Saturday, February 16, 2008
Halsey's Typhoon
My favorite type of book to read is something that I like to call "micro-history." Books that focus on a specific event or trend and discuss the history that led up the happening while focusing on the people affected. These are usually historical aspects that were not taught in school or just glossed over. I’ve read books on the Galveston Hurricane, San Francisco Earthquake, and sinking of the Slocum. Some of the best books in this genre include Into Thin Air, The Perfect Storm, and Longitude. As you can see most of the books involve disasters and need not be about old events.
The third book I’ve read this year, Halsey's Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue, recounts the typhoon that his the Pacific Fleet in the later part of World War II. I had no memory of this event happening and was interested when I picked this book up at half price.
This book is an interesting quick read that is told from many interviews of the survivors of the three ships that went down and the main rescue ship. The book really takes off in the second half when the survivors are floating in the open ocean hoping for rescue and still battling the typhoon.
However, this might not be the book to read on the subject. Another book was released after this one on the same subject and has much better reviews on Amazon. Military buffs complain of the numerous errors in this book. While I couldn’t pick any out, they didn’t seem to ruin the spirit of first hand accounts. I did notice that the list of the dead in the appendix did seem to contain a few annoying errors. It also seemed like the heroes were portrayed as too saintly and the ones at fault a bit too incompetent.
I do recommend reading more on the story if for nothing else it made a war hero of Gerald Ford, involved the controversial Admiral Bull Halsey, and hurt the military career of John McCain, grandfather of the current presidential candidate.
The third book I’ve read this year, Halsey's Typhoon: The True Story of a Fighting Admiral, an Epic Storm, and an Untold Rescue, recounts the typhoon that his the Pacific Fleet in the later part of World War II. I had no memory of this event happening and was interested when I picked this book up at half price.
This book is an interesting quick read that is told from many interviews of the survivors of the three ships that went down and the main rescue ship. The book really takes off in the second half when the survivors are floating in the open ocean hoping for rescue and still battling the typhoon.
However, this might not be the book to read on the subject. Another book was released after this one on the same subject and has much better reviews on Amazon. Military buffs complain of the numerous errors in this book. While I couldn’t pick any out, they didn’t seem to ruin the spirit of first hand accounts. I did notice that the list of the dead in the appendix did seem to contain a few annoying errors. It also seemed like the heroes were portrayed as too saintly and the ones at fault a bit too incompetent.
I do recommend reading more on the story if for nothing else it made a war hero of Gerald Ford, involved the controversial Admiral Bull Halsey, and hurt the military career of John McCain, grandfather of the current presidential candidate.
Labels: Books
# posted by ChrisR @ 11:00 PM 
