Ian W. Tolls dramatic narrative encompasses both the high command and the sailors-eye view from the lower deck. Relying predominantly on eyewitness accounts and primary sources, Pacific Crucible also spotlights recent scholarship that has revised our understanding of the conflict, including the Japanese decision to provoke a war that few in the countrys highest circles thought they could win. The result is a page-turning history that does justice to the breadth and depth of a tremendous subject.