Thomas Cutler wrote an excellent book on the Battle of Leyte Gulf a quarter of a century ago. He has followed up brilliantly by compiling this, accurately named, retrospective. This time, he has combined his own research with those of numerous others from modern historians to contemporary commentators.
The result is first-rate naval history. As well as a comprehensive overview of the full extent of the battle that took place "around" rather than "in" Leyte Gulf, Cutler's approach offers an enormous amount of detail as to how the battle progressed on an almost minute-by-minute basis.
He has been aided by having access to the enormous resources of his employer, the Naval Institute Press. But it must be said that he has sorted through that staggering large receptacle of information to present the very best of it.
Your reviewer was not born at the time of the battle but he has since talked with several people who participated in it. He has also sailed around much of that very extensive marine battlefield – albeit by ferry. While not an eye-witness, he therefore has some feel for the place. Thomas Cutler certainly presents that "feel" very effectively.
(By Thomas J. Cutler)
Available from the Naval Institute Press, Annapolis, USA.
Web: www.nip.org
