Saburo Sakai was Japan's greatest fighter pilot to survive World War II, and his memoir is one of the most popular and enduring books written on the Pacific war. First published in English in 1957, it gave Americans new perspectives on the air war and on the Japanese pilots who, until then, were mere caricatures. Today, the book remains a valuable eyewitness account of some of the most famous air battles in history and a moving, personal story of a Samurai warrior.
A veteran of more than two hundred dogfights, Sakai reportedly shot down sixty-four Allied planes, but he is best known for flying his crippled Zero nearly 600 miles to safety while partially paralyzed and nearly blind from multiple wounds.
Saburo Sakai joined the Japanese Navy at sixteen in 1932. He logged 3,700 flight hours during the war. Later he became popular inspirational speaker and made occasional trips to the United States to discuss the Pacific War. He is deceased.
