The Rising Sun in the Pacific 1931-April 1942 [Hardcover] Morison, Samuel Eliot

This volume is the first of nine that will cover the operations of the United States Navy in the war against Japan. Like all others int he History of the United States Naval Operations, it is written for the general reader rather than the professional sailor. Americans cannot with impunity deny the importance of warfare in their history. but the history of warfare loses most of its significance unless we know what the fighting was about. That is why considerable space is devoted to "incidents" that really began the war in the Pacific, and to the internal conflict within Japan which was largely responsible for turning one of America's traditional friends into an implacable enemy.