ISSUE 182 : Jul/Aug - 2010 - Australian Defence Force Journal

Some Australians may be disappointed that Kokoda is not mentioned but this is perhapsunderstandable when one considers the American viewpoint of what actions were (and werenot) important to the outcome of the war. Even though no small group of individual experiencescan hope to comprehensively cover all campaigns and decisive actions of the Pacific War, thefive cast members selected for the book do provide a vast array of experiences and emotions.Australians may feel a little uneasy about what at times is excessive American patriotism. Butthe reader is purposely exposed to the views and impressions of the original participants andthe point is that this is exactly how they felt. Yes, racism against the Japanese was commonplace,murder of prisoners of war did occur and some Australian women were thought of as partof the ‘rest and recreation’. This raises the question of authenticity because The Pacific isvery much a story of what individuals believed was happening and what they rememberedafterwards. They were emotional times, some memories may be false and sometimes thingsnever actually happened the way one thinks it did.Overall, The Pacific is an interesting and rewarding read for someone who wants to beimmersed in the period. Unfortunately, it is a little too long for the average reader and a littletoo blasé for the specialist. It feels rushed and could have been improved by some further factchecking and editing: ‘The shit had hit the fan’ should only have been used once or twice foremphasis. Overall, it is the cast who make The Pacific a worthwhile read.War in the Pacific is likewise marketed as a tie-in with the miniseries, although the actualconnection appears to be limited to the foreword written by HBO’s senior military advisor,Captain Dale Dye, USMC (Retd). In some ways, this boxed set provides the general overviewmissing from The Pacific. Nevertheless, despite being authored by well respected Britishhistorian Richard Overy, this is in no way an academic tome. Instead it is designed to appeal tothe mass market and bring ‘the era and the events to life’ to a generation now almost 70 yearsremoved from the experience.Extending over some 40 heavily-illustrated pages, the main text is divided into concise doublepage‘chapters’ that cover the Pacific theatre’s major milestones. Interspersed throughout areyearly ‘operations maps’ that chart the broad movements of the forces involved and collectionsof removable facsimile documents. The latter range from individual radio messages sent by theMarines at Tarawa, ‘We need help—situation bad’, through to action reports, a March 1945issue of ‘Yank’ magazine and the signed Japanese instrument of surrender. Other featuresinclude a timeline on each page, photographs of common equipment and badges, and regularbiographical ‘cards’ introducing the key personalities on both sides.The boxed collection has evidently become an established means of packaging popular militaryhistory. Richard Overy has completed at least two similar sets for the Imperial War Museumand another has recently been produced on The Anzacs at War, written by Peter Pedersen. Solong as the reader accepts the limitations of the format, and in particular the lack of depth inthe text, then these collections can be viewed as a useful introduction to the topic and a clevermeans of raising awareness among those unfamiliar with the events described. The War in thePacific ticks all the key points and admirably fulfils its objectives.90