HBO's The Pacific

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Joy Fleishhacker -- School Library Journal, 04/07/2010

This 10-part World War II miniseries premiered on HBO on March 14 with new episodes airing weekly on Sunday evenings. Executive produced by Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman, the team behind HBO’s Band of Brothers (2001), The Pacific portrays the true-life stories of three U.S. Marines—Pfc. Robert Leckie (played by James Badge Dale), Pfc. Eugene Sledge (Joe Mazzello), and Sgt. John Basilone (Jon Seda)—and their fellow soldiers, tracing their interconnected experiences in the Pacific Theater from their first confrontation with the Japanese on Guadalcanal through to their eventual return home after V-J Day. Epic in scale and depicting such brutal battles as Cape Gloucester, Peleliu, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, the show blends poignant storytelling with an eyewitness-style portrayal of history. The series is based in part on memoirs written by Leckie and Sledge as well as interviews conducted by the filmmakers.

The official Web site for The Pacific provides a treasure trove of facts for viewers. Included here is a wealth of info about the making of the series (production notes, storyboards, set designs, etc.), bios of cast and crew, interviews with the filmmakers, behind-the-scenes videos, and more. Each episode is introduced with a plot synopsis, an article providing historical background, and an interactive battle map. Narrated clips filled with archival photos and/or footage as well as commentary from historians add depth and detail to the historical perspective. Other features include a downloadable education guide and a “Tributes” section that encourages users to post their stories about veterans or active members of the military. Whether they are interested in learning more about the show’s specifics or exploring history, there’s much here for teens to browse, pause over, and learn.

Book Tie-ins

These riveting nonfiction reads are sure to appeal to fans of the TV epic as well as history buffs and teens interested in the military. The Pacific (NAL/Caliber, 2010), the official companion book to the miniseries, will draw in readers with a dramatic series-based cover photo and tagline (“Hell was an ocean away”). Written by Hugh Ambrose, who served as consultant on the production, this gripping narrative history is the result of years of extensive research based on primary documentation including memoirs, military records, letters, and interviews. According to the author’s introduction, the goal of the book “is to take the reader through the Pacific War, from first to last, through the eyes of a select few of the men who fought it. In this way, the reader enjoys the immediacy of the individual narrative, but sees the war as a whole.” Ambrose concentrates on five soldiers, three of whom have been introduced in the miniseries (Sledge, Basilone, and Sidney C. Phillips), and two others whose experiences help to paint a panoramic picture of the war (veteran Marine Austin “Shifty” Shofner and naval aviator Vernon Micheel). The dual approach—relating broad events while also focusing on the expectations, experiences, and insights of the featured individuals—provides a powerful entrée to history. Quotes appear throughout the readable text, and two sections of archival black-and-white photos are included.

Filled with dramatic photographs, detailed maps, and reproductions of contemporary documents, Richard Overy’s handsome, coffee-table-style volume provides an attention-grabbing introduction to War in the Pacific (Osprey, 2010). Well-written, two-page chapters offer overviews of Imperial Japan, Pearl Harbor, and each of the major operations from the Battle of Coral Sea to Okinawa, ending with the deployment of atomic bombs and the Japanese surrender. Throughout, important dates conveniently appear on left-hand margins and boxed sections provide photos and bios of leaders on both sides of the conflict. An array of facsimile documents, many of which are removable, include official military dispatches and casualty reports, a draft of President Roosevelt’s post-Pearl Harbor address to Congress (with hand-written changes), a “Pocket Guide to Australia” issued to U.S. Army and Navy forces, a letter from General MacArthur to his wife, and more. These realistic-looking records—with their yellowed-with age pages and “Declassified” stamps—will create a powerful sense of propinquity for students.

David Horner’s World War II: The Pacific (2010), part of Rosen’s “World War II: Essential Histories” series, provides a well-organized, clearly written introduction to the topic geared toward YA readers. After presenting background about the expansion of Imperial Japan, the author describes the major military campaigns (focusing on Australian and British troops as well as on American soldiers), and ends with a discussion of the war’s impact and aftermath. Clear subtitles make it easy to locate information and follow the course of action. The colorful battle maps are helpfully keyed with numbered chronologies of events, and black-and-white photos provide glimpses of individuals, locales, and combat action. More sophisticated readers might be interested in The Pacific War: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima (Osprey, 2010). Edited by Daniel Marston, this offering contains 13 chronologically arranged chapters penned by renowned military historians from the United States, Japan, Great Britain, and Australia. Most of the essays focus on particular battles, with other pieces treating subjects such as “Amphibious Warfare in the Pacific” or “Ending the Pacific War.” Detailed maps of battle campaigns help readers to follow the action, while numerous large-size black-and-white and color archival photos capture their attention. Though occasionally a bit scholarly in tone, this volume, with its noteworthy international perspective, provides an absorbing look at the subject.

Teens curious about the real-life Marines featured on the HBO series may be interested in reading a memoir or account penned by one of these individuals. Robert Leckie’s critically acclaimed work, Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific (Random House, 1957), cited as one of the main sources for the miniseries, has been reissued by Bantam with a media tie-in tagline. This gripping first-person account describes Leckie’s experiences from his enlistment in the U.S. Marines shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor through his basic training and into combat in the Pacific with the 1st Marine Division, balancing harrowing battle action with reflections and insights about war. The book is also available from Tantor Media in an unabridged CD edition. The other major inspiration for the series, E. B. Sledge’s first-person memoir, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa, was first published in 1981 and re-issued in 2007 by Presidio Press.

Leckie’s critically acclaimed, densely detailed narrative history, Strong Men Armed: The United States Marines against Japan, originally published in 1962 (Random), has been re-issued by Da Capo Press with a media tie-in cover. Combining in-depth research and historical detail with a page-turning storytelling style, this book is both informative and engrossing. Maps, captioned black-and-white photos, and a chronology are included.

R. V. Burgin, another soldier portrayed in the miniseries, has just published a memoir entitled Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific (NAL/Caliber, 2010), written with Bill Marvel. With straightforward language and an economy of words, Burgin recounts his transformation from a naïve Texas farm boy to a battle-hardened soldier who saw action in New Britain, Peleliu, and Okinawa. The book clearly describes what it was like to be a Marine in the field in the Pacific Theater—vividly chronicling personal discomforts and day-to-day survival challenges, the terror and stunning brutality of combat, and the heart-wrenching loss of treasured comrades. The narrative, with its gentle touches of humor, quiet humility, and old-fashioned charm, will leave readers feeling as though they’ve been listening to stories shared by an elderly relative. Filled with harrowing details and moments of insight, this personal account reminds us all about the horrors of war, the everyday heroism of soldiers, and the honor of serving one’s country. Several maps and a section of captioned black-and-white photos are included. The book is also available on audio CD from Tantor Media.

Pub Info

AMBROSE, Hugh. The Pacific. NAL/Caliber. 2010. Tr $26.95. ISBN 978-0-451-23023-2.

OVERY, Richard. War in the Pacific. Osprey. 2010. Tr $45. ISNB 978-1-8 4908-394-2.

HORNER, David. World War II: The Pacific. “World War II: Essential Histories” series. Rosen. Apr. 2010. PLB $31.95. ISBN 978-1-4358-9133-3.

The Pacific War: From Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima. ed. by Daniel Marston. Osprey. 2010. pap. $19.95. ISBN 978-1-84908-382-9.

LECKIE, Robert. Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific. Bantam. 2010. pap. $16. ISBN 978-0553593310.

_____. Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific. Tantor Media. 2010. 9 audio CDs. Lib. ed. $69.99. EAN 9781400140503.

SLEDGE. E.B. With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. Presidio Press. 2007. Tr pap. $16. ISBN 978-0-89141-906-8; Mass market pap. $7.99. ISBN 978-0-89141-919-8.

LECKIE, Robert. Strong Men Armed: The United States Marines Against Japan. Media tie-in ed. Da Capo Press. 2010. pap. $17.95. ISBN 978-0-306-81887-5.

BURGIN, R. V. Islands of the Damned: A Marine at War in the Pacific. with Bill Marvel. NAL/Caliber. 2010. Tr $24.95. ISBN 978-0-451-22990-8.