It is an informative, inspiring and thrilling read. Of all japans aces, saburo sakai is the only pilot who never lost a wingman in combat. Saburo sakai was born into one of japans great samurai warrior families and became one of his country s greatest ww2 pilots and the only one to survive the war. Dont usually read war aviation books, but this one was very good. Sakai came from a family descended from samurai, japans ancient warrior class. In 1985 sakai told historian henry sakaida, what was written in samurai. The book states that on the night of august 1415, 1945, the evening before tokyos surrender, sakai and an ensign jiro kawachi intercepted a b29 and shot it down. The unforgettable saga of japans greatest fighter pilot. The book has been hand signed and numbered in pencil out of 200 copies.
The unforgettable saga of japans greatest fighter pilot by saburo sakai, martin caidin, fred saito and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. For a man who engaged in more than 200 aerial combats, this was an incredible achievement. Sabukuo sakai got seriously wounded over the airbattle of guadalcanal. Find great deals on ebay for saburo sakai and pappy boyington.
Last flight from rabaul zero saburo sakai aviation autographs. Sakai, born in 1916, hoped to escape the poverty of life in his rural village by enlisting in the imperial japanese navy at age 16. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read samurai. Get the best deal by comparing prices from over 100,000 booksellers.
He was taught to live by the code of bushido, which he defined in his book, samurai. He came from a family descended from a long line of samurai. Sublieutenant saburo sakai was a japanese naval aviator and flying ace gekitsuio, of the imperial japanese navy during world war ii. Samurai by saburo sakai martin caidin fred saito abebooks. The movie kept very close to the book, and stuck to the facts. Samurai is another book you wont be able to put down. The forward explains how everyone was first exposed to the japanese side of world war ii with the book samurai. Claims have been made that his autobiography samurai. Saburo sakai is japans greatest fighter pilot to survive world war ii, and his powerful memoir has proven to be one of the most popular and enduring books ever written on the pacific war. Samurai aug 1978 by fred saito saburo sakai wmartin. I was very glad to find that martin caidens 1957 book samurai.
Saburo sakai sakai, saburo used books, rare books and new books. The story of saburo sakai provides for the first time an intimate look into the other side. First published in english in 1957, it gave americans new perspectives on the air war and on the japanese pilots who, until then, had been perceived in the united states as mere caricatures. Sakai s account of the rise and fall of japanese naval aviation has not lost any of its riveting impact in the nearly 60 years since. Saburo sakai is perhaps one of the most famous japanese air aces to emerge from wwii, credited with at least 28 aerial victories and shooting down or severely damaging well over 60 allied. Samurai by saburo sakai and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. It was published by champlin fighter museum press references. Unfortunately it also has a chip on its authors shoulders. It then goes onto to poke holes in two stories contained with the book. The airbattles are suspensefull and detailed, as good as in the movie midway, but with a much smaller budged. Illustrated edition by martin caiden, saburo sakai, fred. Caidin was an airplane pilot as well, and bought and restored a 1936 junkers ju 52 airplane.
This is his story, the firsthand, fullthrottle account of his more than 200 missions, 64 confirmed kills, and countless daredevil exploits. This wellwritten, first person memoir covers sakai s early life and entire war experience from his brutal pilot training in the 1930s to the attack on pearl harbor and firebombing of. Curiosity got to me and by luck i found an original edition in a local bookstore powells city of books. Saburo sakai s 500 mile trek back to rabual from guadacanal in his crippled zero is a testimony to the man and to the nature of war.
Saburo sakai, the pilot i admire the most, signed my book. Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots is a book by henry sakaida dealing with the wartime history of saburo sakai and other imperial japanese navy air service pilots who flew the mitsubishi. Its the japanese version of the first and last and the reader follows sakai s career from the early days of japanese victory to the wars conclusion. Saburo sakai was born august 16th 1916 in the farming village of nishiyoka in the saga prefecture on kyushu island, japan. I bought the book 10 years later, to read about his wartime experience as a ww2 japanese fighter pilot. Saburo sakai became a living legend in japan during world war ii. Japanese pilot, saburo sakai, relates his experiences from china through the end of the war. Sakai had 28 aerial victories including shared by official japanese records, while his autobiography samurai. First off, let me say that this is one of the grand combat memoirs of world war iibut you knew that, right. By 1937 he had graduated at the top of this his enlisted pilottraining class, and he quickly saw combat in china. Samurai by saburo sakai, martin caidin, fred saito and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Saburo sakai, one of the japanese navys leading aces left rabaul that. Pilots everywhere spoke in awe of his incredible exploits in the air. Saburo sakai and the zero fighter pilots is a 1985 book by henry sakaida dealing with the wartime history of saburo sakai and other imperial japanese navy air service pilots who flew the mitsubishi a6m zero.
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