Bob Wurth

Good reference. Doesn't flow initially but easier to read as you go along. Some errors detract from the value as the reader wonders if there are other errors. The most glaring example I found is on p375. "It would not be until 8 November that the advancing Australians would make contact with the enemy at Templeton's Crossing, en route to Alola." This could refer to the attack led by Sgt Bede Tongs on 17 October 1942 which was successful against Japanese positions or to Sgt Tongs contact with the Japanese on 8 October when he led a 6 man patrol from Menari to find where the Japanese were on the Track. He contacted them just before Templeton's Crossing.… (más)

As an American, I found this book fascinating because it is a view of the Pacific war by a country that was directly threatened with invasion. To say Mr. Wurth's research and attention to detail were first rate does him a disservice. He went to great lengths and pulled much from source materials in Japan.

The most fascinating chapter (to me) was 28 - Not The War But The Game which focused on modern Japanese attitudes towards the war, their wartime atrocities and modern interpretation. Not lost among the denial is the stunning modern belief that the threat to Australia was not 'real' even though this goes against all readings concurrent with that time in history.

This book was first rate. I recommend it to all who have an interest in this time in history.… (más)