Looking for good books on the WW2 Pacific theater.To give you an idea I really liked D-Days in the Pacific by Miller.Any help would be appreciated.Thanks

some of the best ones i've found are at military museum's gift shop/book stores

they tend to be written by those that were there, in plain language and true

https://www.amazon.com/Old-Breed-At-Peleliu-Okinawa-ebook/dp/B000VMFDW2

https://www.amazon.com/Islands-Damned-Marine-War-Pacific/dp/0451232267/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

In addition to Sledge's book, Robert Leckie, who is also featured in the miniseries The Pacific, wrote a few books, both about his experiences and the history of the Pacific campaign.

Helmet for My Pillow

Leckie could really write, and went on to be a reporter and author after the war.

My favorite from the '50s is the video series "Victory at Sea". The best!!

A superb read. Also, as mentioned above, With The Old Breed.

Attached File

With The Old Breed. Flyboys.

The 1000 mile war.

The Jolly Rogers: The Story of Tom Blackburn and Navy Fighting Squadron VF-17

Guadalcanal: Starvation Island

CLEAR THE BRIDGE-The War Patrols Of The U.S.S. Tang

By RAdm.Richard O'Kane,USN

Depending on how you measure things Tang was one of the top or the top boat in WWII until her last torpedo of her 5th patrol had a circular run and she sank herself.

O'Kane was her one and only Captain and because he was on the bridge at the time one of a handful of survivors and spent the last months of the war in Jap POW camps.
Great story,written well

https://www.amazon.com/Whirlwind-Air-Against-Japan-1942-1945/dp/1416584412

Not sure if it fits into what you're looking for but Guadalcanal Diary.

Victory at Sea: World War II in the Pacific by James Dunnigan is a great non-fiction book; easy to read as its a compilation of short essays on diverse subjects.

Semper Fi, Mac.
The First Team.  Naval fighter combat.  There's actually two books and both are worth reading.
Thunder Below!  Voyages of the U. S. S. Barb by her skipper, Eugene Fluckey (MoH & 4 NC)
Shinano!  Joseph Enright gives a first hand account of his sub, Archerfish, and the sinking of the largest Japanese carrier.
The Battle of the Kormandorski.  An outgunned squadron consisting of the Salt Lake City aka Swayback Maru and the cruiser Richmond fight off a superior Japanese squadron.
Battleship Sailor.  Naval Reservist's account of the Pacific War.  He was aboard the California on Dec. 7, 1941.  
Pacific War Diary.  Unauthorized diary of a sailor aboard the cruisier Montepelier.
U. S. Destroyer Operations in World War II.  Classic account of small ships action.
Samurai!  Best account by a Japanese naval aviator and ace, Saburo Sakai.
Japanese Destroyer Captain by Hara.  Great account by a destroyer captain who was part of Tanaka's Tokyo Express.  He was later skipper of the light cruiser Yahigi when she was sunk escorting the Yamato.
The Imperial Japanese Navy in World War II by Paul S. Dull.  Terrific read.  Explains Japanese strategy and its failure.

There are more, but I'd have to go to my library to dig out the titles.

The best ones I know of:

The fleet at flood tide
"An unprecedented account of the monumental Pacific War campaign that brought the U.S. Navy to the apex of its strength and supremacy and established the foundation for America to become a dominant global superpower"

This book seemed to focus a lot on the land battles for Saipan, Guam, and Tinian and the use of UDT's. It starts at the end of 1943 where the US has this massive fleet of aircraft carriers, but no one knows what they can do. Can aircraft carriers perform continuous operations? Can they strike and decisively neutralize large land bases with land based aircraft?

Pacific Crucible and The Conquering Tide are two books out of a trilogy by Ian W. Toll and both were very good. They actually compliment "The Fleet at Flood Tide" very well and don't overlap too much, so you wouldn't be bored reading these three.

If you want to read about the Army's WWII go here -

https://history.army.mil/html/bookshelves/collect/usaww2.html

Here's another vote for Semper Fi, Mac.

Also "Sole Survivor" by George Gay. Gay, as an ensign in the US Navy, was the only survivor of the Torpedo Eight attack at Midway. The book details his story from the start of WWII, through the war, and into the civilian years immediately after the war.

Thunder Below! by Eugene Fluckey who was the skipper of the USS Barb. Very engaging read.

Wake of the Wahoo by Forest J. Sterling was also really good. I would also like to read Dick O'Kane's books from his time on both the Wahoo and Tang.

I have tons of books on the Pacific War, most still in moving boxes. But, I ordered book cases last week so I'll finally be able to see them all at once. Many to read, so little time!

Touched With Fire and Fire In the Sky, both by Eric Bergerud are great reads.
The first deals with land warfare, and the second with aerial.
Highly recommend both. Two of my favorite books.

Another excellent book, that deals with a specific mission, is Attack On Yamamoto(Glines). Explains the planning, execution, and aftermath, of the mission to kill the admiral. It pretty much settles the controversy of who shot him down also.

Lastly, Alamo of the Pacific, good read about Wake Island.

Agreed, this is an excellent book, and well written.

Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account... is one that I've read.

Battle Ground Pacific by Mace Sterling.  Sterling served in K/3/5 and fought at Peleliu and Okinawa.  Here is an excerpt:

"The field telephone rings, and a marine picks it up.

From the other end a thin voice comes through the receiver. "Hey, is Mace around?"

The marine who picked up the phone looks over his shoulder, sees me, and then shouts over, "Hey, Mace!"

"Yeah, what?"

"C'mere, you've got a telephone call. It's the mayor of new York. Wants to know if you've got a Purple Heart on."

"Yeah, sure. The mayor. Lemme see if he can get us the f*ck outta here."

"Hello, this is Mace," I say into the field telephone.

"Say, Mace." The voice comes through the other end. "Boy, have I got some dirt for you." I recognize the voice of PFC Verga, one of the new guys in Leyden and Bender's Platoon.

he continues, "Listen, ya might be able to do somethin' with this. It's about Leyden, right? This Okinawan dame is coming up the road - a nice-looking' honey- and somehow Bill and this broad work out a deal. Leyden gets some tail and this sugar gets... I don't know what she gets in return, but anyhow, the next thing you know, Leyden has her up against the side of the hill, bangin' away at her - an' a lot of the fellas are crowded around just watchin', trying' to sneak a peek, ya know? It was the damnedest thing!"

We laugh. This really made my day.

"So," Verga says, "since you guys go back a way, I thought you might like to know. Ya know, give him the business about it, or somethin'."

"Oh, you bet I will!" I say. "Here, get Bill on the horn, willya? Oh, and Verga?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell him that Stumpy's on the line."

[Note: Stumpy is their nickname for their company commander]

I don't have to wait long until Leyden gets on the phone. He must have run right over.

"Yes, sir!" he says.

"Lowering my voice and make it sound a little gruff, I try to make sure that the South Ozone doesn't leak out, or he'll be onto me right away.

"PFC William Leyden?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Yes, PFC Leyden, I've been getting some terrible reports about you have something to do with one of those Okinawan girls? Is that correct, Private?"

A short pause, then "Ye---"

"And do you know what can happen to you"

"Well, I don't... umm, I don't, what can--? He begins to really stammer, and it takes every bit of my willpower not to crack up right away. I can just imagine the boys from the 1st Platoon crowding around Bill, eavesdropping on the conversation between Leyden and the company CO.

"Well, first of all, " I tell him, "what we've got to do is take a test!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Now, I want you to take out your pecker. Do it now, son! Check it out, squeeze it off, and see if anything comes out!"

"Ye... yes, sir."

"And what do you see?"

"Nothing. Nothing, sir!"

"Okay, good. now do you have any iodine there, or something like that?"

I hear a muffled, shuffling noise, telling me that he's put his hand over the receiver, and in a faraway voice I hear the confused PFC say, "Iodine?"

He comes back on the line, clear again. "Yes, sir! Iodine, sir!"

"Good! Okay, squeeze that off again, and hold the end of your pecker, where that little opening is and put a drop or two of iodine in there. It might burn a little bit, but that's the best precaution."

"Yes, sir!"

"Are you doing it, Private?"

"Yes, yes, sir."

"You know, Private, I begin again - but I had better make this short, because I can't hold back the laughter much longer. "I did have thoughts of making you corporal, but I have to think hard again about whether I want to do this. I can't have my corporals traipsing all over the countryside fornicating with the locals indigenes, now can I?"

"Yes, sir! I mean, No, No, sir!"

"Okay, that's fine, Leyden. Now, you take a look at your pecker every day, and if anything comes out of there, you go down to the aid station - and if you do? Well, "I'll put that in my report, and you can forget all about that promotion. Is that understood?"

"Yes, sir!"

"That'll be all, Private." I hang up the phone, laughing so hard that I can barely catch a breath.

Soon after, Im sitting around with my fire team, telling them what I did, when I hear the most god-awful string of curse worse, followed by laughter, blasting from the direction of the 1st Platoon.

"That sonuvab*tch Mace! That dumb bastard, when I find him I'm gonna shove my foot so far up his ass! Where is he?"

I knew his platoon mates couldn't hold back the gag for long. Someone would give me up, sooner or later. It's a good thing Billy and I are such good buddies - though I'm sure he's already hatching a scheme to pay me back, in turn.

"Gentlemen." I rise and bow to my fire team. "I regret to inform you that I'll be indisposed for the evening, so you'll have to carry on without me. In other word, I'm making myself scarce before Bill catches up with me. So long, fellas. It's been good knowin' ya."

Good book. Sterling describes the horrors of combat and night combat when they discover the Japanese are behind them.

“Goodbye Darkness” by William Manchester.

These - anything by Hornfisher or Toll are great.  Can't wait for Toll's third book this year.

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. Another excellent book by Hornfisher.

Three American destroyers and four destroyer escorts went head-to-head with four Japanese battleships, eight cruisers and several destroyers-- and won!

I-boat Captain by Zhenjiang Orita
Sunk: the Story of the Japanese Submarine Fleet by Mochitsura Hashimoto
The End of the Imperial Japanese Navy by Masanori Ito

Must read