Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for Taking Midway:
When reading the mail was so important.
Quick synopsis:
The story of Midway Island and the battle which turned the tide of World War II in the Pacific.
Fact for Non-History People:
The Japanese lost 3,000 personnel in comparison to the U.S.’s about 300.
Fact for History Nerds:
Midway is the only island in the Hawaiian Archipelago that is not part of the state of Hawaii.
My Take on Taking Midway:
Martin Dugard is a “gateway drug.” Please let me explain.
I had the distinct honor to interview Dugard for my podcast and he even described himself as a gateway drug to the casual reader who doesn’t realize they love history, yet. His latest is Taking Midway and it might just be the best of his “Taking” series, in my opinion.
The important thing is to know what you are getting into. The gold standard for the Pacific theater of World War II is Ian Toll’s trilogy. Dugard even calls this out at the end of the book. Trying to top Toll with an exhaustive, detailed account is a fool’s errand. Luckily, Dugard goes his own way. His chapters are short and succinct. He focuses on smaller moments around the bigger ones most of us know. Yes, as other reviewers will point out, he uses clipped sentences (sometimes just a single word!) to provide a feeling of intensity and drama. I can understand where this may not work for people, but I find it very effective for the story Dugard is telling.
What caught me most off guard is Dugard’s own emotions leaking into the text. Specifically, his feeling that the tragedy of Wake Island is mostly forgotten is clearly a sore spot. Other times he will even let you know immediately what the fate of a character is without dragging it out. These are choices not often seen in history books and I found it invigorating. Clearly, I highly recommend it.
(This book was provided as an advance copy by Netgalley and Dutton Books.)
Verdict:
Perfect for people who don’t know they love history, yet. Buy it here!
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