The Commanders: Yamamoto
3/23/202659 min
Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was the mastermind of the “sneak attack” on Pearl Harbour that dragged the United States into the Second World War. His strategy stunned the Allies and allowed the Japanese military to make gains across the Pacific that took years of hard, bloody fighting to reverse. But Yamamoto was a commander who understood the folly of war with the United States and its allies, yet paradoxically did more than most to bring war about. The failure to finish the job at Pearl Harbour, his overconfident, flawed planning at Midway and his unwillingness to commit to a decisive battle at Guadalcanal ultimately meant the very tools he had perfected were turned back against Japan with ruinous consequences.
In the fourth episode of our Commanders series, we peel back the myth and propaganda to explore the enigmatic admiral at the very heart of the Pacific War. What can the real Yamamoto tell us about hubris, strategy, and the tragedy of inevitability? Joining us is the historian Mark Stille, who, after a nearly 40-year career in the intelligence community, is the author of numerous books on naval history in the Pacific theatre, including Pearl Harbour: Japan's Greatest Disasterand Midway: The Pacific War's Most Famous Battle.
Produced and edited by Dougal Patmore.
Dan Snow's History Hit is now available on YouTube! Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/@DSHHPodcast
Sign up to History Hit for hundreds of hours of original documentaries, with a new release every week and ad-free podcasts. Sign up at https://www.historyhit.com/subscribe.
You can also email the podcast directly at ds.hh@historyhit.com.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsDan Snow· Host0:00
Have you been enjoying my podcast and now want even more history? Sign up to HistoryHit and watch the world's best history documentaries on subjects like how William conquered England, what it was like to live in the Georgian era, and you can even hear the voice of Richard III. We've got hundreds of hours of original documentaries, plus new releases every week, and there's always something more to discover. Sign up to join us in historic locations around the world and explore the past. Just visit historyhit.com/subscribe.
Speaker 10:28
[soft music] Imagine sending a high-stakes business proposal from coolguy ninety-two at mail.com. Yikes. It's time for a professional upgrade. At Ionos, you can grab a professional email and domain for just one dollar per month. It's the cheapest way to make your business look like a million bucks. Stop the email embarrassment and claim your professional identity for a single dollar at ionos.com/podcast. That's I-O-N-O-S.com/podcast and use code Talk10 today to save.
Hayden1:01
Howdy, howdy, ho, and welcome to Fantasy Fanfellas. I'm Hayden, producer of the Fantasy Fangirls podcast and your resident lover of all things Sanderson.
Steven1:10
And I'm Steven, your bookish internet goofball, but you can call me the Smash Daddy.
Hayden1:14
And we are currently deep diving Brandon Sanderson's fantasy epic, Mistborn. But here's the catch. Steven here has not read Mistborn before.
Steven1:23
That's right, Hayden. So each week, you'll get my unfiltered, raw reactions to every single chapter.
Hayden1:28
And along the way, we'll do character deep dives,