Before 1940, East Asia and the Pacific were contested regions. The United States vied with the Empire of Japan for the strategic domination of the Pacific Basin. To a lesser degree, the formerly hegemonic colonial powers of Britain, France, and the Netherlands still controlled portions of the region. At the same time, subjugated peoples in East Asia and Southeast Asia struggled to throw off colonialism. By the late 1930s, the competition exploded into armed conflict. Japan looked to be the early victor, but by 1945 the United States established itself as the hegemonic power in the Pacific Basin. New rivals, however, arose in the form of Communist and liberation movements on the Asian continent. In War in the American Pacific and East Asia, 1941–1972, editor Hal Friedman brings together nine essays that explore aspects of the Pacific War that remain understudied or, in some cases, entirely unexamined. Chapters present traditional subjects of the conflict in new ways, with essays on interservice rivalry and military advising, as well as unique topics new to military history, particularly the investigations of strategic communications, military public relations, institutional cultures of elite forces, foodways, and the military’s interaction with the press. Together, these essays firmly establish the Pacific War as the pivotal point in the twentieth century in the Pacific Basin.
