The reluctant admiral: Yamamoto and the Imperial Navy by Hiroyuki Agawa (1979-01-01)

The original Japanese title of this book was simply Yamamoto Isoroku. I suppose renaming it The Reluctant Admiral with the implication that Isoroku was indecisive is comforting to american psychology. But otherwise it's the same book, and one of the few books I know about WW II Japan that isn't clichéd propaganda of either a rightist or leftist american persuasion.Samurai! The biography of Saburo Sakai is also recommended although the ibook edition has an opinioned, and inaccurate forward by the new editor not Martin Caidin.

This excellent book is possible the best glimpse of the man behind the plan to attack Pearl Harbor and the plan to trap the U.S. Fleet at Midway. Admiral Yamamoto was experienced in the United States, having been schooled (at Yale, I believe) and knew the American psyche. He knew that the only way to defeat the United States was to strike early and hard, to discourage us before we could even get started. Yamamato was a habitual gambler which goes even further to explain the PH attack because it was an all out gamble. Discovery of the force could have led to disaster spoiling all of Japan's early war aims. Midway was a gamble as well, but this time, Yamamoto lost. This is an excellent study of a man who knew his warrior duties could have but one outcome: defeat for his nation. But he did his duty to the best of his ability, which was not inconsiderable.

Agawa gives great insight into the private life of Yamamoto. We see that he was an intellectual, romamtic, a gambling addict, a patriot, and most importantly, a military man who was agaist the junta that was running Japan prior to and during the war. The deatails of the military command can get a little slow at times, but this is only testimony to the author's command of the subject. This is a must read for any armchair historian, as well as anyone interested in a facsinating biography. I could not put it down, and I'm no WWII or military buff.