Ian W. Toll's Pacific War Trilogy

Two of the three books have been published so far:

1. Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942
2. The Conquering Tide: War in the Pacific Islands, 1942-1944

The final volume (Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945) is set for publication in 2019.

I can't recommend this series enough. As a fan of World War II history, I had only a passing knowledge of the War in the Pacific as much of the focus in history textbooks is on the War in Europe. This series has been very eye opening to me as it does a very good job of showing both sides of the conflict. Toll does an incredible job of diving into the various personalities of the principal leaders in the theater. One of the major things I came to learn was that Emperor Hirohito was more involved in the prosecution of military strategy than I previously thought. Other histories I have read make him out to be just a stooge. But he was actually very involved in war planning as the war began to go south for the Japanese.

The first volume of the series, Pacific Crucible, begins with Pearl Harbor and delves into the various factors that led up to the attack. The book climaxes with the actions in the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway. The second volume picks up with the Guadalcanal campaign and climaxes with the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The third and final volume will begin with the Battle of Peleliu and will, of course, climax with the surrender of the Japanese in Tokyo Bay in September 1945.

If you are a fan of history and want greater knowledge of the Pacific War, this series will probably be your best bet. I can't recommend it highly enough.