Yesterday, December 7th, marked the infamous 83^rd anniversary of the Japanese air raid against Pearl Harbor. This reckless decision would provoke the evaporation of the last isolationist emanations in American public life and pave the way to the Allied victory four years later. But before we got there, a war would need to be fought and waged against a determined and “extremely inflexible” enemy – to use the words of renowned historian James Holland – a favourite of this blog, in case you haven’t noticed.

A few years ago, he wrote a very insightful book in the Ladybird Expert Series about The Pacific War 1941-1943 (Penguin Random House), and I told myself this weekend would be the ideal time to write a few lines about it.

The morning of December 7 was a shocking experience resulting from their underestimation of a lethal nemesis. The Americans took the hit and bounced back. Ultimately, their victory was the result of three crucial ingredients. First, men and resources, which they had in abundance. Second, they had a second-to-none capacity in terms of intelligence, which notably thwarted Admiral Yamamoto’s plan and would ultimately cost him his life. Third, the incomparable leadership of military figures like Admirals Chester Nimitz and William “Bull” Halsey Jr. About the latter, the author evokes that he “gelled immediately” with General Douglas MacArthur – the latter being traditionally a hard-to-get-along figure. Together, “they planned a series of leapfrogging operations, drawing on hard-won experience already gained in the Pacific and on the United States’ burgeoning military might.” Finally, “they were quick to absorb the lessons of war.”

Port Moresby, the Coral Sea, Guadalcanal Midway, and Rabaul would not be as well-known as they are nowadays without the ferocious battles waged in the Pacific during World War II. However, these battles are a testament to the United States’s legendary capacity to win the day.

One of James Holland’s many qualities is his intimate knowledge of Japanese military strategy and tactics and the personalities involved in them. “Japanese commanders could rely on soldiers to travel lightly with minimum comfort and maximum discipline and replenish supplies from those captured. Speed and manoeuvre were key.” Such first-rate knowledge is crucial for fully understanding and appreciating what the Americans and their allies faced in that theatre of war.

With geopolitical currents shifting increasingly toward Asia, it is crucial to understand the sinews of military history in that region. Japan’s desire to build an empire broke itself on the rocks of a nascent superpower. If the past is prologue, this is food for thought in the context of the actual rivalry between Beijing and Washington in the Indo-Pacific region.

The Pacific War 1941-1943 is another fantastic title that should be on the shelves of any serious military aficionado.

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James Holland, The Pacific War 1941-1943, Michael Joseph (Penguin Random House), 2019, 56 pages.