Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 | Evan Thomas

Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 | Evan Thomas | more personal than detailed history

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Sea of Thunder: Fo...

	Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945 Evan Thomas Simon & Schuster, 2007 - 432 pages average customer review:based on 89 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Sea of Thunder is a taut, fast-paced, suspenseful narrative of the Pacific War that culminates in the battle of Leyte Gulf, the greatest naval battle ever fought. Told from both the American and Japanese sides, through the eyes of commanders and sailors of both navies, Thomas's history adds an important new dimension to our understanding of World War II.

Drawing on oral histories, diaries, correspondence, postwar testimony from both American and Japanese participants, and interviews with survivors, Thomas provides an account not only of the great sea battle and Pacific naval war, but of the contrasting cultures pitted against each other.

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A Great Insight Into Naval Warfare Minds

This book was thoroughly enjoyable, particularly for a WW2 Naval history buff like myself. Evan Thomas gives us four opposing leaders in the Pacific War. The daring American Admiral "Bull" Halsey who was a famed fighting icon. The other three were an American destroyer captain who won the Medal of Honor as well as two main Japanese admirals Matome Ugaki and Takeo Kurita. Thomas uses lots of varying resources - debriefings, eyewitnesses, , diaries and interviews and more to give us portraits of these men from an early age to their moment in Naval History. These are men playing chess against each other - blindfolded by the expanse of ocean and limited intel available at the time - to change history.

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more personal than detailed history

Evan Thomas examines more of the personalities of individuals and a general sweep of some of the Pacific war than providing a detailed military history of engagements and their root causes. He assumes the reader is somewhat familiar with World War II and the basics in the Pacific, from Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima. Even so, he touches on key points and themes to refresh the reader's understanding, perhaps to fill in some gaps, and to give his own orientation and spin on events and some people involved.

The actual battle that is intended as a climax is only a modest portion of the book. Fortunately, I was not very familiar with Leyte Gulf or the "turkey shoot" leading up to it, so Mr. Thomas was informative. That also means I cannot debate whether the account is biased or lacking. After reading some other online summaries since then, the book seems reasonable. He did appear to be rather uncharitable toward Admiral Halsey about the battle and its aftermath, however, a sense that surfaced several times. Halsey was praised for his aggressive response when America needed it, and for his hands-on leadership and successes. Beyond that, the guy takes plenty of lumps.

Admiral Kurita is presented as an admiral who rose through the ranks via seniority, without major accomplishment, far from the skills and foresight of Yamamoto, who is one of few Japanese singled out as exceptional. Mr. Thomas's emphasis on the human side also focuses on Kurita's wisdom (?) in avoiding what he felt was undue sacrifice. The look into Japanese warrior culture through the contrasting eyes of Adm. Kurita and Ugaki was a strength.

The comparisons between Americans and Japanese and how they viewed each other were also illuminating. Sometimes the opinions about Yanks and Japs were racist and dangerously false, such as Americans being too lazy for a sustained fight and too dumb for code breaking. Sometimes the opinions were valid and could be the source of great insight and success. For example, if Japanese field leadership relied on detailed instructions from HQ and did not show creativity when circumstances went awry, then the Americans could exploit that weakness. Similarly, if Halsey and other Americans were aggressive and susceptible to deception, then why not try to trick them with a major feint?

The USS Johnston and Ernest Evans appear relatively briefly, with a little backstory on Evans and how he dealt with being part-Indian. Evans was brave and heroic and deserves recognition, as does his crew. That specific engagement was also a highlight.

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Sea of Thunder

Sea of Thunder by Evan Thomas
Published by Simon & Shuster 2006 414 pps.
A Review by Colin J. Edwards
Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign.

One might be forgiven for thinking that everything that can be said about World War II, has already been said. That is probably right; but it is not what is said, but how it is said. In Sea of Thunder, Evan Thomas brings a balanced appraisal of the leading personalities involved in the Battle of Leyte Gulf at the close of World War II - warts and all.
Readers of military history fall into two camps. One consists of those who thirst for knowledge and comparison of differing opinion. The other likes a patriotic `fix', while enjoying summaries of past victories. Thomas's book will satisfy the former and antagonize the latter. This review will attempt to hover between the two extremes.
This is a story about an American admiral and a Commander, and two Japanese admirals. However, the book starts and ends with Admiral William F. Halsey Jr., USN. The culmination of the work is Halsey's lapse of judgment at Leyte Gulf, and the suicide mission of Cdr Evans resulting in his death together with much of his crew. The final score was one American and one Japanese left standing.
Thomas is a leading journalist, and his book betrays that occupation. Seen from both sides of the `41to'45 conflict (1939 to 1945 for everyone else), the story grips the reader from start to finish. Unfortunately, in his desire to be `balanced' - a prerequisite of today's journalism, his prose lacks passion.
There is little indication of the success of the Marine landings, only a reminder of their failures. The Kamikaze assaults seem a minor inconvenience, and not the serious threat they really were. The set-piece sea battles somehow got lost in the writing. Maybe I was not paying attention, but it seemed to me that the Japanese could not decide what to do. Halsey went off chasing personal glory -exactly as the Japanese thought he would. His incompetence did not stop there. He was found guilty of dereliction of duty during not one, but two typhoons causing death and destruction on a massive scale. Fortunately, the top brass were old chums, so Halsey went on to promotion as a five star fleet admiral. If a blundering drunk can reach the dizzy heights of five star rank, there is hope for the rest of us.
While all this was going on, the defenders of Leyte Gulf did their job, and the Marines did theirs with conspicuous gallantry.
Evan Thomas's book is very well researched, and a compelling read. It is available from Amazon for a ridiculously small price, and will be enjoyed by everyone who has in interest in World War II, particularly that part of it played out in the Pacific Ocean.

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A Different Perspective

Sea of Thunder was an interesting history of the latter part of the naval war in the Pacific during WWII. The author looked at the lives of four leaders, 2 American and 2 Japanese and how their lives developed and how they affected the battles in whihch they were engaged. It added to the understanding of why theses sea battles went in the direction they did. It was an easy reading book and an enjoyable biography of 4 men doing their duty as they saw it.

Read 'Last of the Tin Can Sailors' instead

This is a good read as an adjunct to the other book, but 'Last' is better. It is often referenced in this book, and for good reason. This book delves into the mind set of the Japanese sailor, but their 'fight to the death' mentality has already been explored many times before.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

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