| The Pacific (The Official HBO/Sky TV Tie-in) |  | Author: Hugh Ambrose
Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £20.00
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Seller: halcyonbooksuk
Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 6,960
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Media tie-in
Pages: 512
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.9
ISBN: 184767822X
EAN: 9781847678225
Publication Date: March 11, 2010
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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Product Description
The official companion book to THE PACIFIC, the new HBO miniseries from the producers of BAND OF BROTHERS.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
 Dissapointing Book August 19, 2010
Mr Perfect
I was really looking forward to reading this book as I enjoy WW2 stories and heard so much about the TV series which I am still to see. However I found the book plodding with too much pointless detail, confusing as too many characters and I have grown bored with the book without finishing it. Pity a real dissapointment!
Insipid August 14, 2010
Exgrunt
Bought on the hype of the link to 'Band of Brothers' and my limited knowledge of the war in the Pacific.
Sadly, this book failed to deliver either a coherent account of the campaign, which admittedly the author did not set out to do, or convey the experience of fighting through the major battles.
A further criticism is that the maps did not tie in well with the text, quite often locations mentioned in the narrative were not shown on the relevant map.
In short my recommendation is go directly to the books written by two of the main personalities covered in the book.
 Good book, but don't miss the HBO version on TV August 9, 2010
EFMOL (Dublin)
I have just completed reading Hugh Ambrose's new book The Pacific, based on the lives of five men and their experiences in the Second World War fighting the Japanese in the Pacific. The Pacific is also an HBO 10-part miniseries which I watched on Sky before the summer. On TV this was a Saving Private Ryan type of experience with a lot of action and graphic detail of death and destruction during the fighting. The TV programme is based on the lives of marines Eugene Sledge, Robert Leckie, and John Basilone. The book is slightly different in that while it features Sledge and Basilone - it almost totally omits Leckie (for which Ambrose both justifies and apologises for), but also concentrates on Austin Shofner, Vernon Micheel, and Sidney Phillips. This works quite well in that Ambrose states that it was not just the Marines who won the war in the Pacific, but other parts of the US armed forces as well.
Ambrose's accounts of Sledge and Basilone in the war are very similar to the way they were portrayed in the TV programme - these were two extraordinary men, and Ambrose paints a picture of bravery and devotion to duty that is both horrible and astonishing. Their experiences were horrific, Basilone (awarded the Medal of Honour) dies on Iwo Jima, but Sledge survives, having participated in some of the most vicious fighting of the war. It's hard to imagine that Japan and the USA fought such savage battles only a generation ago.
While Sidney Phillips is a minor character in the TV programme, he features more in the book. Phillips, Micheel, and Shofner are perhaps more interesting to read about as their story is not covered on TV. All five men are fascinating and brave characters - they are almost hero worshipped by Ambrose who is clearly in awe of the marines and their fight in the Pacific. There is no sympathy for the "japs", who were in a different way just as brave as the marines.
The book has a "thrown together" feel - it is very "bitty" and jumps around between the different characters far too much. I would have preferred a longer run for each character (as in the TV series), rather than the constant switching back and forth. One thing is clear though - this is an incredibly well researched book. For a book of a modest 449 pages of script, there is an astonishing 1,072 references. There are also quite a number of footnotes, many not needed in my view, and also some annoying repetitions throughout. Apart from these minor aberrations, the book is a worthwhile read. If you have not seen the TV series, make sure you do so as it will give an even better idea of what the men of The Pacific endured.
 book review July 5, 2010
Mr. M. B. Hill
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a companion book to the TV series of the same name. It has been well put together and provides further background info' to events shown in the series. I would recommend the book to those who have and interest in the events of WW2.
The Pacific June 11, 2010
D. L. Pierce (Fleet Hants UK)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I haven't finished the book, but Hugh hasn't the same writing flair as his father. All a bit slow, and whilst soldiering is 98% boredom and 2% action, this book follows the same percentages.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 17
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