"The Divine Wind - Japan's Kamikaze Force in World War II"

[vikingBerserker]

The Divine Wind - Japan's Kamikaze Force in World War II
by Capt Rikihei Inoguchi and Cdr Tadashi Nakajima with Roger Pineau
ISBN: 1-55750-394-X

Devine Wind.jpg

What better way to understand the reasoning and the thought process of Japan's use of Kamikaze's then from the men who developed the program from the beginning until the end of the war. Those two men are the authors of this book.

This book is 240 pages long broken up into 5 Parts, and 21 Chapters and covers the period from the initial concept of this program (originally only to last 2 weeks) to the expanded use to the final attacks used in the war. The final 2 chapters are actually a nice "bonus". Chapter 21 is entitled "The Kamikaze Controversy" and touches upon the Japanese Attitudes and those of Foreigners about the use of this tactic. Chapter 21 includes a number of final letters from the airmen about to take their final flight. Interestingly enough, they are far different then those made by today's suicide bombers.

The book does a very good job of reporting the damage that the Japanese claimed they had inflicted vs what the US ending up reporting. Also included are 59 pictures (some well known, others not so much) sprinkled throughout the book.



If this is a topic that you have any interest in, then I highly recommend this book.