Japan

The Best Books About Japan & The Pacific War During WW2

“What are the best books about The Pacific Theater and Japan In WWII?” We looked at 268 of the top books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!

The top 18 titles, all appearing on 3 or more “Best Pacific Theater” book lists, are ranked below by how many lists they appear on. The remaining 200+ titles, as well as the lists we used are in alphabetical order at the bottom of the page.

Happy Scrolling!



Top 18 Japan & World War 2 Books



18 .) At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor by Gordon W. Prange

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • The Christian Science Monitor

This authentic record of the planning and execution of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and its impact on American culture tells about Americans as a people and American leadership, thoughts and actions

Purchase / Learn More



17 .) Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II’s Greatest Rescue Mission by Hampton Sides

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • Library Thing

“On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected U.S. troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March. A recent prison massacre by Japanese soldiers elsewhere in the Philippines made the stakes impossibly high and left little time to plan the complex operation.

In Ghost Soldiers Hampton Sides vividly re-creates this daring raid, offering a minute-by-minute narration that unfolds alongside intimate portraits of the prisoners and their lives in the camp. Sides shows how the POWs banded together to survive, defying the Japanese authorities even as they endured starvation, tropical diseases, and torture. Harrowing, poignant, and inspiring, Ghost Soldiers is the mesmerizing story of a remarkable mission. It is also a testament to the human spirit, an account of enormous bravery and self-sacrifice amid the most trying conditions.”

Purchase / Learn More



16 .) Kokoda by Paul Ham

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • Goodreads 2

“In a unique and balanced portrayal, renowned journalist Paul Ham recounts both the Australian and Japanese perspectives of the events on the hellish Papuan jungle trail where thousands fought and died during World War II.

It was a war without mercy, fought back and forth along 90 miles of river crossings, steep inclines and precipitous descents, with both sides wracked by hunger and disease, and terrified of falling into enemy hands. Defeat was unthinkable: the Australian soldier was fighting for his homeland against an unyielding aggressor; the Japanese ordered to fight to the death in a bid to conquer “”Greater East Asia.”””

Purchase / Learn More



15 .) Pacific War Ghosts by Tony Maxwell

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 2
  • Goodreads 2
  • History Of War

“A personal account of author Tony Maxwell’s travels to the South Pacific in search of the fast disappearing relics left behind in the jungles and on the islands by that titanic struggle against the invading forces of the Empire of Japan.

Maxwell’s book is profusely illustrated with over 100 B&W photographs of the wrecked aircraft, tanks and guns left behind on the battlefields of Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Bougainville and Tarawa.”

Purchase / Learn More



14 .) Samurai! by Saburo Sakai

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • War bird Forum

Written by Martin Caidin from Saburo Sakai’s own memoirs and journalist Fred Saito’s extensive interviews with the World War II fighter pilot, Samurai! vividly documents the chivalry and valor of the combat aviator who time after time fought American fighter pilots and, with 64 kills, would survive the war as Japan’s greatest living ace. Here are the harrowing experiences of one of Japan’s greatest aces: from fighter pilot school — where the harsh training expelled over half of his class — to the thrilling early Japanese victories; from his incredible six hundred mile fight for life from Guadalcanal to his base in Rabaul, to the poignant story of the now-handicapped veteran’s return to the air during the final desperate months of World War II.

Purchase / Learn More



13 .) Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway by Jonathan Parshall

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • Reddit

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 bestselling 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.

Purchase / Learn More



12 .) The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour by James D. Hornfischer

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • Library Thing

With these words, Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Copeland addressed the crew of the destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts on the morning of October 25, 1944, off the Philippine Island of Samar. On the horizon loomed the mightiest ships of the Japanese navy, a massive fleet that represented the last hope of a staggering empire. All that stood between it and Douglas MacArthur’ s vulnerable invasion force were the Roberts and the other small ships of a tiny American flotilla poised to charge into history.

Purchase / Learn More



11 .) The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 2
  • The Christian Science Monitor
  • War bird Forum

In December 1937, the Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking. Within weeks, more than 300,000 Chinese civilians were systematically raped, tortured, and murdered—a death toll exceeding that of the atomic blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Using extensive interviews with survivors and newly discovered documents, Iris Chang has written what will surely be the definitive history of this horrifying episode. The Rape of Nanking tells the story from three perspectives: of the Japanese soldiers who performed it, of the Chinese civilians who endured it, and of a group of Europeans and Americans who refused to abandon the city and were able to create a safety zone that saved almost 300,000 Chinese. Among these was the Nazi John Rabe, an unlikely hero whom Chang calls the “Oskar Schindler of China” and who worked tirelessly to protect the innocent and publicize the horror. More than just narrating the details of an orgy of violence, The Rape of Nanking analyzes the militaristic culture that fostered in the Japanese soldiers a total disregard for human life. Finally, it tells the appalling story: about how the advent of the Cold War led to a concerted effort on the part of the West and even the Chinese to stifle open discussion of this atrocity. Indeed, Chang characterizes this conspiracy of silence, that persists to this day, as “a second rape.”

Purchase / Learn More



10 .) The Rising Sun: The Decline & Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-45 by John Toland

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • Library Thing

This Pulitzer Prize–winning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Told from the Japanese perspective, The Rising Sun is, in the author’s words, “a factual saga of people caught up in the flood of the most overwhelming war of mankind, told as it happened—muddled, ennobling, disgraceful, frustrating, full of paradox.”

Purchase / Learn More



9 .) Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • Reddit

“On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.

The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.

Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.”

Purchase / Learn More



8 .) With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene B. Sledge

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • Reddit

“In his own book, Wartime, Paul Fussell called With the Old Breed “”one of the finest memoirs to emerge from any war.”” John Keegan referred to it in The Second World War as “”one of the most arresting documents in war literature.”” And Studs Terkel was so fascinated with the story he interviewed its author for his book, “”The Good War.”” What has made E.B. Sledge’s memoir of his experience fighting in the South Pacific during World War II so devastatingly powerful is its sheer honest simplicity and compassion.
Now including a new introduction by Paul Fussell, With the Old Breed presents a stirring, personal account of the vitality and bravery of the Marines in the battles at Peleliu and Okinawa. Born in Mobile, Alabama in 1923 and raised on riding, hunting, fishing, and a respect for history and legendary heroes such as George Washington and Daniel Boone, Eugene Bondurant Sledge (later called “”Sledgehammer”” by his Marine Corps buddies) joined the Marines the year after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and from 1943 to 1946 endured the events recorded in this book. In those years, he passed, often painfully, from innocence to experience.”

Purchase / Learn More



7 .) Eagle Against the Sun by Ronald H. Spector

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • History Of War
  • Library Thing

A stunning history of the war in the Pacific written by award-winning military historian Ronald Spector. Drawing on declassified intelligence files, an abundance of British and American archival material, Japanese scholarship and documents, and research and memoirs of scholarly and military men, Spector focuses on the major battles in the Pacific theater as well as the smaller details, from the various rivalries between branches of the U.S. armed services to the problems of command and allocating resources.

Purchase / Learn More



6 .) Helmet for My Pillow by Robert Leckie

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • Goodreads 2
  • Reddit

Robert Leckie, one of America’s greatest military historians, was both an eyewitness and participant to some of the greatest battles in the Pacific. This is Leckie’s vivid account of combat and survival in World War II. In January 1942, in the aftermath of the infamous Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States Marines Corps. From boot camp in Parris Island to the bloody war in the Pacific, Robert Leckie experienced it all. The booze, the brawling, the loving on sixty-two-hour leave; the courageous fighting and dying in combat as the US Marines slugged it out, inch by inch, island by island across the Pacific to the shores of Japan.

Purchase / Learn More



5 .) Miracle at Midway by Gordon W. Prange

Lists It Appears On:

  • Early Bird Books
  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • The Christian Science Monitor

Here is the definitive history of the battle of Midway, an American victory that marked the turning point of the war in the Pacific during World War II. Told with the same stylistic flair and attention to detail as the bestselling At Dawn We Slept, Miracle at Midway brings together eyewitness accounts from the men who commanded and fought on both sides. The sweeping narrative takes readers into the thick of the action and shows exactly how American strategies and decisions led to the triumphant victory that paved the way for the defeat of Japan.

Purchase / Learn More



4 .) The Thousand-Mile War: World War II in Alaska and the Aleutians by Brian Garfield

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • Library Thing
  • Reddit

The 1942 Japanese invasion of two of the Aleutian Islands, the thousand-mile archipelago west of Alaska, represents the only time in modern history that American territory has been occupied by a foreign power. The ensuing fifteen-month campaign, memorialised in John Huston’s extraordinary documentary film, was ‘the weirdest war ever waged’: a terrible, elemental and always three-sided battle, between the Americans, the Japanese and the weather. Frozen puddies of oil could be lifted like boards. Servicement burned summer clothing for fuel. Aircrews flew amidst icy rain, driven upside-down by gales. The eventual liberation of the island of Attu was second only to Iwo Jima in the percentage of American casualties. Brian Garfield’s book, never before published in the UK, is the definitive history of this ‘Forgotten War’.

Purchase / Learn More



3 .) Flags Of Our Fathers by James D. Bradley

Lists It Appears On:

  • Early Bird Books
  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • Reddit
  • The Christian Science Monitor

“In February 1945, American Marines plunged into the surf at Iwo Jima—and into history. Through a hail of machine-gun and mortar fire that left the beaches strewn with comrades, they battled to the island’s highest peak. And after climbing through a landscape of hell itself, they raised a flag.

Now the son of one of the flagraisers has written a powerful account of six very different young men who came together in a moment that will live forever.

To his family, John Bradley never spoke of the photograph or the war. But after his death at age seventy, his family discovered closed boxes of letters and photos. In Flags of Our Fathers, James Bradley draws on those documents to retrace the lives of his father and the men of Easy Company. Following these men’s paths to Iwo Jima, James Bradley has written a classic story of the heroic battle for the Pacific’s most crucial island—an island riddled with Japanese tunnels and 22,000 fanatic defenders who would fight to the last man.”

Purchase / Learn More



2 .) Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-1945 by Max Hastings

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • Goodreads 2
  • Library Thing
  • Reddit
  • The Christian Science Monitor

By the summer of 1944 it was clear that Japan’s defeat was inevitable, but how the drive to victory would be achieved remained to be seen. The ensuing drama—that ended in Japan’s utter devastation—was acted out across the vast stage of Asia, with massive clashes of naval and air forces, fighting through jungles, and barbarities by an apparently incomprehensible foe. In recounting the saga of this time and place, Max Hastings gives us incisive portraits of the theater’s key figures—MacArthur, Nimitz, Mountbatten, Chiang Kai-shek, Mao, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. But he is equally adept in his portrayals of the ordinary soldiers and sailors—American, British, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese—caught in some of the war’s bloodiest campaigns.

Purchase / Learn More



1 .) The Pacific War: 1941-1945 by John Edmond Costello

Lists It Appears On:

  • Goodreads 1
  • History Of War
  • Reddit
  • The Christian Science Monitor
  • War bird Forum

The definitive one-volume history of World War II in the Pacific theater, The Pacific War was the first book to weave together the separate stories of the fighting in China, Malaya, Burma, the East Indies, the Philippines, New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, and the Aleutians. Now available with a new cover, John Costello’s classic work provides a brilliantly clear account of one of the most massive movements of men and arms in military history.

Purchase / Learn More




The 200+ Additional Best WWII Books About Japan & The Pacific Theater



 

# Books Authors Lists
(Titles Appear On 2 Lists Each)
19 A Pledge of Silence Flora J. Solomon Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
20 Adventure, romance and war in the Far East: The Iris Hay-Edie Diary: A historical memoir Iris Hay-Edie Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
21 Burma: The Longest War 1941-45 Louis Allen Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
22 Conduct Under Fire John A. Glusman Goodreads 1
Library Thing
23 Coral Hare: Atomic Agent Clive Lee Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
24 Danger’s Hour: The Story of the USS Bunker Hill and the Kamikaze Pilot Who Crippled Her Maxwell Taylor Kennedy Goodreads 1
Reddit
25 Day of Infamy Walter Lord Early Bird Books
Goodreads 1
26 Empires on the Pacific: World War II and the Struggle for the Mastery of Asia Robert Smith Thompson Questia 1
Questia 2
27 End of Empire: 100 Days in 1945 that Changed Asia and the World David P. Chandler Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
28 Escape From Davao: The Forgotten Story of the Most Daring Prison Break of the Pacific War John D. Lukacs Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
29 Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War William Manchester Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
30 Japan at War: An Oral History Haruko Taya Cook Goodreads 2
War bird Forum
31 Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal James D. Hornfischer Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
32 Oba, the Last Samurai: Saipan 1944-45 Don Jones Reddit
Goodreads 1
33 Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942 Ian W. Toll Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
34
Rikugun – Guide to Japanese Ground Forces 1937-1945 – Volume 1: Tactical Organization of Imperial Japanese Army & Navy Ground Forces
History Of War
History Of War
35 Rising Sun History Of War
History Of War
36 Sea of Thunder Evan Thomas Reddit
Goodreads 1
37 Silent Victory Clay Blair
The Christian Science Monitor
Goodreads 1
38 Sorties into Hell: The Hidden War on Chichi Jima Chester Hearn Questia 1
Questia 2
39 Strong Men Armed: The United States Marines Against Japan Robert Leckie Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
40 Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath Michael Norman Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
41 The Battle of Midway Craig L. Symonds Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
42 The British Pacific Fleet: The Royal Navy’s Most Powerful Strike Force David Hobbs Goodreads 1
History Of War
43 The First Team John B. Lundstrom Reddit
Goodreads 1
44 The Naked and the Dead Norman Mailer Early Bird Books
Goodreads 2
45 The Pacific War: Japan versus the Allies Alan J. Levine Questia 1
Questia 2
46 The Ultimate Battle: Okinawa, 1945: The Last Epic Struggle of World War II Bill Sloan Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
47 They Were Expendable: An American Torpedo Boat Squadron in the U.S. Retreat from the Philippines William Lindsay White Library Thing
Goodreads 1
48 Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo Ted W. Lawson Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
49 War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War John W. Dower Reddit
Goodreads 2
50 We Band of Angels: The Untold Story of American Nurses Trapped on Bataan by the Japanese Elizabeth M. Norman Goodreads 1
Goodreads 2
(Titles Appear On 1 Lists Each)
51 A Bastard of a Place: The Australians in Papua Peter Brune Goodreads 2
52 A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy (1941-1945) Paul S. Dull Goodreads 1
53 A Boy Called H Library Thing 2
54 A Dawn Like Thunder: The True Story of Torpedo Squadron Eight Robert J. Mrazek Goodreads 1
55 A Special Piece of Hell Bill D. Ross Goodreads 1
56 A Town Like Alice Nevil Shute Goodreads 2
57 Alexander History Of War
58 American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964 William Manchester Goodreads 1
59 An Artist of the Floating World Kazuo Ishiguro Goodreads 2
60 And I Was There: Pearl Harbor and Midway–Breaking the Secrets Edwin T. Layton Goodreads 1
61 Attack on Pearl Harbor – Strategy History Of War
62 Battle Cry Leon Uris Early Bird Books
63 Battleship: The Loss Of The Prince Of Wales And The Repulse Martin Middlebrook Goodreads 1
64 Beauty Behind Barbed Wire: The Arts of the Japanese in Our War Relocation Camps Allen H. Eaton Goodreads 2
65 Ben’s War with the U. S. Marines Peter H. Green Goodreads 2
66 Black Rain Ibuse Masuji Library Thing 2
67 Blue Water Red Blood D.L. Havlin Goodreads 1
68 Brotherhood of Heroes: The Marines at Peleliu, 1944–The Bloodiest Battle of the Pacific War Bill Sloan Goodreads 1
69 Bulldozing The Way: New Guinea To Japan Peter D. Davidson Goodreads 1
70
Burma Road 1943-44 – Stilwell’s assault on Myitkyina
History Of War
71 Burma: The Forgotten War Jon Latimer Goodreads 1
72 Burnt Shadows Kamila Shamsie Library Thing 2
73 Buz Sawyer, Vol. 1: The War in the Pacific Roy Crane Goodreads 2
74 Cage on the Sea Kaoru Ohno Goodreads 2
75 Campaign in the Marianas Philip A. Crowl Questia 2
76 Cherry Blossoms in Twilight: Memories of a Japanese Girl Yaeko Sugama Weldon Goodreads 2
77
Children of the Camps: Japan’s Last Forgotten Victims
History Of War
78 Clear the Bridge!: The War Patrols of the U.S.S. Tang Richard H. O’Kane Goodreads 1
79 Combined Fleet Decoded: The Secret History of American Intelligence and the Japanese Navy in World War II John Prados Goodreads 1
80 Conspiracy at Mukden: The Rise of the Japanese Military Takehiko Yoshihashi Questia 1
81
Crisis in the Pacific – The Battles for the Philippine Islands by the Men Who Fought Them
History Of War
82 Cultures of War Reddit
83 Darkest Hour: The True Story of Lark Force at Rabaul – Australia’s Worst Military Disaster of World War II Bruce Gamble Goodreads 1
84 Darkness before the Dawn History Of War
85 Defeat Into Victory: Battling Japan in Burma and India, 1942-1945 William Slim Goodreads 1
86 Double-Edged Secrets: U.S. Naval Intelligence Operations in the Pacific During World War II W. J. Holmes Goodreads 1
87
Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire
War bird Forum
88 Dragon by the Tail: American, British, Japanese, and Russian Encounters with China and One Another John Paton Davies Jr. Goodreads 2
89 East of West, West of East Hamish Brown Goodreads 2
90 Elephant Run Roland Smith Goodreads 2
91
Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II
Library Thing 2
92 Empire of the Sun (Empire of the Sun, #1) J.G. Ballard Goodreads 2
93
Escape from the Japanese – The Amazing Story of a PoW’s Journey from Hong Kong to Freedom
History Of War
94 Every Day a Nightmare: American Pursuit Pilots in the Defense of Java, 1941-1942 William H. Bartsch Goodreads 1
95 Fire In The Sky: The Air War In The South Pacific Eric M. Bergerud Goodreads 1
96
First into Nagasaki: The Censored Eyewitness Dispatches on Post-Atomic Japan and Its Prisoners of War
Library Thing
97 Flights of Passage: Reflections of a World War II Aviator Samuel Hynes
The Christian Science Monitor
98 Flyboys: A True Story of Courage James D. Bradley Goodreads 1
99 From Here to Eternity James Jones Goodreads 2
100 From the Marco Polo Bridge to Pearl Harbor: Japan’s Entry into World War II David J. Lu Questia 1
101
George Kenney Reports: A personal recollection of the Pacific War
Reddit
102 Ghosts of Bungo Suido (World War 2 Navy) P.T. Deutermann Goodreads 2
103 Ghostwritten Isabel Wolff Goodreads 2
104 Given Up for Dead: America’s Heroic Stand at Wake Island Bill Sloan Goodreads 1
105 God Isn’t Here: A Young Man’s Entry Into World War II, and His Participation in the Battle for Iwo Jima Richard E. Overton Goodreads 1
106 Grass for my Pillow Saiichi Maruya Library Thing 2
107 Guadalcanal Reddit
108 Guadalcanal Diary Richard Tregaskis Reddit
109 Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle Richard B. Frank Goodreads 1
110 Harm’s Way James Bassett Goodreads 2
111 Hell’s Battlefield Phillip Bradley Goodreads 2
112
Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
War bird Forum
113 Hirohito’s War: The Pacific War, 1941-1945 Francis Pike Goodreads 2
114 History of US Naval Operations in WWII, 15 Vols Samuel Eliot Morison Goodreads 1
115
Hong Kong 1941-45 – First strike in the Pacific War
History Of War
116 Hooper’s War Peter Van Buren Goodreads 2
117
In Bitter Tempest: The Biography of Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher
History Of War
118 In Harm’s Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors Doug Stanton Goodreads 1
119 In the Highest Degree Tragic: The Sacrifice of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet in the East Indies during World War II Donald M. Kehn Jr Questia 2
120 In the Ruins Of Empire: The Japanese Surrender and the Battle for Postwar Asia Ronald H. Spector Goodreads 2
121 Incredible Victory: The Battle of Midway Walter Lord Goodreads 1
122 Inferno: The Epic Life and Death Struggle of the USS Franklin in World War II Joseph A. Springer Goodreads 1
123 Into the Shadows Furious: The World War II Assault on New Georgia Brian Altobello Questia 2
124 Island Fighting Rafael Steinberg Goodreads 1
125 Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific R.V. Burgin Goodreads 2
126 Iwo Jima: Legacy of Valor Bill D. Ross Goodreads 1
127 Iwo Jima: Portrait of a Battle: United States Marines at War in the Pacific Eric Hammel Goodreads 1
128 Japan 1931-1945: Militarism, Fascism, Japanism? Ivan Morris Questia 1
129 Japan since 1931, Its Political and Social Developments Hugh Borton Questia 1
130 Japan: 1941 Eri Hotta
The Christian Science Monitor
131 Japan’s Economy in War and Reconstruction Jerome B. Cohen Questia 1
132 Japan’s Imperial Conspiracy Library Thing
133 Japan’s Struggle to End the War Questia 1
134 Japanese Destroyer Captain: Pearl Harbor, Guadalcanal, Midway – The Great Naval Battles As Seen Through Japanese Eyes Tameichi Hara Goodreads 1
135 Japanese Militarism: Its Cause and Cure John M. Maki Questia 1
136 Joe Rochefort’s War: The Odyssey of the Codebreaker Who Outwitted Yamamoto at Midway Elliot Carlson Goodreads 1
137 Journey to the Missouri Toshikazu Kase Questia 1
138
Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941
War bird Forum
139
Kamikaze Diaries: Reflections of Japanese Student Soldiers
Library Thing 2
140
Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms and Nationalism: The Militarization of Aesthetics in Japanese History
Library Thing 2
141 King Rat (Asian Saga, #4) James Clavell Goodreads 1
142 Last Man Standing: The 1st Marine Regiment on Peleliu, September 15-21, 1944 Dick Camp Goodreads 1
143 Leyte 1944 – The Soldiers’ Battle History Of War
144 Leyte: The Return to the Philippines M. Hamlin Cannon Questia 2
145 Little Ship, Big War: the Saga of DE343 Edward P. Stafford Goodreads 1
146 Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons Walter Lord Goodreads 1
147 Lost Souls of the River Kwai History Of War
148 Love Letters from the Fires of War Reddit
149 Marine at War Russell G. Davis Goodreads 2
150 Matterhorn Karl Marlantes Goodreads 2
151 McMillan History Of War
152 Memories of War: Micronesians in the Pacific War Suzanne Falgout Goodreads 2
153 My Name Was Five: A Novel of the Second World War Heinz Kohler Goodreads 2
154 Nan’yō: The Rise and Fall of the Japanese in Micronesia, 1885-1945 Mark R. Peattie Goodreads 2
155 Nemesis Max Hastings Reddit
156 Nimitz E.B. Potter Goodreads 1
157 Nip the buds, shoot the kids Kenzaburo Oe Library Thing 2
158 No-no Boy John Okada Library Thing 2
159
Nomonhan: Japan Against Russia, 1939
War bird Forum
160 Not The Slightest Chance: The Defense Of Hong Kong, 1941 Tony Banham Goodreads 2
161 Okinawa: The Last Battle of World War II Robert Leckie Goodreads 2
162 Okinawa: Victory in the Pacific Chas. S. Nichols Jr.; Henry I. Shaw Jr Questia 2
163 Omamori Richard McGill Goodreads 1
164 One Square Mile of Hell: The Battle for Tarawa John F. Wukovits Goodreads 1
165 Pacific Alamo: The Battle for Wake Island John F. Wukovits Goodreads 1
166 Pacific Glory (World War 2 Navy) P.T. Deutermann Goodreads 2
167 Pacific Interlude Sloan Wilson Early Bird Books
168 Pacific Turning Point: The Solomons Campaign, 1942-1943 Charles W. Koburger Questia 2
169
Pacific: Hell on Earth (DVD). Eight documentaries looking at different battles of the Pacific War
History Of War
170 Peleliu: Tragic Triumph: The Untold Story of the Pacific War’s Forgotten Battle Bill D. Ross Goodreads 1
171 Phantom Warrior: The Heroic True Story of Private John McKinney’s One-Man Stand Against theJapane se in World War II Forrest Bryant Johnson Goodreads 1
172
Picture Letters from the Commander-in-Chief
Library Thing 2
173
Prisoners of the Japanese: POWs of World War II in the Pacific
War bird Forum
174 Quartered Safe Out Here: A Harrowing Tale of World War II George MacDonald Fraser Goodreads 1
175 Railroad of Death John Coast Goodreads 2
176 Return to Manzanar Jeanne Wakatsuki Library Thing 2
177 Road Of Bones: The Siege Of Kohima 1944 The Epic Story Of The Last Great Stand Of Empire Fergal Keane Goodreads 1
178 S.O.P.H.I.A. Pierre Boulle Goodreads 2
179 Senso: The Japanese Remember the Pacific War: Letters to the Editor of Asahi Shimbun Frank Gibney Goodreads 2
180 Sentinels of Fire (World War 2 Navy) P.T. Deutermann Goodreads 2
181 Shadows In The Jungle: The Alamo Scouts Behind Japanese Lines In World War II Larry Alexander Goodreads 1
182 Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR’s Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors James D. Hornfischer Goodreads 1
183 Singapore Burning: Heroism And Surrender In World War II Colin Smith Goodreads 1
184 Sketches of a Black Cat: Story of a Night Flying WWII Pilot and Artist Ron Miner Goodreads 2
185
So Sad to Fall in Battle: An Account of War
Library Thing 2
186 Some Survived: An Eyewitness Account of the Bataan Death March and the Men Who Lived through It Manny Lawton Goodreads 2
187
Special Operations South-East Asia 1942-1945: Minerva
History Of War
188 Stilwell and the American Experience in China 1911-45 Barbara W. Tuchman Goodreads 1
189
Storming the City – U.S. Military Performance in Urban Warfare from World War II to Vietnam
History Of War
190
Sunburst: The Rise of the Japanese Naval Air Power, 1909-1941
War bird Forum
191
Survivors: The A-bombed Trees of Hiroshima
Library Thing 2
192
Tank Tracks to Rangoon – the story of British armour in Burma
History Of War
193 Tarawa: The Story of a Battle Robert Sherrod Goodreads 2
194 Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor James M. Scott Goodreads 1
195 Tennozan: The Battle of Okinawa and the Atomic Bomb George Feifer Goodreads 1
196 Terry and the Pirates: Grand Finale (Terry and the Pirates, #25) Milton Caniff Goodreads 2
197 The “Caine” Mutiny Herman Wouk Goodreads 2
198 The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King—the Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea Walter R. Borneman Goodreads 1
199 The Amphibians Are Coming! Emergence of the ‘Gator Navy and Its Revolutionary Landing Craft (Amphibious Operations in the South Pacific in WWII, Vol. 1) William L. McGee Goodreads 1
200 The Ash Garden Dennis Bock Goodreads 2
201 The Atomic Bomb: Voices from Hiroshima and Nagasaki Mark Selden; Kyoko Selden Questia 1
202 The Battle for Okinawa Reddit
203 The Battle for Tinian History Of War
204 The Battle of Okinawa: The Blood and the Bomb George Feifer Goodreads 2
205 The Black Sheep: The Definitive History of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in World War II Bruce Gamble Goodreads 1
206 The Bridge Over the River Kwai Pierre Boulle Goodreads 2
207 The Burma Campaign: Disaster into Triumph, 1942-45 Frank McLynn Goodreads 2
208 The Cabanatuan Prison Raid History Of War
209 The Comfort Women: Japan’s Brutal Regime of Enforced Prostitution in the Second World War George L. Hicks Goodreads 2
210 The Commodore (World War 2 Navy) P.T. Deutermann Goodreads 2
211 The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944 Ian W. Toll Goodreads 1
212
The Coral Sea 1942: The First Carrier Battle
History Of War
213 The Defeat of Japan David Rees Questia 1
214 The Emperor’s Sea Eagle Abe Zenji Goodreads 2
215 The Fan Tan Players Julian Lees Goodreads 2
216 The Fight for the Pacific Mark J. Gayn Questia 1
217 The Final Storm (World War II: 1939-1945, #4) Jeff Shaara Goodreads 2
218 The First Heroes Reddit
219
The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign
Reddit
220 The Fleet the Gods Forgot Library Thing
221 The Forgotten Highlander: My Incredible Story of Survival During the War in the Far East Alistair Urquhart Goodreads 2
222 The Garden of Evening Mists Tan Twan Eng Goodreads 2
223 The Ghost Mountain Boys: Their Epic March and the Terrifying Battle for New Guinea–The Forgotten War of the South Pacific James Campbell Goodreads 1
224 The Gift of Rain Tan Twan Eng Goodreads 2
225 The Golden Catch Roger Weston Goodreads 2
226 The House Of Trembling Leaves Julian Lees Goodreads 2
227 The Kobe Hotel Library Thing 2
228 The Last Epic Naval Battle: Voices from Leyte Gulf David Sears Questia 2
229 The Lonely Ships Library Thing
230 The Making of the Atomic Bomb Richard Rhodes Goodreads 1
231 The Midway Campaign, December 7, 1941-June 6, 1942 Jack Greene Questia 2
232 The Orchid Tree Siobhan Daiko Goodreads 2
233 The Pacific Hugh Ambrose Goodreads 2
234 The Pacific Campaign History Of War
235
The Pacific: Hell was an Ocean Away
History Of War
236 The Quiet Admiral History Of War
237 The Real Tenko History Of War
238 The Rice Paddy Navy History Of War
239
The Rise and Fall of the Japanese Imperial Naval Air Service
History Of War
240 The Road Past Mandalay: A Personal Narrative John Masters Goodreads 1
241 The Sinking of the Lisbon Maru: Britain’s Forgotten Wartime Tragedy Tony Banham Goodreads 2
242 The Southwest Pacific Campaign, 1941-1945: Historiography and Annotated Bibliography Eugene L. Rasor Questia 2
243 The Street of a Thousand Blossoms Gail Tsukiyama Library Thing 2
244 The Thin Red Line James Jones Early Bird Books
245 The Twilight Warriors: The Deadliest Naval Battle of World War II and the Men Who Fought It Robert Gandt Goodreads 1
246 The Two Ocean War Library Thing
247 The Typhoon Of War: Micronesian Experiences Of The Pacific War Lin Poyer Goodreads 2
248 The War Diaries of Weary Dunlop Edward Dunlop Goodreads 1
249 The War in the Pacific: From Pearl Harbor to Tokyo Bay Harry A. Gailey Questia 2
250 The Way of a Boy: A Memoir of Java Ernest Hillen Goodreads 2
251 The World War Deception Hamad Subani Goodreads 2
252 The Yellow Bar John Falch Goodreads 2
253 The Yokota Officers Club Sarah Bird Library Thing 2
254 Those Ragged Bloody Heroes: From The Kokoda Trail To Gona Beach 1942 Peter Brune Goodreads 1
255 Three Came Home Library Thing
256 Thunder Below!: The USS *Barb* Revolutionizes Submarine Warfare in World War II Eugene B. Fluckey Goodreads 1
257 To The Bitter End: The Japanese Defeat at Buna and Gona 1942-43 Lex McAulay Goodreads 2
258 Touched with Fire: The Land War in the South Pacific Eric M. Bergerud Goodreads 1
259
US Navy Ships vs Kamikazes 1944-45
History Of War
260 Victory in Papua Samuel Milner Questia 2
261 Wake Island 1941 History Of War
262 Wheeler History Of War
263 When We Were Orphans Kazuo Ishiguro Goodreads 2
264 World War II in Asia and the Pacific and the War’s aftermath, with General Themes: A Handbook of Literature and Research Loyd E. Lee Questia 2
265 World War II in the North Pacific: Chronology and Fact Book Kevin Don Hutchison Questia 2
266 World War II Jungle Warfare Tactics History Of War
267
World War Two: U.S. Military Plans for the Invasion of Japan
History Of War
268 Yoko’s Diary Paul Ham Goodreads 2


11 Best Japan In World War 2 Book Sources/Lists



Source Article
Early Bird Books 7 Books About the War in the Pacific
Goodreads 1 Best Books on the Pacific War
Goodreads 2 World War II – Pacific Theatre
History Of War Second World War in the Pacific
Library Thing Good books on the Pacific War
Library Thing 2 World War II from the Japanese side
Questia 1 Japan, World War II Period
Questia 2 World War II Pacific Theater
Reddit Best books on World War II Pacific Theater?
The Christian Science Monitor 9 best books about the Pacific War
War bird Forum Ten good books about Japan at war

 

A.M. Anderson

Share
Published by
A.M. Anderson

Recent Posts

The Best Books of 2023 – Science Fiction And Fantasy (A Year-End List Aggregation)

"What are the best Science Fiction And Fantasy books released in 2023?" We looked at…

4 months ago

The Best Books of 2023 – Graphic Novels And Comics (A Year-End List Aggregation)

"What are the best Graphic Novels And Comics books released in 2023?" We looked at…

4 months ago

The Best Books of 2023 – Science And Nature (A Year-End List Aggregation)

"What are the best Science And Nature books released in 2023?" We looked at 278…

4 months ago

The Best Books of 2023 – Mystery, Horror, and Thriller (A Year-End List Aggregation)

"What are the best Mystery, Horror, and Thriller books released in 2023?" We looked at…

4 months ago

The Best Books of 2023 – Nonfiction (A Year-End List Aggregation)

"What are the best Nonfiction books released in 2023?" We looked at 428 of the…

4 months ago

The Best Books of 2023 – Fiction & Literature (A Year-End List Aggregation)

"What are the best Fiction & Literature books released in 2023?" We looked at 448…

4 months ago