Re: Revisionist history
 

Hi Brian,

thanks for your offer; unfortunately after the documents, I don't have much dosh left for an air ticket!

I'm certainly not knowledgeable in this area but my first thoughts on the plan would be the possible difficulties selling to the American public (if done on a large scale) and of resupply with such long lines of communication. Then, of course, there is the possible reaction by the Japanese to such a move. I don't know what the author would have to say about this. That is where the "would" in the book title catches my eye - it seems possible to play out a number of senarios but I at least have always thought that a Japanese pre-emptive strike against the US Pacific fleet was central to Japanese plans once the embargoes were in place. It would be interesting to know the parallel developments of Yamamoto's plan and the origins of the concept.

The Executive Summary of the book on the website has a passage:

"The Joint Board Plan, which called for bombing raids on Japanese interests beginning the first of November, 1941, could have smashed Japanese troop transport ships destined for invasions of Malaya."

Yes, that was a possibility but being the born skeptic, my mind dwells on Fortress Singapore, the British confidence in dealing with the Scharnthorst and Gneisenau channel dash and Operations Bottenplat and Gisela...the best laid plans of mice and men.

Anyway, from the extracts on the promotional site, the book looks like a tremendous and thorough piece of research and I hope that you may post a review at some stage once you have read it...

Cheers

Rod