Shattered Sword: Review

UnderseaLcpl · 01-21-09, 07:37 PM

The purpose of this post is to provide a review and a recommendation for the book Shattered Sword, by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully. While the book has been mentioned a few times that I am aware of, I've yet to see any comprehensive reviews posted.

Shattered Sword is a refreshing and original account of the circumstances surrounding the Battle of Midway, and the battle itself. Sadly, submarines like the Nautilus are only mentioned in minute detail, but they played little role in the battle.
For anyone who has ever wondered about the stunning ineptitude of the IJN during Midway, this book has a lot of good answers for you. Parshall and Tully take an in-depth look at the doctrinal nature of Japanese warfare and culture, as well as the role that the fog of war and the personalities of the individual Captains and Admirals played in the battle.
Shattered Sword makes a real effort to show the battle without the benefit of hindsight, and this is what makes it such a great work. There are a great number of military blunders that often leave us asking "Why on earth would they do that?", but Shattered Sword shows the reasoning and methodology behind the attempted invasion of Midway, providing a context that we can really learn something from, instead of simply addressing the whole thing as a total Japanese failure.

The authors also went to a great deal of effort researching the peculiarities of the IJN. A cursory, random check of sources (hey, I'm not getting paid for this crap:p )
indicates that they have indeed done their homework. I'll try not to spoil it for you, but there a number of revelations within the book concerning some of Nagumo's fateful decisions during the battle. This book has everything, including a detailed analysis of Japanese carrier doctrine and launching procedures.

For any of you who are particularly interested in the Pacific Theatre, or in modern naval history in general, I would strongly urge that you read this book. In addition to bringing naval history to life with its' unique perspective, the humorous (sometimes dry, often sarcastic) writing style of Parshall and Telly make it an enjoyable read, to say the

Subnuts · 01-21-09, 08:18 PM

Shattered Sword is probably the best naval history book I've read in the past five years. Really makes you question how much we've "classic" accounts of the Second World War for so long. I wrote a review of it for this site back in September 2006:

http://www.subsim.com/books/book_shattered_sword.htm

UnderseaLcpl · 01-22-09, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Subnuts

Shattered Sword is probably the best naval history book I've read in the past five years. Really makes you question how much we've "classic" accounts of the Second World War for so long. I wrote a review of it for this site back in September 2006:

http://www.subsim.com/books/book_shattered_sword.htm

Whoa, that's a much better review.

Well, a little extra exposure can't hurt, right?

01-21-09, 07:37 PM	#1
UnderseaLcpl Silent Hunter Join Date: May 2008 Location: Storming the beaches! Posts: 4,254 Downloads: 0 Uploads: 0	Shattered Sword: Review The purpose of this post is to provide a review and a recommendation for the book Shattered Sword, by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully. While the book has been mentioned a few times that I am aware of, I've yet to see any comprehensive reviews posted. Shattered Sword is a refreshing and original account of the circumstances surrounding the Battle of Midway, and the battle itself. Sadly, submarines like the Nautilus are only mentioned in minute detail, but they played little role in the battle. For anyone who has ever wondered about the stunning ineptitude of the IJN during Midway, this book has a lot of good answers for you. Parshall and Tully take an in-depth look at the doctrinal nature of Japanese warfare and culture, as well as the role that the fog of war and the personalities of the individual Captains and Admirals played in the battle. Shattered Sword makes a real effort to show the battle without the benefit of hindsight, and this is what makes it such a great work. There are a great number of military blunders that often leave us asking "Why on earth would they do that?", but Shattered Sword shows the reasoning and methodology behind the attempted invasion of Midway, providing a context that we can really learn something from, instead of simply addressing the whole thing as a total Japanese failure. The authors also went to a great deal of effort researching the peculiarities of the IJN. A cursory, random check of sources (hey, I'm not getting paid for this crap:p ) indicates that they have indeed done their homework. I'll try not to spoil it for you, but there a number of revelations within the book concerning some of Nagumo's fateful decisions during the battle. This book has everything, including a detailed analysis of Japanese carrier doctrine and launching procedures. For any of you who are particularly interested in the Pacific Theatre, or in modern naval history in general, I would strongly urge that you read this book. In addition to bringing naval history to life with its' unique perspective, the humorous (sometimes dry, often sarcastic) writing style of Parshall and Telly make it an enjoyable read, to say the __________________ I stole this sig from Task Force

01-21-09, 08:18 PM	#2
Subnuts The Old Man Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,658 Downloads: 14 Uploads: 0	Shattered Sword is probably the best naval history book I've read in the past five years. Really makes you question how much we've "classic" accounts of the Second World War for so long. I wrote a review of it for this site back in September 2006: http://www.subsim.com/books/book_shattered_sword.htm __________________ My Amazon.com reviews