The book, Battle Of The Pacific, tells the story of World War II as fought between the Allies and the Imperial Japanese armed forces in the remote expanse of the Pacific Ocean.  Like so many battles before it, the Battle of the Pacific was precipitated by a series of events.  The United States had imposed an oil embargo on Japan as punishment for the latter's aggression in China during the 1930s.  Since Japan's wartime economy needed oil, the military leadership decided on a course of economic expansion by the acquisition of territory in the Pacific island ring and South-East Asia through the use of military force.  This in turn lead Japan to neutralize the only force that stood in their way of military domination of South-East Asia and the Pacific Ocean, the American Navy.  In the six months that followed the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Empire expanded in a series of breathtaking military victories  leading to the fall of the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines.  While Japan had counted on a short war, the Allies were not to be denied their revenge.  Beginning with the weakening of the Japanese fleet at Coral Sea and their unmitigated disaster at Midway the tide began to turn such that by the end of 1942 the outcome to the war was clear.  America's limitless resources had sealed the fate of Japan yet Japan fought on.  Japanese forces at Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Luzon, Iwo Jima and Okinawa defended their positions fanatically and with a complete disregard for life itself.  It also lead to the deployment of Kamikaze forces in a last ditch attempt to hold off the inevitable.  This fanaticism horrified the Allies and was a major factor in President Truman's decision to drop the atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in order to force Japan's quick surrender and avoid thousands of additional casualties in a planned invasion of Japan.  This book includes the following major sections: 1) Pearl Harbor: A Blow for Empire; 2) The Fight for Wake; 3) Blitzkrieg of the Rising Sun; 4) Battle of the Coral Sea; 5) Battle of Midway; 6) Guadalcanal: Japan's First Land Defeat; 7) Guadalcanal: The Sea Battles and 8) The Road to Victory: Guadalcanal to Okinawa.  In addition to an informative narrative, this book includes the following features: 1) Approximately 65 black and white vintage photographs; 2) About 52 color illustrations and 3) 13 maps.  This book is 64 pages and is in excellent condition.  The editor is Andrew Kershaw and assistant editor is Ian Close.  Edition published in 1975.