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Thomas, Evan Sea of Thunder: Four Commanders and the Last Great Naval Campaign 1941-1945
New York Simon & Schuster November 7, 2006 0743252217 / 9780743252218 N Hardcover N
Editorial Reviews&newline;&newline;From Publishers Weekly&newline;Starred Review. Thomas, Newsweek's assistant managing editor, turns his considerable narrative and research talents to Leyte Gulf, history's largest and most complex naval battle. He addresses the subject from the perspectives of four officers: William Halsey, who commanded the U.S. 3rd Fleet; Adm. Takeo Kurita, his Japanese counterpart; Adm. Matome Ugaki, Kurita's senior subordinate and a &doublequote;true believer&doublequote; in Japan's destiny; and Cdr. Ernest Evans, captain of a lowly destroyer, the U.S.S. Johnston. The Americans believed the Japanese incapable of great military feats, while the Japanese believed the Americans were incapable of paying the price of war. Both were tragically wrong. Halsey steamed north in pursuit of a what turned out to be a decoy, while Kurita's main force was positioned to destroy the American landing force in the Philippines. Evans repeatedly took the Johnston into harm's way against what seemed overwhelming odds. His heroism, matched by a dozen other captains and crews, convinced Kurita to break off the action. With Halsey's battleships and carriers just over the horizon, Kurita refused to sacrifice his men at the end of a war already lost. Ugaki bitterly denounced the lack of &doublequote;fighting spirit and promptitude&doublequote; that kept him from an honorable death. Evans fought and died like a true samurai. As Thomas skillfully reminds us, war is above all the province of irony. (Nov.)&newline;Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.&newline;&newline;From The Washington Post&newline;Reviewed by Wesley K. Clark&newline;&newline;The aim of every commander in war is to understand the mind and intentions of his opponent. Never is that more vital than in naval warfare, when whole fleets can maneuver precisely in accordance with the direction of a single leader. But understanding the enemy poses formidable problems -- and, lacking it, even the greatest forces may falter.&newline;&newline;Sea of Thunder, by Evan Thomas, an assistant managing editor of Newsweek, provides one of the most insightful analyses yet written of personalities and military cultures at war. The book tells the story of the Japanese and American commanders whose fates converged in history's last great naval engagement, the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944. It is also a story of competing traditions and the extraordinary influence of personality, organizations and culture on warfare -- despite the advanced technologies wielded in World War II.&newline;&newline;Drawing on archives, official debriefings, eyewitness commentary, letters, diaries and interviews, Thomas takes us into the minds of these opposing leaders. Adm. William &doublequote;Bull&doublequote; Halsey, the blustery U.S. fleet commander, was a household name in America; the other three main characters are less well known: Cmdr. Ernest Evans, an American destroyer captain and Medal of Honor winner; and two top Japanese admirals, Matome Ugaki and Takeo Kurita. We learn about their upbringing, schooling, military experience and the maritime and naval campaigns leading up to the 1944 showdown. And we see each side's persistent misunderstanding and underestimation of the other.&newline;&newline;Thomas draws the battle scenes with exquisite precision, taking us onto the bridge with the admirals or into the waves with sailors abandoning ship. He portrays incredible heroism, boredom, fatigue and fear -- across both fleets. This is an exciting read, especially for landlubbers who have never experienced the discipline, loneliness or anxieties of war at sea.&newline;&newline;But Thomas's excellent writing also offers sobering insights to anyone today who believes that technology can relieve warfare of its human component. Even though bound by some degree of common technology, training and education, the admirals here drew on different cultures and perspectives to confound conventional predictions. For the real story of the Pacific war is neither the formidable 18-inch guns of the Japanese battleship Yamato nor the remarkable code-breaking that sometimes allowed American commanders to read Japanese orders. No, Thomas skillfully explores the judg
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