The Armed Forces of the Pacific

By Captain W. D. PulestonYALE, $2.75

THE subtitle of this book is ‘A Comparison of the Military and Naval Power of the United States and Japan.’ The rise of modern Japan is treated briefly, followed by an excellent sketch of Japanese military organization. A chapter on the American high command describes our military structure from the President down, with special emphasis on the organization of the land, air, and sea forces. From a survey of the military geography of the Pacific, the author concludes that the position of the United States is one of great inherent strength; that of Japan one of inherent weakness. The same conclusion emerges from his descriptive and statistical comparison of the Japanese and American navies. His discussion of strategy and tactics tends on the whole to follow conventional lines. One regrets that there is so little about some of the newer weapons and formations — long-range bombing planes, carrier-based torpedo planes, the so-called carrier striking group, and so forth. For it may be these, rather than massed fleets, that will strike the decisive blows in case of war in the Pacific. The book closes with an appeal for a more aggressive policy that will enable the United States to achieve its destiny as the world’s leading Power. H. S.