A fresh and provocative account of the greatest naval campaign of the twentieth century. Alan Schom's histories and biographies have been celebrated for their iconoclastic approach and a dramatic focus on extraordinary personalities meeting at the crossroads of history. In this magisterial history of World War II in the Pacific, he shows how the conflict was in neither the United States's nor Japan's best interest. On one hand, the American government and people were as inadequately prepared for war as any major power has ever been; on the other hand, Schom's close reading of Japanese military and political documents reveal that their supreme command knew they could not possibly win. "From time to time, we are privileged to be given extraordinary insights into the history of our age. Alan Schom has given us a tapestry, into which he has woven figures of immense proportions, yet he has not lost sight of their humanity. He writes...in the grand tradition of Barbara Tuchman's The Guns of August." —Thomas F. Marfiak, CEO and publisher, U.S. Naval Institute; Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy, Ret. "Schom is a master of narrative technique."— Booklist 32 pages of photographs