Twilight of the Gods

Way more than an ordinary human needs to know about the war in the Pacific. Perfect for Buffs like me. My father survived 2.7 years on the USS Baltimore. All his tales of Kamekazis,. typhoons and giving Hershey bars to children in the ruins of Hiroshima are in the book just as he described. So too the less than wonderful sides (racism) of many shipmates. As a Jew he was in many fist fights with antisemites, especially from the South. He came home to the Bronx very committed to fighting racism. The Epilogue is particularly insightful. BTW, Dad survived all the above, had 3 kids, 10 grandchildren and 1 great grandson when he was killed by a texting driver at age 91. Kamekazis couldn\’t kill him but a texter did. Please don\’t text while driving.

Picks up right where the last one left off. The narrative and organization create a great flow to this long book . You can almost feel yourself zooming in from the overall picture of the war down to buck privates and seamen. I’m one of those wwii avid reader types and was worried about reading long chapters on battles I was pretty familiar with . Toll brings new perspectives and details about the Pacific War. From the bloated flies of Saipan infesting an admirals dinner offshore to an in depth look at Japanese social psychology for waging war this book brought to light the war in the Pacific . I also appreciate Toll’s research on the logistics involved in the Pacific Theatre.

As with the two prior volumes I felt I was experiencing the Pacific war through the eyes of the Americans and the Japanese. The brutality and otherworldliness of the fighting seemed more immediate. It certainly Leaves the reader with a sense of the horror of war. One can\’t look at a successful war as a grand thing US naval and air superiority means there is never any doubt that Japan will lose the war. The Japanese challenge is reconciling its defeat with its national character. The brutality of the amphibious landings on Iwo Jima and Okinawa show how terrible the battles were for both sides. Clearly the American population advantage and industrial capacity make the outcome inevitable but the Japanese character makes its surrender difficult even after the atomic bombs. Even the emperor\’s decision to surrender was meet with a threatened coup. Neither MacArthur or Halsey comes off without character flaws. The book ends with the return of the American veterans. They faced challenges getting home and greater challenges when home. Clearly the war changed America in ways never expected. Woman experienced more freedom and we\’re often unwilling to return to their former roles. Ultimately that post war freedom and the introduction of the pill in the sixties gave birth to contemporary feminism. The returning Black soldiers faced special challenges. The equality they had experienced at war was often rescinded when they returned home. The struggle for a colorblind society is an ongoing challenge. I found the book thought provoking and I appreciate the time and effort poured into it by the author.

The writing places you in the SW Pacific, Iwo Jima, and Tokyo Bay. A great finish to an already superb series. The bravery of boys charging into battle, fighting enemies both real and psychological, is quite impressively told by Toll. General Wainwright’s reaction, after 3 years in a POW camp in Japanese occupied China, to the USS Missouri leaves the reader understanding how awesome the US war production was in 3 short years. Superb!

I have an advanced degree in military history. I found all three of Mr. Toll\’s books on WWII in the Pacific well written, very competently performed, and entertaining. So, all I can say is Outstanding! I wholeheartedly recommend all three books with no reservations for others who have any interest at all in this subject matter.

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