Shattered Sword

The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway

De: Jonathan Parshall, Anthony Tully

Narrado por: Tom Perkins

Many consider the Battle of Midway to have turned the tide of the Pacific War. It is without question one of the most famous battles in history. Now, for the first time since Gordon W. Prange's best-selling Miracle at Midway, Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully offer a new interpretation of this great naval engagement. Unlike previous accounts, Shattered Sword makes extensive use of Japanese primary sources. It also corrects the many errors of Mitsuo Fuchida's Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan, an uncritical reliance upon which has tainted every previous Western account. It thus forces a major, potentially controversial reevaluation of the great battle.

Parshall and Tully examine the battle in detail and effortlessly place it within the context of the Imperial Navy's doctrine and technology. With a foreword by leading World War II naval historian John Lundstrom, Shattered Sword is an indispensable part of any military buff's library.

Shattered Sword is the winner of the 2005 John Lyman Book Award for the "Best Book in U.S. Naval History" and was cited by Proceedings as one of its "Notable Naval Books" for 2005.

©2005 Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully (P)2019 Tantor

Reseñas de la Crítica

“This incredibly detailed book provides a whole new approach to the study and interpretation of the battle.” (Ships and Shipping)

John Lyman Book Award, Best Book in U.S. Naval History, 2005

Notable Naval Books, Proceedings, 2005.

Detailed Analysis of Midway

This book is written by reconstructing Japanese sources and technical information regarding the operation of Japanese aircraft carriers with the aim of debunking the commonly told "miracle at Midway" narrative. It appears to be a very solid piece of scholarship.

The book recounts the battle in a blow by blow description, focusing on the Japanese fleet. The authors present a pretty compelling case that the odds were not as stacked against the U.S. as is often told, particularly given the Japanese deployment of assets. The book also explains how Japanese carrier operations precluded the commonly held view that Japan was ready to launch a counter strike when the U.S. dive bombers arrived. The book delves heavily into Japanese naval doctrine at the time (which focused on offense). The book also notes how Japanese hubris played into what happened. In short, the Japanese underestimated the American will to fight and American capabilities.

All of this is interesting, but the book really wallows in details, including detailed accounts of crews fighting the fires on the carriers and Japanese rescue efforts. This is interesting and sometimes compelling, but it may distract some from the main point of the analysis. This is a 24 hour listen, and I think it could have been distilled into a a shorter and more compelling book.

The narration is OK. The narrator has a somewhat nasal Midwestern voice that tends to be monotone. Listen to the sample and make sure you can put up with 24 hours of it.

This is a great book for history buffs interested in a granular analysis of Midway. For the general reader, it may be too detailed. But it must be said it is an important contribution to the history of World War II.

Correcting History

An incredibly detailed account of the battle of Midway Atoll, with great attention to the Imperial Japanese Navy’s methods of operations, dispelling many myths regarding both sides of the battle along the way.

Among the best WW2 histories I've encounted

I think this book had one of the best balances between scholarship and readability that I can remember.

Excellent book

Excellent narrative based on new information that does an excellent job of presenting historical facts about Japanese war doctrine.

Really thorough analysis

This book gives insight into the thought processes of the Japanese particularly the Navy leading up to and during World War 2. The careful and thoughtful telling really helps to give an idea of why the Japanese where not able to succeed after starting strong.

A Refreshing Perspective

Midway has been touted as a miraculous victory. This work argues that such views are the result of reports from the Jappanese Naval reports which were prepared for the purpose of covering their bumoliation, and that more contemporary and less biased Jappanese analysis indicate that the the battle was riddled with Jappanese errors in doctrine and planning. The book argues that the myths developed around Midway which it seeks to dispel unfairly suggest that Admiral Nimitz made poor decisions in engaging in a battle with odds stacked against him despite having superior forces coming available. Moreover, the authors here explain how while Nidway was in fact the turning point in the war in the Pacific, it was a war which, by virtue of superior industrial strength,, America was destined to win in the long run irrespective off Midway,.

Part I sets forth the battle on detail as do many books, though it corrects errors of older works. It is an excellent listen in itself, but even more important in that it sets up the analysis of Part II which provides new insight and cures logical inconsistencies that have always bothered me. Finally, its express admission that future technology will make more information accessible and direct invitation for others to make further corrections while perhaps proactive in responding to inevitable challenges as most academic works will face, does provide a sense that the analysis is stoll developing.


This was a great listen which O highly recommend to anyone interested in the war in the Pacific or the Bmbattle at Midway.

Great New Interpretation

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It gives an excellent new interpretation from the Japanese point of view and clears up many of the mistakes and misconceptions of prior histories of the battle. Well worth the credit and listen.

Very detailed

Detailed historical work, overly detailed at times. overall interesting and worth the read. Not for everyone

Solid history, disappointing narration

Parshall and Tully present a solid revising to the commonly accepted story of Midway. However, Perkins' pronunciation of Japanese words and names at times was bad enough to be distracting, which is a problem in a history so focused on the Japanese side.

The best book on the battle of Midway

Loved this book. If you want to understand the battle of Midway you must listen to this book. . If you think you understand this battle you must listen to this book. I can't recommend this book to highly. It is the best.