A history of WWII with an abundance of new material
Vick Mickunas
“Tower of Skulls — a History of the AsiaPacific War, July 1937May 1942” by Richard B. Frank (W.W. Norton, 751 pages, $40).
History is frequently written by the winners and our views of it can shift across time as new information becomes available. The United States defeated Japan in World War II; our knowledge of that conflict in the Pacific region is flavored by our role as a victorious nation.
For Americans, World War II began when Japan launched a surprise attack on our military installations at Pearl Harbor in
Hawaii in 1941. For millions of people in China, Japanese hostilities began some years before that. With his book, “Tower of Skulls — a History of the AsiaPacific War, July 1937-May 1942,” Richard Frank offers readers a wealth of material that provides a more nuanced perspective of the events that preceded our entry into the war, while detailing extraordinary military victories Japanese forces were able achieve during that period.
Japan never even formally declared war on China but invaded it nevertheless. They considered their military assault upon the Chinese to be an “incident” and refrained from a formal war declaration because they did not want to acknowledge Gen. Chiang Kai-Shek as the leader of the Nationalist
Chinese forces, and therefore, China.
The author traces the chronology of the battles within China and shows how the Chinese were able to hold off the Japanese at great cost, and in so doing prevented them from redeploying those forces elsewhere.
Factions within the Japanese government and military jockeyed for dominance during the lead-up to Pearl Harbor. The Japanese understood they had to deliver a knockout blow to our Pacific Fleet. They realized if they didn’t defeat the United States quickly that a prolonged conflict could not turn in their favor.
As Japanese forces were surging from the north towards Hawaii our aircraft carriers, by a stroke of luck, had already sailed away from Pearl Harbor. Frank describes each stage of the attack that day — how we were totally taken by surprise, and how each ship fared under assault by bombs and torpedoes.
After Pearl Harbor the Japanese began rushing to attack countries throughout the area. The book is divided into chapters detailing how these invasions were carried out. Concise maps depict regions and how forces were deployed.
The Japanese Imperial Army and Imperial Navy executed masterful victories in taking Singapore from the British, then the Netherlands East Indies from the Dutch. While they were about it, they launched a bombing raid on Australia.
Then it was on to the Philippines, where U.S. forces were poorly equipped and ill prepared for the coming onslaught. Next, the Japanese took Burma from the British — which essentially cut off the Burma Road, the last open conduit for sending supplies to the embattled Chinese.
The book closes as the Japanese were at the apogee of their blitzkrieg of conquests. It will all be downhill after that. There will be two more volumes to come in this set, and I cannot wait to read them.
Vick Mickunas of Yellow Springs interviews authors every Saturday at 7 a.m. and on Sundays at 10:30 a.m. on WYSO-FM (91.3). For more information, visit www. wyso.org/programs/booknook. Contact him at vick@ vickmickunas.com.