SAMURAI! New Annotated & Illustrated Edition pdf

The classic memoir of the Pacific Air War—now fully annotated and illustrated.

For nearly seventy years, Samurai! has been one of the most widely read and influential accounts of the air war in the Pacific. Based on the experiences of Japanese naval fighter ace Saburo Sakai, it introduced generations of readers to the world of Japan's naval aviators and the legendary Mitsubishi Zero.

Written from Sakai's recollections and brought to publication through the efforts of Fred Saito and Martin Caidin, the book helped shape Western understanding of the Pacific air war while also giving rise to numerous myths, inaccuracies, and controversies that have persisted for decades.

This New Annotated & Illustrated Edition includes:

• Extensive annotations identifying and correcting historical inaccuracies
• Explanatory notes clarifying events and providing historical context
• A new introduction
• Illustrated central plates featuring wartime photographs and a map

Preserving the complete original text while providing the historical context and corrections it has long required, this edition is the culmination of several years of research in Japanese-language primary sources and modern historical scholarship from both Japan and the West. It reexamines many aspects of Saburo Sakai's wartime experiences and offers the most comprehensive historical reassessment yet published of one of the most influential memoirs of the Second World War.