Shattered sword
by Jonathan Parshall · first published 2005
79% recommend21% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Well-sourced account of the Battle of Midway from the Japanese side, drawing on Japanese archival material and covering naval culture and doctrine; suits readers wanting detail beyond standard histories.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
"The Battle of Midway turned the tide of the Pacific War. It is without question one of the most famous battles in history. Now, for the first time since Gordon W. Prange's Miracle at Midway, comes a myth-smashing new interpretation of this great naval engagement." "Making extensive use of untapped Japanese primary sources, including Imperial Navy operational records never before used by Western authors, Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully reconstruct the actual sequence of the critical events of June 4, 1942, looking afresh at the decisions of the U.S and Japanese commanders, and placing the
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Yes, it did. See Shattered Sword by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully. (One additional feature often seen in the story is the part where the umpire "resurrects" the two Japanese carriers which were "sunk" in the attack---that part…
on “We only ever talk about the third attack on Pearl Harbor” ↗You should read Shattered Sword, by Parshall and Tully. It is one of the most comprehensive accounts of Midway I've ever read, and dives deeply into Japanese archival sources in a way that the vast majority of histories of Midway do…
on “Night of the Guillotine: The Fall of Robespierre” ↗…group (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Round_Table_movement), which apparently published a newsletter. That being said, non-professional-historians are capable of producing good history (for example, see Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway, by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully. I wouldn't discount it for the authors' qualifications alone. On the other, other hand, everything about it is setting…
on “Collections: No Man’s Land, Part II: Breaking the Stalemate” ↗Shattered Sword, by Anthony P. Tully and Jonathan Parshall. An in-depth analysis of the battle of Midway, primarily from the Japanese perspective, covering everything from the organizational culture of the IJN and its…
on “Ask HN: What should I read next?” ↗These 2, in this order: Incredible Victory by Walter Lord[1]. The story of Midway, fairly balanced. Shattered Sword by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully[2]. also about Midway, but more research on Japanese sources. Has updated information about some things that are taken as "truth" about Midway. Amazing book. EDITED…
on “The Programmer's Brain (2021)” ↗…made from cargo ship hulls. Warning, may inspire you to learn a whole bunch more about world war 2. And 2 books that sort of go together: Incredible Victory: The Battle of Midway by Walter Lord, and Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway by Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully. Read Incredible Victory first, learn about the luck, good and bad, that led to a much-needed victory in the Pacific. Then…
on “Ask HN: What books have been worth your time?” ↗I don't have much time lately to actually read books, so I listen to them on my bike ride to and from work. I have had "Shattered Sword" as a paperback book for more than 10 years, and never read more than 2 pages in it. Once I started listening to the audiobook, I pretty much had to finish it. It's about 24 hours of audio. Longer than…
on “We only ever talk about the third attack on Pearl Harbor” ↗…poor navigation - it's not all on the pilots, this was hard throughout the war for all sides, but specifically I mean that different groups went different places. For Midway, I highly recommend reading Shattered Sword or watching any number of the presentations the authors have given.
on “We only talk about the third attack on Pearl Harbor” ↗…the game, the Japanese would not be surprised. I think the concept could work. Just choose a different battle. :) P.S. If you’re into this stuff this is a must read. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shattered_Sword
on “Ask HN: What game do you wish existed?” ↗Highly recommend "Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway". Great book on why Japanese navy was doomed to lose at Midway.
on “The Navy Needs a Wider Look at Wargaming” ↗…killings on campus. This has just been on my mind lately. Just saying that without social release valves for shame you can get some really wild consequences. PS for anyone interested in Midway, read Shattered Sword for everything you ever wanted to know about early-war Japanese flight deck operations.
on “Students have to jump through absurd hoops to use exam monitoring software” ↗…the top of the island, which meant they often couldn't receive longer ranged transmissions, so it would be up to escorting cruisers to receive messages and then transmit them to the carrier. The book "Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway" has some good information about some of these nitty-gritty details.
on “In two incidents, F-16 aviators were rendered unconscious, but saved by software” ↗I agree, that video series is very good. (And, among its sources it lists the Shattered Sword book recommended elsewhere in this thread)
on “We only ever talk about the third attack on Pearl Harbor” ↗Oh yeah, on the applying military concepts to software engineering: Shattered Sword talks a lot about organizational/strategic/doctrinal deficiencies and I found the lessons to be very relevant to how teams work. I definitely recommend that book if you're any kind of leader or work in…
on “The Programmer's Brain (2021)” ↗Interestingly, "Shattered Sword" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shattered_Sword) a modern book about the battle of Midway, from the Japanese point of view, starts with something similar. Japanese navy did wargames before the attack,…
on “We only talk about the third attack on Pearl Harbor” ↗