. The author points out how the attack impacted the Japanese command structure, a detail often omitted in other histories. Ian Toll carefully points out that the main targets of Yamamoto’s attack were the American aircraft carriers, none of which were in port. He also describes the main Japanese offensive moves into Southeast Asia, which secured the oil and other military necessities for Japan. All this is done in a fast moving style that leaves the reader anticipating the next sentence.

The author is even handed in his evaluation of the leaders on both sides. Yamamoto’s attack plan was good, but far from perfect. The American military leaders General Short and Admiral Kimmel were unjustly charged with dereliction of duty in the defense of Pearl Harbor, even though they certainly made mistakes. Admiral King is evaluated well and his faults are disclosed along with his ability to lead the Navy in a tough time. All the leaders Mr. Toll discusses, Japanese and American, are approached with respect as well as an opened eyed realism.

The Conquering Tide tells the story of the Pacific War after Guadalcanal and details how the Japanese were defeated by American ingenuity, bravery, and industrial power. It is clear that the Japanese were hampered by pre-set conclusions concerning how the war would be fought and how the Americans would fail in the face of the spiritual superiority of their enemies. The Japanese leadership was stunned by the speed of the American advance across the Pacific, and the power of the Pacific Fleet by the end of 1943. Ian Toll tells us of the many false assumptions made by Japan and the helplessness felt by the population as their leaders became oppressive and outright stupid in their handling of the people during the war.

Like any author telling any story Ian Toll has his failings. All major battles are covered, most not in deep detail; however, some events, such as the first few voyages of the Wahoo, are reported in extreme detail. In other cases, Mr. Toll fails to adequately discuss items that were important to the Pacific theater of war. The horrible failure of Admiral King to adopt the convoy system at the outset of war, and its costs, are not well explained and lost to the reader. The story of American torpedo failures is split up and difficult to follow.

In this old warrior’s opinion, the author is too soft on some of the personalities he reviews. MacArthur is one example. He changed War Plan Orange and adopted junk in its place, and his superiors in Washington allowed it. Why? After the outright debacle following Pearl Harbor and the complete destruction of US air power in the Philippines, with consequences at least as bad as Pearl Harbor, he stayed in command. Why? Mr. Toll does complain about MacArthur, but he does not tell us he was incompetent. In fact, he more or less defends MacArthur’s leadership. It is the same with several other leaders. Mr. Toll gives them the benefit of the doubt too often.

I enjoyed both books and highly recommend them for anyone interested in World War II in the Pacific

79 people found this helpful

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greasey

Magnificent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 9, 2018

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Ian W Toll's book is the first of his war in the Pacific trilogy and this is an excellent well written account of America's first year in the Pacific in World War 2. It begins with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, then we have the battle of Wake Atoll, Doolittle's raid on Tokyo, Admiral Halsey's raid on the Marshall Islands, the battles of the Sundra Strait and Java Sea, which was a major allied defeat, to the battle of the Coral Sea and ends with the decisive battle of Midway. Every battle and raid is covered in incredible detail, and this book was definitely a page turner. My only gripe was that there did not seem to be that much written on the disaster at Pearl Harbor at the books beginning, then it veers off into politics of when President Roosvelt took America into the War, then the damage and casualties at Pearl Harbor. Book 2 of the trilogy is just as good as this first book, and anyone interested in the war at sea in the Pacific during the first year of World War 2, this is an essential read.

11 people found this helpful

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Hindsight is wonderful !

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2021

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Very readable. Covers the initial phase of the War in the Pacific up to Midway. Clear description of this action. On the assessment of why the Japanese lost that battle, the author puts a good case for why the Kido Butai admiral, Nagumo should not be blamed, and why the controversial decisions he made, firstly to rearm the reserve strike with bombs instead of anti shipping weapons, and then to reverse that order when his scout aircraft finally located an American force, were reasonable in the circumstances, without benefit of hindsight. That is a fresh take on why the disaster from the Japanese point of view unfolded, and differs from other historians, so is worthy of consideration. The author describes the very specialised and lengthy process of arming aircraft with torpedoes, but leaves us guessing as to whether Admiral Nagumo gave that a thought. Without doubt, a great book.

One person found this helpful

Chris

An excellent and rivetting read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 13, 2020

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This is quite a book, there is an incredible amount detail on the build up to the start of the USA's involvement in the Pacific War. No stone sems to be left unturned in the authors research and description of the Pacific war build up and progression. The author seems to have a masterful way of conveying the panic, and tension being felt by all those characters involved in the organisation and implementation of the fight back against the Axis forces following the Pearl Harbour outrage . It certainly needs your concentration to follow the detail in this book but it is worth it.

2 people found this helpful

Siward Atkins

Reads Like a Great Novel

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 15, 2012

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This is an account of the Pacific War at sea from Pearl Harbor to Midway. It is, apparently, the first of a trilogy going all the way to the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay and beyond.

It starts with an explanation of the Big Battleship paradigm of the great Naval thereorist, Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914), developed in his masterwork, The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 (1890). Don't be put off by this, as it is vitally important to Toll's main theme, which is that the Japanese and American navies, steeped in Mahan both, were quite slow to realise that the war at sea in WW II was going to be won by submarines and aeroplanes, not the huge battleships on which so many of their resources were lavished in the 1930s. Once it really gets going, after Pearl Harbor, the book is unputdownable. Toll is good on everything - strategy, tactics, intelligence, materiel, the personalities involved (FDR, Churchill, Nimitz, King and Yamamoto especially) -and the battle sequences are vivid, clear and thrilling. He has an eye for detail that brings the scene to life in an instant - the smell of paint burning on the flight deck, the roar of a Zero overhead, the colour of a sunset the night before battle - and a gift for lucid explanation that makes it easy to follow what happened and why. He is something like Beevor and Hastings in this, but his prose is more supple, his focus broader and his tone more relaxed. He is also less judgmental than Hastings and less preoccupied with atrocities than Beevor.

In short, this reads like a great novel. Really like War & Peace at times. You feel like you are living as well as understanding it. If only all history books were like this!

I cannot wait for the next two.

24 people found this helpful

Tssmith

A good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 13, 2021

Verified Purchase

The first in a trilogy. The last volume is probably the best. Annoyingly repetitive at times but as with the subsequent volumes there is much new - to me anyway - material and some very interesting new insights.

A good read - worth the buy.

One person found this helpful

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