Hell Is Upon Us: D-Day in the Pacific--Saipan to Guam, June-August 1944 - Hardcover

Brooks, Victor

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0306813696 ISBN 13: 9780306813696

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 2005

Synopsis

June 14, 1944, just nine days after the D-Day invasion of Normandy, another mighty fleet steamed towards its own D-Day landing. A huge U.S. flotilla of 800 ships carrying 162,000 men was about to attempt to smash into the outer defenses of the Japanese Empire. Their target was the Marianas Island group, which included Saipan, home to an important Japanese base and a large population of Japanese civilians, and Guam, the first American territory captured in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor. During the next eight weeks, tens of thousands of men, hundreds of airplanes, and dozens of major warships were locked in mortal combat. When it was over, 60,000 Japanese ground troops and most of the carrier air power of the Imperial Navy were annihilated; Japan's leader, Tojo, was thrown out of office in disgrace; and the newly captured enemy airfields were being transformed into launching bases for the B-29s that would carry the conventional and, later, atomic bombs to Japan, turning the land of the Rising Sun into a charred cinder. After the U.S. victory in the Marianas campaign, the road to Tokyo was clearly in sight.

About this title

About the Author:

Victor Brooks teaches at Villanova University and is the author of several books (available from Da Capo), including The Normandy Campaign and The Boston Campaign. He lives in Pennsylvania.

From Booklist:

A year ago, our nation was awash in commemorations of the sixtieth anniversary of the Normandy landings. Ignored in those celebrations was another "D-Day," the initial amphibious assault on the Marianas Islands in the Pacific, which began just nine days after the Normandy landings. The conquest of the Marianas ensured American supremacy in the central Pacific, crippled Japanese air and naval power, and left the Japanese home islands vulnerable to devastating B-29 attacks. Brooks is a professor and the author of several works on military history. He has written a detailed but very readable chronicle of a campaign notable not only for the heroism of its participants on both sides but also for the raw savagery of battle in which atrocities were common. Brooks provides cogent explanations of the broad strategic objectives of both Japanese and American military planners. He also offers a compelling portrait of Admiral Ernest King, the chief of naval operations. This opinionated, profane, and confrontational sailor was a brilliant naval strategist who has rarely received the acclaim he deserves. This is an excellent account of a campaign that guaranteed final victory in the Pacific theater. Jay Freeman
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About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0306813696
• ISBN 13: 9780306813696
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 368