Why read The Japanese Merchant Marine in World War II?

Book cover of The Japanese Merchant Marine in World War II

Book description

Making extensive use of Japanese and U.S. sources, including wartime intelligence reports from the National Defense Archives in Tokyo and recently declassified U.S. documents, this book examines the reasons for Japan's failure to protect its merchant fleet.

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War
History

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Japanese Merchant Marine in World War II as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Malcolm H. Murfett

Author

This book doesn’t have a catchy title and sounds rather pedestrian, but we are told never to judge a book by its cover and in this case it’s true about the title as well! Mark Parillo’s magisterial thesis taught me a great deal about why the Japanese lost the Pacific War. He explains why they stubbornly refused to convoy their merchant fleet even when, by failing to do so, they were aiding the enemy’s cause. Japan needed to import most of its war material, but once the US submarine campaign began to decimate the ships that were bringing in those…

From Malcolm's list on The best books about the Asian theatre in the Second World War.