It has been a while since I have read this groundbreaking book, so I thought I would enjoy myself once more with the thought of writing this review. I remember buying this book in the Midshipman's Store at the Naval Academy when it came out in 1984, and little did I know how many times I would turn the pages over the years.

I see John Lundstrom as a transitional figure in naval and military historical writing. There is strikingly little about the man out there, possibly because he was not a prolific writer. A long-time member of the curatorial staff of the Milwaukee Public Museum, Lundstrom's first book reflected his interest in the Pacific War. Published in 1977 by the U.S. Naval Institute, "The First South Pacific Campaign: Pacific Fleet Strategy December 1941-June 1942" showed the author's interest in the early campaigns of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and it filled a gap in the scholarship of the Pacific War. It was another seven years before USNI published this volume, but its impact on the naval history community was quickly felt. Since the appearance of "The First Team", Lundstrom has won a number of awards for his writing, and he has served as the inspiration for a new generation of naval historians.

My first edition copy of "The First Team" has 547 pages divided into four parts and a total of 18 chapters. Up front there is a forward by one of Lundstrom's muses for this work, Rear Admiral William Leonard, one of the The First Team Lundstrom will write about. Behind the foreword is a preface, acknowledgement page, a special note that deals with Japanese naval aircraft designations, and a helpful section on abbreviations and special terms. In back, Lundstrom provides no fewer than seven appendices, all of which convey considerable background information. Appendix 1, The Making of Carrier Fighter Pilots; Appendix 2, Fundamentals of Aerial Fixed Gunnery; and Appendices 4 and 5 concerning U.S. and Japanese air combat tactics are most useful in reading the book.

The book is arranged chronologically, covering the early Pacific War from Pearl Harbor to the beginning of July 1942, after the Battle of Midway. Part I (Chapters 1 to 8) covers the war from Pearl Harbor to the Doolittle Raid. Part II (Chapters 9 to 13) runs from the preliminaries for the Battle of the Coral Sea to its aftermath. Part III (Chapters 14 to 18) tells the story of the Battle of Midway and its aftermath. Part IV is the conclusion for the book.

What separates Lundstrom from earlier Pacific War historians is his expert incorporation of primary sources, both American and Japanese. Earlier authors, like John Toland and Walter Lord, depended heavily on Samuel Elliot Morison and interviews for the American side and translations of postwar interrogations of senior Japanese officers for the opposite view. Lundstrom went a bit further by using newly published Japanese scholarly works on the war as well as archival sources for the American story. Lundstrom dove deep into the details of naval air combat, accounting for the actions of individual pilots on both sides in every combat action, including Japanese pilots where such identification is possible. Lundstrom also dives deep into controversies, including brutally honest assessments of the standard U.S. naval fighter of this period, the Grumman F4F-3/3A/4 Wildcat, among which there were significant performance differences, as well as the development of the breakthrough American air combat tactic during this period, the "Thach Weave". Lundstrom also provides something for the aircraft modeler, Appendix 3, which provides descriptions and illustrations of the Wildcats flown by some of the pilots whose actions are described in the text.

"The First Team" is a must-read for any student of air combat in general and of air combat in the Pacific War in particular. It is simply a fabulous read. ( )

A comprehensive but, nevertheless, readable account of the U.S.Navy carrier fighter operations in the Pacific between December 1941 and June 1942. The book is thoroughly researched and very well edited (A single BuAer serial error in such a large volume is not an easy feat!). Maps and pictures can be improved a bit but it was my stupid error to buy a paperback edition! ( )

Thorough and excellent analysis of naval fighter combat in the early days of WW2 ( )