This week marks the 70th anniversary of the start of World War II so what better time to review this book which looks at Japanese Intelligence gathering during the late 1930's and through the 1940's. The author Ken Kotani's Japanese origins along with his international education (MA in war studies from Kings College, London) allowed him to gain access to some of Japan's war veterans. Many veterans still live under a cloud of fear that the USA will conduct investigations into their signals intelligence and put them on trial.

Kotani reviewed the methods and depth of intelligence gathering strategies used by the Japanese during World War II and compares them to the current methods being employed. The lack of regard for the value of intelligence and uncoordinated approach to information sharing hampered Japan's early war effort. Although they were aware of the different types of intelligence gathering and deployed many of them, the information was not often delivered to the right place at the right time leading to Japan fighting battles on many fronts simultaneously.

In this book Kotani brings seventy year of history to life, explaining that while the Japanese had only limited information about the size and shape of the attacks against them, the fact that the allies had written the Japanese off as bad pilots who couldn't control their machines gave them a silent advantage. We all know how the story ends but this book casts an interesting light on what happened in the thick of it all.

This book was reviewed by Keith on radio 2GB. The podcast is available by clicking through here.