"Taaffe''s descriptions of strategy and operations are succinct. Any reader of military history will enjoy this valuable treatise on character and command." -- The Journal of America''s Military Past "History is often generous to victorious generals, focusing on their strengths and ignoring their faults. Commanding the Pacific gives you both, revealing the officers who led the Marine Corps through some of its most famous battles and campaigns in a balanced fashion. The author withholds personal judgments to lay out the facts in a neutral fashion, allowing the reader to evaluate them. This book effectively presents its subjects as human beings, with all the good and bad that implies, serving in difficult circumstances." -- WWII History "Readers familiar with the accounts of the Marine Corps'' Island campaigns of World War II will find this book enlightening on a higher level." -- Seapower "Taaffe has written a superb book on leaders of Marines--both in war and peacetime--that show these leaders embracing what Puryear called ''the ''whole Marine Concept'' of employing and orchestrating ground, aviation, and combat service support assets, as well as understanding the service infrastructure dedicated to recruiting, training, and equipping Marines.

Herein lies the key to Marine leadership and the main strength of this book. The author shows how Marine leaders . understood these precepts and successfully employed them in battle and in peacetime assignments." -- Naval Historical Foundation "In Commanding the Pacific , Stephen R. Taaffe puts on a writing clinic as he blends biographical sketches and personality studies with a historical narrative of the strategic and operational levels of the Pacific War. He also effortlessly weaves analysis into this mix. Readers can also glean lessons and habits of mind about leadership and teamwork." -- David J.

Ulbrich, author of Preparing for Victory: Thomas Holcomb and the Making of the Marine Corps, 1939-1943 "Much of our understanding of the Marine Corps in World War II has been shaped by the perspectives of the fighting men. Dutifully researched and exceptionally written, Commanding in the Pacific provides a much-needed analysis of USMC leadership to allow a fuller comprehension and appreciation of the Marine experience." -- Bradford A. Wineman, professor of military history, U.S. Marine Corps Command & Staff College "Stephen R. Taaffe''s Commanding the Pacific is an instant classic. Readers interested in the Marine Corps, combat leadership, and World War II will find it invaluable.

In combination with his previous works, this outstanding volume highlights Taaffe as the preeminent scholar on senior command in the U.S. military during America''s wars." -- William A. Taylor, author of Military Service and American Democracy ; Lee Drain Endowed University Professorship, Angelo State University "Stephen R. Taafe has written a long-overdue history of the commanding generals of the six large combat divisions fielded by the U.S. Marine Corps during World War II.

Because of the far-flung nature of combat in the Pacific,1941-1945, the performance of many of these crucial division commanders has been overlooked by historians. Thankfully, this is no longer the case. While the author does not hesitate to criticize some of these division commanders, most of whom had never commanded formations larger than a single regiment, his excellent history highlights the tremendous difficulty the entire Navy-Marine Corps team faced, especially toward the end of the war, when the Japanese decided that fanatical last-stand defensive efforts, like the ones conducted on Iwo Jima and Okinawa, were the best way to convince the Americans to not even contemplate an invasion of their home islands." -- Charles P. Neimeyer, Ph.D., professor, Naval War College, Fleet Support Program.