![]() ![]() Charles Nimitz, largely patrolled the central Pacific. Under MacArthur, the Army campaigned in the southwest Pacific, while the Navy, led by Adm. It’s no secret that Army-Navy relations were so dysfunctional that America fought Japan on two separate fronts. Holland “Howlin-Mad” Smith conducted combined operations despite an intense hatred of the Army, a situation that severely hampered the tactical effectiveness. ![]() This means that his opinion of Douglas MacArthur hasn’t improved from his earlier volume in these pages, he remains a mean-spirited egotist with modest talents. Journalists and civilian scholars cannot resist fawning over flamboyant generals, but McManus maintains his focus on their actual accomplishments. In fact, he writes, “the Army in the Pacific had matured into a professionally led citizen soldier force of singular potency, flexibility, and complexity.” As in Fire and Fortitude (2019) and his other books, McManus delivers a lucid account of the political background, strategy, and leading figures who conducted operations. McManus reminds readers that the Marines got the glory, but the vastly larger Army did most of the fighting and demonstrated no less heroism. ![]() The second of the author’s three-volume chronicle of the war against Japan is well worth the wait. ![]()
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