Midway

The Battle That Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story

By: Mitsuo Fuchida, Masatake Okumiya

Narrated by: Terence Aselford

Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

This landmark study was first published in English by the Naval Institute in 1955. Widely acknowledged for its valuable Japanese insights into the battle that turned the tide of war in the Pacific, the book has made a great impact on American readers over the years. Two Japanese naval aviators who participated in the operation provide an unsparing analysis of what caused Japan's staggering defeat.

Mitsuo Fuchida, who led the first air strike on Pearl Harbor, commanded the Akagi carrier air group and later made a study of the battle at the Japanese Naval War College. Masatake Okumiya, one of Japan's first dive-bomber pilots, was aboard the light carrier Ryujo and later served as a staff officer in a carrier division. Armed with knowledge of top-secret documents destroyed by the Japanese and access to private papers, they show the operation to be ill-conceived and poorly planned and executed, and fault their flag officers for lacking initiative, leadership, and clear thinking. With an introduction by an author known for his study of the battle from the American perspective, the work continues to make a significant contribution to World War II literature.

©1955, 1992 U.S. Naval Institute (P)2004 Naval Institute Press

Critic reviews

"Midway gives an enlightening account of the Japanese naval leaders of the time, placing a new perspective on their abilities, shortcomings, and their ways of thinking and acting." (Military Review)
"Captain Fuchida's and Commander Okumiya's clear style should satisfy both the casual [listener] and the naval strategist." (Baltimore Sun)

Unique Japanese perspective of Midway

It's not often that one finds a well-written book detailing the losing side's perspective of a battle.
The book is written well, with a fairly balanced perspective.

Mitsuo Fuchida and Masatake Okumiya provide a frank assessment of Japanese strategy from Pearl Harbor through Midway. The insider view from airmen who were on the bombed Japanese carriers is stunning.

The narrative brings out the authors' respect for the Japanese admirals in charge of the Midway effort. At the same time it is critical of their strategic errors and arrogance in the planning of the Midway campaign. It details the absence of radar, poor execution, bad search strategy and poor leadership decisions at critical points of the Midway battle.

If you are looking for a detailing of atrocities, or any reference to them, you won't find them in this book. You will, however, gain an appreciation for naval strategy and aircraft-carrier warfare. You'll walk away realizing the US was good, but more importantly, very lucky at Midway. A little fog, a little cloud cover, and a couple of poor decisions at the worst possible time by the Japanese Navy admirals swung the momentum in America's favor.

The book was a fantastic listen, and I couldn't stop listening once I'd started. I gave this 4 stars as the narration was a bit monotone. It's still a great listen, and I plan to listen to it again in the near future.

Very interesting

Not often do you get a book of this quality written by participants on the losing side of a battle. I found the book very fascinating and offering interesting insights on the battle.

National Arrogance Then & Now

The United States has caught the national arrogance virus from Japan & is poised to make the same mistakes that led to the demise of Japan as a world power to utter ruin.

Glad I listened...but...

I am glad I took the time to listen to this book from the Japanese perspective on Midway. I learned some interesting information.

I would have liked to hear more personal details and impressions from Mr. Fuchida in regards to his experiences. The criticisms of leaders and the Japanese people as a whole perhaps played well in the climate of the fifties, however analysis would be better.

Overall I enjoyed the book.

Absolutely fascinating

I’ve read several narratives of the Battle of Midway from the American perspective. Hearing about it from the Japanese side puts a very different spin on things. Interestingly, the book is far more critical of the Japanese planning and prosecution of the battle than anything I’ve read before.

I thought the book was fascinating. My only hesitation at giving it five stars is that details necessary in an academic work but useless to a listener often make the narration stumble.

Nothing New here

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Addition of information about the average Japanese sailor and more about the reaction of the military, the Emperor, and the Japanese people to the first major defeat of World War II.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Already knew what happened, so no surprises here.

What does Terence Aselford bring to the story that you wouldn???t experience if you just read the book?

Well done narration of a less than exciting version of a well-known story.

Could you see Midway being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Already been done. But it would be good if it were done in the same manner as:
Tora, Tora, Tora.

The Story of Midway from the Other Side

A very clear view of the battle as seen by a Japanese pilot. The book is excellent for outlining the Japanese strategy and how it contained a number of contradictory objectives which helped to doom the attack on Midway.

fantastic

great and extremely informative for any world war 2 buff. suggest it highly as its unique since it was from someone in the 'know' of Japanese forces....he was there

Terrible textbook like story

The readers voice drones on like a computer and it creates no good visual of events supposedly told by a veteran of the battle