Review: Samurai!

Samurai! by Martin Caidin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I found this a fascinating autobiography by WW II Japanese Zero pilot and ace Saburō Sakai. He recounts in detail many dogfights and his recountings challenge specific military history on some points that will appeal to WWII buffs. While I do appreciate his arc from dominance ver the early P-39 Airacobra through to take over of the skies by more numerous and capable Hellcats and Mustangs, it is the broader view I appreciate the most. Sakai makes a good cases that it was an Allied error to pass by Iwo Jima in order to retake The Philippines. Also, he paints a picture of Japan hampered by an elitist pilot training program passing over many solid candidates. He also describes the lack of cooperation between Japan's Navy and Army branches that I have read of elsewhere. Further, Sakai expresses his consternation on visiting home of a populace unaware of the realities of war, something fostered by the Imperial obscuring the truth. It implies that a civilian population longer exposed to aerial bombing, etc. may have conceded without being exposed to nuclear weaponry.

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