The opening salvos of the Battle of the Coral Sea were fired one month before Midway. Gamble in the Coral Sea recounts the story of this battle from the Japanese point of view. Based on extensive Japanese-language sources, author Michal A. Piegzik challenges established Western narratives surrounding this critical engagement in the Pacific War.

Operation MO, the Japanese plan to seize Port Moresby, kicked off in May 1942. The operation was considered a vital part of Japanese strategy. Victory would isolate Australia and New Zealand and extend access to vital resources crucial to Japan's war effort. Victory would prove elusive after American codebreakers deciphered Japanese radio traffic that revealed their plans in the weeks leading up to the launch. U.S. forces located elements of the Japanese navy as they steamed through the Coral Sea. Soon after, history's first carrier battle began. Piegzik combines expertise in military history with mastery of the Japanese language to provide a rare perspective on the Imperial Japanese Navy's operational choices.

Piegzik offers insight into the broader consequences of the battle. He engages with sources previously underexplored and integrates them with Allied perspectives. Gamble in the Coral Sea offers a nuanced exploration of a battle that shaped the trajectory of the war in the Pacific.