Pacific Theater Resources

So the Pacific Theater is finally getting some more attention for WW2 historians and there have been some really outstanding books published in the last few years as part of the general burst of 75th anniversary interest in the war.

We still start with general histories. Sir Max Hastings is one of my favorite military historians and his books are always fantastic. He presents a very balanced look at the war here, giving equal coverage to both the European and Pacific theater.

If you only read one book on WW2, this is a good choice

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Ian Toll is to the Pacific what Rick Atkinson was to the European Theater. He has published two of his three book trilogy and I am eagerly waiting to review for my gang at NYJB his third book out later this year.
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So more Max Hastings, cuz there's never really enough. This is his companion volume to Armaggedon, covering the last 2 years of the war in the Pacific
It is equally good, especially since he pays attention to the critical fighting in China and Manchuria.
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The last of the Doolittle Raiders just passed away and we shall likely never see their sort of hero again.
This book, published in 2015 uses many of the personal diaries and recollections along with many source documents to tell the complete story of the raid.
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The Navy's war off Guadalcanal was equally as bloody as the Marines onshore. The US Navy fought desperately against the Japanese in the longest sustained naval combat of the war. Mr. Hornfischer is a marvelous writer.
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This is a massive tome. Mr. Frank is writing his own trilogy of the Pacific War and this first volume was truly eye opening for me.
It is a doorstop, but truly worth it.
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 This is the latest book on the battle written by my history advisor at the Naval Academy.  Lots of new things to learn out of this book.

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 Probably the US Navy's finest hour as a handful of destroyers and escort carriers fight off the remaining battle fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

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Another great book by one of my USNA history professors, also a navy veteran of Vietnam.

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