Author(s): Thomas McKelvey Cleaver

Military History

This was the reaction of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy when he received orders in November 1941 to attack the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. For the next five months and 27 days, he kept his word as the Japanese fleet swept across the Pacific. The admiral's ultimate goal was to provoke a fleet action with the US Navy while the Combined Fleet still had technological and material superiority, and, he succeeded. In June 1942, the two fleets met off Midway Island in one of the most decisive battles of the Pacific War. Drawing on extensive first-hand accounts and ground-breaking new analysis, I Will Run Wild tells the fascinating story of the Americans, Britons, Australians and New Zealanders who stood against a stronger and better-prepared foe and managed to turn the tide of the war in their favor. Book jacket.