The Reluctant Raiders is perhaps the most documented and researched book on a United States Navy land-based squadron flying the PB4Y-1 Liberator and PB4Y-2 Privateer. The final result of five years of research; the book traces the squadron's history from its commissioning in August 1943; to the final days of World War II; including: never before published combat and nose art photography; the squadron's tactical organization; a chronology of each combat aircrew's mission record; personnel killed in action; and an appendix containing Japanese shipping and aircraft destroyed or damaged by the squadron
#1059379 in Books Edwin P Hoyt 2011-11-08 2011-11-08Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x 1.28 x 6.00l; 1.40 #File Name: 0762772859512 pagesHow They Won the War in the Pacific Nimitz and His Admirals
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A must have for any Pacific War student or researcher.By Bob ClarkHoyt has always been one of my favorite authors on the subject of WW2 because he does his own research and checks his facts. His writing is in a style to hold the readers interest without going into dry details.In this book; he explains who the major players were; both before and after the war; and how they were able to come together to fight their common foe; to avenge the attack on Pearl harbor and defeat the very large Japanese navy on "their own turf".1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A Split DecisionBy Arthur Van PeltHoyt is hardly a newbie to WWII history; but considering the large number of works he has produced; one wonders how deeply he could have researched his subjects. This book is a study in command. Nimitz's command; to be specific; a subject I have some knowledge of via a fair number of Pacific war histories. The book has several glaring ; inexplicable errors; which makes me wonder how much of what was new to me I can believe. One huge error is Hoyt's failure toaccurately describe Browning's launching of Enterprise's initial air attack; a horrible fiasco that led directly to Spruance's order to send the bombing aircraft without waiting for their escorts. That and the intervention of Spruance in a Browning/aviator dispute; allowing the aviators to carry 500 pound bombs so that they might get back to the carriers soured there relationship. They barely acknowledged each other's existence afterwards. Spruance did send a complimentary letter to Nimitz praising Browning's performance; but that was a complete contradiction of his true belief. Hoyt simply reports the letter's contents; which completely misleads the reader. It's hard to fathom why Hoyt made such a blunder. it's not as though the Spruance/Browning bad relationship was a secret. Nor was Browning's sorry performance at Midway. Hoyt does; however; clear up the "The world wonders" sentence contained in Nimitz's query to Halsey as to his position; something no other history I've read has managed to do.Along the way; Of necessity; the reader will learn pretty much the way things progressed in the Pacific war; especially the various military options that were considered along the way. It took me a lot of starts to finish this book. I got tired of reading about the seemingly endless disputes;personality conflicts and headaches occasioned by Admiral King's seemingly endless attempts to stick his nose into Nimitz's business. Nimitz was a rock as a commander. Only Spruance seems to have been his equal. The country was certainly lucky to have had Nimitz in command in the Pacific. That comes through loud and clear. The book is certainly worth reading for any student of the Pacific war. There are a fair number of typos in the Kindle editionthat should have been caught.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Great display of leadership.By Ronald E. BanksThis book is well worth reading. The author is very knowledgeable on the subject. The focus of this book is how Nimitz was able to melt very different leaders to pull together toward a common goal-defeating the Japanese-it is clear that often Nimitz had to use diplomacy to accomplish. this.
