Attack on Yamamoto /

Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese navy and mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor, was killed on April 18, 1943, in an aerial ambush by a squadron of U.S. Army P-38s based on Guadalcanal. Glines ( The Doolittle Raid ) describes how the trap was set after U.S. naval intelligence discovered that Yamamoto would be flying between New Guinea and Bougainville on that date, and describes in detail how it was sprung. For nearly half a century a controversy has raged over which P-38 pilot deserves credit for the kill. Until now the leading contender has been Thomas G. Lanphier Jr., who until his death in 1987 was persistent in calling attention to himself as ``the man who got Yamamoto.'' Glines here painstakingly collects accounts from eyewitnesses (including the testimony of one of the Japanese escort pilots) plus evidence at the crash site, and concludes that the credit belongs to Lanphier's wingman, Rex T. Barber. All this makes for engrossing reading, but the most memorable element is Glines's portrait of Lanphier, a feverishly self-glorifying character whose behavior was rooted in his postwar political ambitions. Photos. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

On April 18, 1943, a flight of Army P-38 fighter planes intercepted and shot down the bomber carrying Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander in chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet. This book is less a popular reprise of the event than an attempt to settle the controversy over which of two American pilots actually killed the enemy warlord. Glines, the author of other aviation dramas (e.g., The Doolittle Raid, LJ 10/15/88; Doolittle's Tokyo Raiders, 1981), is not impartial about the matter. This is a lively and well-researched account, but frequently repetitious. Still, it is the best since Davis Burke's Get Yamamoto (Random, 1969. o.p.). For general collections only.-- Raymond L. Puffer, U.S. Air Force History Prog., Los Angeles (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

A diligent, often dramatic evaluation of a durable dispute from WW II: Which American pilot deserves the credit for shooting Japan's greatest admiral out of the sky? In evenhanded fashion, Glines (The Doolittle Raid, etc.) examines the circumstances surrounding the end of Isoroku Yamamoto, the man who masterminded Japan's sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. His rendezvous with death was set in motion when US forces in the Pacific theater intercepted and decoded an incautious message that the punctual naval commander was to make an inspection of front-line air bases. Early on the morning of April 18, 1943, an Army Air Corps squadron of P-38 fighters intercepted the light bomber in which the admiral was flying and sent it crashing into the Bougainville jungle, killing all aboard. Long after the successful completion of this odds against operation, which (owing to security considerations) was not publicized at the time, a low-level controversy arose as to who actually destroyed Yamamoto's plane. Intelligence officers conducted no formal debriefings after the mission. Accordingly, the boldly asserted claim by Thomas Lanphier, Jr., that he had done so was long unchallenged, in public at least. Lanphier's wingman, Rex T. Barber, and others who participated in the operation, however, never accepted their comrade's claim. Over the years, evidence has accumulated that their doubts were justified. Cases in point include 1975 testimony from the only known surviving pilot of the six Zero fighters flying escort for Yamamoto. Having reviewed a wealth of archival material and interviewed available eyewitnesses (excluding Lanphier, who died in 1987), Glines offers a tellingly detailed account of an epic air operation and its contentious aftermath. His research convinces him (as it will most readers) that the credit for having shot down Yamamota is solely due Rex Barber. A splendid reprise (complete with big-picture perspectives) of a turning-point chapter in American military history. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.