The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Imperial Naval Air Service [Hardcover]

Many of us are familiar with the glossy images in the recent film that depicted the raid on Pearl Harbor, but the reality is much more stark and devastating. This book tells the story of Japan's aircraft development from the first flights at the turn of the 20th Century up to the end of the Second World War.

Peter Edwards not only looks at the development of the aircraft, but also at the military and political figures that shaped Japan's armed forces in the first half of the last century. This detailed work knits together a broad mix of material in a well written and captivating way that illustrates the run up to Pearl Harbor and the battles that followed, both at sea and in the air. This is a very detailed work, with aircraft specifications, military structures and political background that makes it a valuable addition to any collection.

The book is let down by three problems: Badly written; badly edited; and inaccurate. The first chapter is close to being incomprehensible, and must be fought through; after that the book does pick up. The timeline wanders all over the place, since we get close to a discussion of the Pearl Harbour attack before moving back to May 1940, then moving forward again, then going back ... the details of the Zero being designed are covered, then we go back to the meetings that led to the Naval specifications against which the Zero was to be designed.

The book reads as if the paragraphs had been written on index cards then dropped, and the editor had never attempted to pull the material back into a cogent whole. This has also resulted in some material being repeated, in some cases in at least three chapters - a further sign that the book was written in stages, and the editing has failed to pull the book together. The author died, and the manuscript was put together by his son, so you can excuse the author; but the publisher should have had in place a professional editor to tidy up the book and made it so much more valuable.

Details of aircraft are confused - the He 119 is described as setting world record of c. 460 mph in 1939, rather than c. 340 mph in 1937; the Zero apparently had two crash before the first flight test; we are told that the second prototype of the A6M1 crashed on a test flight, and then that despite this crash of the A6M2 it was still in high demand; and so on. I did enjoy reading that the conscription laws of Japan in the late 1930s exempted members of the armed forces from being conscripted - possibly a bureaucrat's dream piece of legislation, but I'm not sure if (a) it was right and (b) we really needed to know this.

There is a whole chapter given over to Amelia Earhart's disappearance, despite this having nothing to affect the book - possibly a single paragraph about suspected espionage, but a whole chapter? Despite no one knowing what really happened this chapter proceeds to explain how she was captured by the Japanese, and her body retrieved after the war and returned to the USA for secret burial. Additions such as this make the whole book suspect - what else has been thrown in because it met with the author's personal belief in conspiracy theories?

The book's balance is also a little suspect. There is a near-diatribe against the USA over the Naval Disarmament Conferences being an underhand means of the USA disarming the UK, and deliberately being used to break up the UK-Japanese alliance; the Japanese invasion of China is described as justified to protect Japanese interests from the anarchy that was resulting ...

Despite all these faults the book is interesting, but leaves me with the feeling that it is ultimately untrustworthy; any conclusions to be drawn from the book would need subsequent verification, which seems a failing in any historical book.

This is certainly a very detailed and well written book that chronicles the various historical events in Japan, the USA and Europe that built up to Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and the war in the Pacific until 1945.

The description of the build up to 7 December is clear and dramatic and goes further to describe Japan's other attacks across the Pacific, particularly on the British Fleet in the days that followed.

The author starts by looking at early aircraft development in Japan and looks in depth at the role of the British aviation missions in the development of torpedo bombers and fighter aircraft in Japan. The air and sea battle descriptions add useful insight into the Pacific war, which culminate with Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

This is a detailed and thoroughly researched book that offers new information and insight into the Pacific war. This is a must for anyone interested in Japanese aircraft development. This is not ideal reading for the casual reader wanting to get into the subject for the first time, but is a highly recommended for people interested in the subject and wanting to look for more.