A diligent, often dramatic evaluation of a durable dispute from WW II: Which American pilot deserves the credit for shooting Japan's greatest admiral out of the sky. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, commander of the Japanese navy and mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor, was killed on April 18, 1943, in an aerial ambush by a squadron of U.S. Army P-38s based on Guadalcanal. Glines describes how the trap was set after U.S. naval intelligence discovered that Yamamoto would be flying between New Guinea and Bougainville on that date, and describes in detail how it was sprung.
One of the most famous events of WWII was the interception and downing of the plane carrying Admiral Yamamoto to the island of Bougainville in 1943. Breaking one of the Japanese codes alerted the Allies to the time of Yamamoto's visit to his men stationed on Bougainville. By careful planning of the time and speed needed for interception, there was a successful mission by P-38s stationed on Guadalcanal in meeting Yamamoto's aircraft and downing it off of Bougainville. The death of the Naval hero who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor was a great blow to the morale of the Japanese.

With the victory at Guadalcanal, American troops finally regained a foothold in the South Pacific. Then the sudden opportunity for another major triumph arose. Admiral Yamamoto, the mastermind of the attack on Pearl Harbor, decided to visit his front-line troops, leaving himself briefly vulnerable.

One of the most famous events of WWII was the interception and downing of the plane carrying Admiral Yamamoto to the island of Bougainville in 1943. Breaking one of the Japanese codes alerted the Allies to the time of Yamamoto's visit to his men stationed on Bougainville. By careful planning of the time and speed needed for interception, there was a successful mission by P-38s stationed on Guadalcanal in meeting Yamamoto's aircraft and downing it off of Bougainville. The death of the Naval hero who planned the attack on Pearl Harbor was a great blow to the morale of the Japanese. But this is only the beginning of the story. There follows the ugly controversy concerning which pilot actually downed Yamamoto's aircraft that has still not and may now never be resolved. Glines offers a convincing argument for one of the pilot's claims, revealing how the personal ambitions of the other cast a sordidness over a truly remarkable achievement. ( )

The story of how the US finally got Yamamoto is an incredible read. Although this book is pretty short, I got really into the story and couldn't wait to do some more in-depth reading on both the Admiral and the P-38's that shot him down. This is a good, quick read. ( )