This excellent book is possible the best glimpse of the man behind the plan to attack Pearl Harbor and the plan to trap the U.S. Fleet at Midway. Admiral Yamamoto was experienced in the United States, having been schooled (at Yale, I believe) and knew the American psyche. He knew that the only way to defeat the United States was to strike early and hard, to discourage us before we could even get started. Yamamato was a habitual gambler which goes even further to explain the PH attack because it was an all out gamble. Discovery of the force could have led to disaster spoiling all of Japan's early war aims. Midway was a gamble as well, but this time, Yamamoto lost. This is an excellent study of a man who knew his warrior duties could have but one outcome: defeat for his nation. But he did his duty to the best of his ability, which was not inconsiderable.

Agawa gives great insight into the private life of Yamamoto. We see that he was an intellectual, romamtic, a gambling addict, a patriot, and most importantly, a military man who was agaist the junta that was running Japan prior to and during the war.

The deatails of the military command can get a little slow at times, but this is only testimony to the author's command of the subject. This is a must read for any armchair historian, as well as anyone interested in a facsinating biography. I could not put it down, and I'm no WWII or military buff.

This is an excellent study of a complex and contradictory man. Understandably vilified in the heat of war, a more interesting image has appeared over time. One cannot help but admire the daring and gambler quality of a man ordered to start a war he did not agree with and risked his life to prevent. Yamamoto certainly deserves to be remembered as a grand naval commander. It's unlikely any more authoritatve work will ever emerge as the author when directly to people who knew Yamamoto in life

Admiral Yamamoto did not want to go to war with the United States; a naval war he felt could be sustained for at most 18 months. But go to war he did and it cost him his life. This is an easy to read history of Yamamoto's life, rich in personal details. He turns out to have been an avid womanizer, with one and perhaps two mistresses throughout most of his career. A man who lost interest in his marriage fairly early and was merely a financial contributor for most of his married life. Most of the personal correspondence quoted and many of his poems were written to his number one mistress, with nothing of substance regarding his wife and children.

Yamamoto seems to have come up with the strategy for the attack on Pearl Harbor, but the detailed tactical planning was the work of his staff. Somehow the debacle of Midway, which occurred under his command and which was planned by his staff, did not result in his immediate replacement. This apparently was due to the Imperial Japanese Forces being in full denial mode and not wanting to high light the disaster by removing the hero of Pearl Harbor.

Yamamoto seems to have been something of a figurehead for most of his career after Pearl harbor and until his death. This could be misleading since the author focuses so much of his attention on Yamamoto's personal life and not so much on his naval leadership.

It is particularly interesting to learn that with the many signs pointing to the fact that the Japanese codes had been broken, they denied this possibility and continued to send the "coded" messages which resulted in Yamamoto's plane being shot down by United States P-38s. There is an excellent book on that subject, "Get Yamamoto" but it seems to be out of print ...

The original Japanese title of this book was simply Yamamoto Isoroku. I suppose renaming it The Reluctant Admiral with the implication that Isoroku was indecisive is comforting to american psychology. But otherwise it's the same book, and one of the few books I know about WW II Japan that isn't clichéd propaganda of either a rightist or leftist american persuasion.

Samurai! The biography of Saburo Sakai is also recommended although the ibook edition has an opinioned, and inaccurate forward by the new editor not Martin Caidin.