Book Description
The 1944 invasion of Saipan was the first two-division amphibious assault conducted by US forces in World War II. Saipan and Tinian had been under Japanese control since 1914 and, heavily colonized, they were considered virtually part of the Empire. The struggle for Saipan and Tinian was characterized by the same bitter fighting that typified the entire Central Pacific campaign. Fighting side-by-side, Army and Marine units witnessed the largest tank battle of the Pacific War, massed Japanese banzai charges, and the horror of hundreds of Japanese civilians committing suicide to avoid capture. In this book Gordon Rottman details the capture of these vital islands that led to the collapse of Prime Minister Tojo’s government.
Customer Reviews:
helped with family history.......2007-01-03
My uncle, Herbert Shaw, was killed on Saipan. He was awarded the Silver Star for his heroism, and the Purple Heart. This book helped me to know more about the campaign in which he died.
History without humanity.......2004-06-28
Gordon L. Rottman's Osprey Campaign #137, Saipan and Tinian 1944, is effective in laying out and summarizing the events of the campaign, but it is dry as dirt. Rottman provides a wealth of information indicating that he has much to offer military readers, but he lacks the style - in what he chooses to discuss and how he describes it - that renders this volume rather sterile. Assaulting two tropical islands defended by thousands of fanatical defenders should evoke emotions of fear, courage and resignation, but Rottman can only offer terse descriptions of sequential unit movements and actions. Indeed, if one were to remove all the unit designations and the words "moved," "landed," "attacked" and "defended" from this volume there wouldn't be much left to this narrative. Rottman's knowledge of the US Marine Corps is impressive, but he doesn't seem to be aware that history is made by human beings, not by faceless unit designations. Nowhere is Rottman's omission of the human element in this campaign more evident in the fact that he fails to mention any of the five Medal of Honor recipients on Saipan (Agerholm, Baker, Epperson, McCard and Timmerman) and the two on Tinian (Ozbourn, Wilson); all seven were KIA and they deserve mention.
Rottman begins with a 5-page introduction that lays out the origins of the campaign and the nature of the two islands (although he omits mentioning the civilian population of the island). The lack of a strategic map depicting the location of the islands in the Pacific or their relation to the other invasion on Guam, is a serious omission. The author then discusses the US invasion plan, included the unprecedented large-scale use of over 600 amphibious tractors (amtracs), which Rottman notes "set the standard for future operations." One odd point here is that Rottman notes that the invasion plan for Saipan included an option to land a reinforced battalion on the opposite side of the island the night before the main invasion, in order to drive inland a seize a key piece of high ground. Although Rottman notes that "this extremely risky mission" - which is a euphemism for suicidal - was cancelled, he never identifies who ordered it in the first place. The Japanese army and navy forces defending Saipan and Tinian were handicapped with a number of serious deficiencies that undermined their efforts, including lack of a unified command; shortages of ammunition, construction materials, artillery and small arms; and heavy losses from US submarine attacks while enroute to the islands (according to Rottman, about 3,000 troops were lost to submarine attacks). Rottman notes that about 40% of the 31,000 Japanese army troops on Saipan were unarmed, and that many fighting positions were incomplete. On the other hand, the Japanese forces had a high level of fanaticism and were able to cunningly use their meager reserves to inflict serious losses on the US invaders.
Rottman provides only five 2-D maps in this volume: Japanese defenses on Saipan and on Tinian; the battle in central Saipan on 27 June 1944; and the capture of Tinian. The three 3-D Bird's Eye View Maps are: D-Day, Green Beach on Saipan; the Japanese Banzai attack on Saipan; and J-Day on Tinian. The three color battle scenes depict: clearing Afetna Point on Saipan; Japanese tank attack on Saipan; and LVTs emplacing "cliff ramps" on Tinian. While Rottman's bibliography is conventional, his order of battle is superb, with all the myriad minor detachments noted. Rottman also provides information on the battlefield today.
Although Saipan is one of many Second World war invasions that has been all but forgotten due to the hyping (milking) of D-Day, Rottman notes that US forces suffered over 2,000 casualties on the first day of the landings - comparable to Omaha Beach, which occurred nine days earlier. Despite landing with two divisions abreast, the US Marines required two days of fighting to seal the inter-division boundary - a defect which the Japanese cunningly exploited with repeated small-scale counterattacks. After twelve days of fighting, the two Marine divisions and one army division had secured most of the island and began the final costly reduction of Japanese pockets. It was during this period that the senior US ground commander, Marine LGN "Howling Mad" Smith relieved the army commander of the 27th Infantry Division. While Rottman mentions that this controversial decision was unwarranted, he does so in a footnote and seems to have little sympathy for the 27th ID on Saipan. However, a close examination of the tactical combat indicates that the army units and commanders on Saipan performed admirably and the relief was probably due more to differences on tactical philosophies rather than failure to accomplish the mission. The landings on Tinian are interesting because the Americans chose to ignore the best beaches and achieve surprise by landing on tiny, sub-optimal stretches of beach. Indeed, the two landing beaches on Tinian were only 114 meters wide and the US units were forced to land in company columns, but they achieved tactical surprise. Rottman's description of the LVT-launched "cliff ramps" is a good example of American engineering ingenuity to solve a tactical problem.
In the end, the battles on Saipan and Tinian were foregone conclusions due to US air and naval superiority, but the cost for both sides was still very high: over 18,000 US casualties (3,700 dead) against about 37,000 Japanese military and 26,000 civilian deaths. Indeed, more than half the population of the islands died in the fighting. With the islands secured, the US began the end game for the Pacific War, of putting heavy bombers in range of the Japanese industrial heartland. Rottman gets his facts straight, but forgets to include the kind of personal accounts that bring military history to life.
Book Description
Since the time of the Crusades, Europeans have viewed Muslim culture and religion through the unique distorting lens of Orientalism, coloring all aspects of their perception and generating a curious blend of fascination and distrust. Maxime Rodinson presents the classic account of this relationship, in a history that is balanced and concise yet full of insight.
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Mystiques, Etat Et Societe: Les Halvetis Dans L'Aire Balkanique De LA Fin Du Xve Siecle A'Nos Jours (Islamic History and Civilization, 9)
Nathalie Clayer
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
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ASIN: 9004100903 |
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Mystiques, Etat et Societe is the first study to treat of the history of a mystical Muslim brotherhood--the Halvetis, the most widespread brotherhood in southeastern Europe--from its introduction to the region until the present day. The study is based on very diverse written sources, including unedited manuscripts, as well as on fieldwork. In the book are examined the role of the Halvetis in the spread of the ideology propagated by the Ottoman political authorities ("Sunnitization", conquests, colonization, Islamization) and in the uniting of the Muslim populations; the expansion and social rooting of the brotherhood; and its development in the post-Ottoman period. This study clarifies extremely important phenomena for the understanding of both Balkan and Ottoman history, and of the working of mystical Muslim brotherhoods themselves. FRENCH TEXT Mystiques, Etat et Societe est la premiere etude concernant l'histoire d'une confrerie mystique musulmane dans le Sud-Est europeen -- en l'occurrence la plus repandue d'entre elles, celle des Halvetis -- depuis son introduction dans ces regions jusqu'a nos jours. Elle s'appuie sur des sources ecrites tres variees, y compris des manuscrits inedits, ainsi que sur un travail de terrain. Y sont examines: le role des Halvetis dans la diffusion de l'ideologie des autorites politiques ottomanes ("sunnitisation", conquetes, colonisation, islamisation) et dans la cohesion des populations musulmanes; l'expansion et l'enracinement social de leur confrerie; les evolutions a l'epoque post-ottomane. Cette etude eclaire des phenomenes extremement importants pour la comprehension tant de l'histoire balkanique et de l'histoire ottomane, que du fonctionnement meme des confreries mystiques musulmanes.
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Socialism and the Literary Imagination: Essays on East German Writers
Manufacturer: Berg Publishers
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ASIN: 0854966439 |
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The literary and artistic qualities of East German writing are all too often overlooked in the debate about censorship, cultural control and dissident writers. Each contributor focuses on a particular East German writer and explains why the work of their chosen author deserves to be considered alongside the best in contemporary European literature.
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German Jewry: Its History and Sociology: Selected Essays of Werner J. Chanman
Manufacturer: Transaction Publishers
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Fringe Voices : An Anthology of Minority Writing in the Federal Republic of Germany
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Germany in Transit: Nation and Migration, 1955-2005 (Weimar and Now: German Cultural Criticism)
ASIN: 1859731325 |
Book Description
Since German unification, there have been many reports about xenophobia in Germany and the government has attempted to stem the new wave of racism. In contrast, the voices of the victims of racism -- refugees, asylum seekers, immigrants -- are seldom heard.This first anthology of essays by significant writers from minority groups in Germany -- Turks, Afro-Germans, German Jews, Eastern Europeans and others -- sheds new light on the diverse experiences of minority groups living in Germany today. It also introduces to English-speaking audiences innovative literary talents whose contribution to German culture has not yet received the attention it deserves.Students of contemporary German culture who wish to increase their understanding of the changing nature of German society will find this book invaluable. It will also be of interest to anyone following the rise of xenophobia in Germany, its possible causes, and the changing politics of immigration.
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German-Saudi Arabian Arms Deals 1936-1939 and 1981-1985: With an Essay on West Germany's Jews
Micheal Wolffsohn
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ASIN: 3820474900 |
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- An impressive anthology of essays
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A Sinner of Memory
Melita Schaum
Manufacturer: Michigan State University Press
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ASIN: 0870137077 |
Customer Reviews:
An impressive anthology of essays.......2004-09-09
A Sinner Of Memory is an impressive anthology of essays written by poet and essayist Melita Schuam and arising from her personal life experiences. A woman in her 40s, a traveler, writer, and occasional iconoclast, Melita writes about midlife relationships, concerns about parenting, and the changing meaning of freedom as life experiences accumulate. Melita is a gifted writer whose essays read smoothly, and are diverse as they are mind engaging. Very highly recommended and intelligent reading, the essays comprising A Sinner Of Memory include: Falling Bodies; The Recovery of Things; Grace; The Secret Lives of Fish; Theft and Loss; Home and Away; Preservation: A Story; Epithalamion; and The Weight of Spring Wind.
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Transforming the Center, Eroding the Margins: Essays on Ethnic and Cultural Boundaries in German-Speaking Countries (Studies in German Literature Linguistics and Culture)
Manufacturer: Camden House
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ASIN: 157113171X |
Book Description
Transforming the Center, Eroding the Marginsis a collection ofcritical articles about recent and contemporary German literaturedesigned to stimulate discussion about German-speaking culture from thepoint of view of diversity. The combination of broad historicalapproaches and detailed textual analyses made it possible to present inthis volume a spectrum of identities and positions within theGerman-speaking sphere, and sometimes even within the work of a singleauthor. Examining the works of German-speaking authors of differentbackgrounds and countries of residence from many different points ofview shows that the very concept of a unified "German Culture" is aconstruct.Because of the increasing visibility of various ethnic,religious, cultural, and economic groups -- including migrant workers,exiles, and immigrants -- multiculturalism and cultural diversity inCentral Europe have received considerable attention in public debatesince the disintegration of the Eastern bloc and the fall of the BerlinWall. Yet neither cultural diversity nor the gender issues examinedthroughout the volume are recent phenomena. Upon closer scrutiny thenotions of center and margin are shown to have origins in the nineteenthcentury and before.The articles in this volume, distinct in theirapproaches and each one concerned with specific situations, reveal anongoing decline of mainstream discourse: the erosion of the cultural"center," and a strengthening of what continues to be referred to as"marginal." The literary and intellectual production of groups that areseen as marginal is becoming ever more compelling and visible, as isdocumented in Transforming the Center, Eroding the Margins.
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Constructivism and Science: Essays in Recent German Philosophy (The Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science)
Manufacturer: Springer
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ASIN: 0792302516 |
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This digital document is an article from Notes, published by Music Library Association, Inc. on June 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1570 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Jazz and the Germans: Essays on the Influence of "Hot" American Idioms on 20th-Century German Music. .(Book Review)
Author: Elmar Juchem
Publication:
Notes (Refereed)
Date: June 1, 2003
Publisher: Music Library Association, Inc.
Volume: 59
Issue: 4
Page: 888(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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Tourism 2000: Building a Sustainable Future for Asia-Pacific
Manufacturer: World Tourism Organization
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 9284402263 |
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