This collection of over fifty essays provides a comprehensive overview of the Pacific theater of World War II. Scholars and practitioners from around the globe unite their expertise to explore the interaction of the belligerents, with multiple chapters co-written by Japanese and American authors.
Part I provides the political, economic, military, strategic, and legal backdrop. Part II highlights operational and strategic concepts and approaches: assessment, deterrence, strategic culture, war gaming and planning, access and anti-access campaigns, cumulative and sequential operations, strategic and operational intelligence, and logistics. Part III focuses on turning points: the Axis alliance, wartime mobilization, naval buildups, the key campaigns of Malaya, Midway, Guadalcanal, and Leyte Gulf, unrestricted submarine warfare, and aerial bombing. Part IV turns to the warzone societies with chapters on Australia, China, Indonesia, India, Indochina, Japan, Malaysia, and the Philippines. Part V concludes with the war’s diverse legacies: the Communist victory in China, suspicions of a Pearl Harbor coverup, the transformation of international law, the fate of veterans, the teaching of the war, its operational and doctrinal lessons, and the many movies and museums about it.
The handbook offers original and enduring analyses that will interest scholars, students, policymakers, and history buffs alike.
Table of Contents:
Part I: Origins, Structures, and Approaches Introduction to Part I 1. The Underlying and Proximate Causes of the Pacific War 2. The Political Economic Backdrop 3. The Political Backdrop 4. The Course of the War (1931–45) 5. China’s Unchanging and Japan’s Oft-Changing Military Strategies 6. The Second Sino-Japanese War 7. The Structures of Decision Making: Civil-Military Institutions 8. Mobilizing and Integrating the Instruments of National Power 9. International Law and Arms Limitation Negotiations 10. Internationalism and Empire 11. Doctrinal Development and Training 12. Planning and Preparation for War: War Gaming Part II: Strategic Concepts Go to War Introduction to Part II 13. Deterrence by Japan, Great Britian, the United States, and the Soviet Union 14. The Effects of Culture on Strategy: Gekokujō and Kokutai in Japan and Shame in China 15. Mahan’s Influence on Strategic Culture and War Planning 16. The Access and Anti-Access Campaigns 17. The Failure of Japan’s Anti-Access Strategy 18. Cumulative vs. Sequential Operations 19. Joint and Combined Operations 20. Strategic and Operational Intelligence 21. Technology, Innovation, and Operations 22. The Supremacy of Logistics 23. Fog, Friction, and Chance 24. Japan’s Strategy for Surrender 25. Pre-War and Post-War Assessments Part III: Turning Points: Leaders and Decisions Introduction to Part III 26. The Axis Alliance 27. Government in the Transition to Wartime Economies 28. Franklin Roosevelt’s Preparation for War 29. Carl Vinson and the Two-Ocean Navy 30. Japan’s Initial Thrust from Pearl Harbor to Singapore 31. Malaya 32. Midway 33. Guadalcanal 34. Leyte Gulf 35. Unrestricted Submarine Warfare 36. Bombing from Theory to Practice 37. Race for the Bomb Part IV: Societies Transformed by War Introduction to Part IV 38. Life in the Inner Empire 39. Life in the Outer Empire 40. French Indochina 41. The Dutch East Indies 42. Resistance in Malaya and the Philippines 43. Subhas Chandra Bose and the Indian National Army 44. Australia 45. Nationalist China 46. The Communist Victory in China Part V: Legacies of the War Introduction to Part V 47. The Chinese Communist Story of Transformation 48. The Myths of Pearl Harbor 49. Operational and Doctrinal Legacies 50. The Transformation of the Laws and Ethics of War 51. Veterans 52 Japanese Domestic Legacies 53. Teaching the War 54. The Pacific War Goes to the Movies
About the Author :
S. C. M. Paine is William S. Sims University Professor of History and Grand Strategy Emerita of the US Naval War College, where she taught strategy from 2000 to 2025.
John M. Sheehan is Associate Professor of Strategy and Policy of the US Naval War College in the NWC program at the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA. He is a retired Commander, US Navy, who served as a naval aviator and aircraft carrier-based attack pilot, and as naval and joint strategist.
Sam J. Tangredi holds the Leidos Chair of Future Warfare Studies at the US Naval War College, where he is Professor of National, Naval and Maritime Strategy. He is a retired Captain, US Navy, who served as head of the USN Strategy and Concepts Branch and command at sea.
Stuart D. Furner is a professor and deputy chair of the Joint Military Operations Department at the US Naval War College. A retired US Army Colonel, he was an infantry and staff officer with operational deployments in Asia, Africa, and South America.
Matthew A. Tattar is Professor in the Wargaming Department of the Center for Naval Warfare Studies at the US Naval War College.
Evan Wilson is Associate Professor in the John B. Hattendorf Center for Maritime Historical Research at the US Naval War College.
J. Ross Dancy is the Associate Provost for Research at the US Naval War College. As a US Marine infantryman, he served in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
