Pearl Harbor Books

The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II and the Bataan Death March leave us thinking that second guessing the
the paranoia of war may be wrong. We came very close to having an invasion of the west coast. This young boy and his family suffered from the war
and it is true the locking up of so many Japanese may have been
wrong, but had they been left alone, there is at least a 50% probability
that some civil disorder might have resulted as many Japanese remained
loyal to their homeland. It is a nice story about a boy and his baseball playing friends, I think it just oversimplifies the situation.
I think they take too many of our rights away at airports today, too.
Discrimination was still very real in the WWII world and
really hasn't gone all that far away even today.

Under the Blood-Red Sun
This is a good book for children who show an interest in all the WWII movies that are out at this time.

the blood red sun was an ok book. it was not the best.but there was a said part when sosera died in the store.my favorite part was when they were at the baseball game.

BOOM!! KABOOM!! KABOOSH!!!!! Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. Soon the U.S. Army declared war on Japan. This is when the action started. Tomi and his family are Japanese. During this time, Japanese people had to be careful because suddenly the U.S. Army stated arresting Japanese men. Suddenly, Tomi received a letter that said that while he was at work, his dad got arrested. A few days later, a couple of soldiers come to his house and arrested his grandpa. That left Tomi, by himself, the man of the house. Tomi now needs to take care of his little sister, Kimi, who is really scared of the bombs, and his mother who works with Keet's mom. Tomi needs to protect them and needs to be careful of Keet because if Keet sees something about Japan, he is going to tell his father. If his father finds out, Tomi and his family can lose their house. In this book, Under the Blood Red Sun by Graham Salisbury, you will learn about this Japanese kid who takes care of his family during World War II.
Tomi is the main character. His life changes a lot when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. He needs to face a lot of difficulties because he is Japanese. In that time people hated Japanese people because they thought all of them were part of the bombing. So they started to say, "Go back to Japan and never come back." Billy, Rico, and Moses are Tomi's best friends. They all help Tomi with some of his difficulties with other people who hate Japanese. In the book, they have a close friendship and call themselves "The Rats." Keet use to be Tomi's best friend, but when the war started between U.S.A and Japan, they weren't friends anymore. Keet's father was trying to get rid of all the Japanese in his town. So Keet spies on Tomi's family. Tomi needs to be careful because if Keet sees something of his heritage, he will tell his father and Tomi's family will get kicked out of the town they live in.
I recommend this book for people who like baseball, wars, and stories about friendship. When I first started reading this book, I liked it. It started with some action and some dialogue. For example, Tomi and Billy were playing baseball. When they got back to Tomi's house, Tomi's grandfather had the Japanese flag and showed it to the whole world. This ended with an argument and they were all chasing each other.
Before I started reading it, I thought this book was going to be boring, but then the action made me read this book completely! If you read this book, you will love it! This book made it feel as if I was part of this book. For example, all the action got me really excited and then I was so curios about was going to happen next that I couldn't stop reading. This book was exciting because the action comes right after another. You will love this book because it is filled with action. The action of this book felt like if it was real life. If you read this book, you will love it as much as I loved it.
From this book I learned that the U.S. involvement in World War II was started by the Japanese because they attacked Pearl Harbor and the U.S. started to arrest Japanese people. Also during that time the U.S. people started to hate Japanese people because of the bombing of Pearl Harbor.
So if you enjoy reading books about war and baseball, I suggest you read Under the Blood Red Sun.

A good book that I recently read is Under the Blood Red Sun. It is a realistic historical fiction book by Graham Salisbury. It takes place on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, before, during, and after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

The story is told from the point-of-view of Tomikazu (Tomi), an innocent Japanese-American boy living near Pearl Harbor at the time of the attack. Then Pearl Harbor is bombed. Tomi must deal with racism, bullies, and cruelty.

Tomikazu is a friendly eighth-grade boy who likes to play baseball, and has consequently formed his own team, The Rats. He is loyal to his friends and will even face the crazy school bully, Keet Wilson, for them.

Billy and The rats are Tomi's best friends, being eighth grade and avid fans of baseball like he is. Billy is the friend that Tomi hangs out with the most. He is The Rat's star pitcher and is kind of shy.

From the very beginning, even before Pearl Harbor was bombed, Keet Wilson, the local bully, is a problem. He is a spoiled brat who can take down even Billy's older brother, Jake. His extremely strict father is Tomi's family's landlord, so they cannot do anything to harm him. However, after the bombing, Keet takes being mean to a whole new level. Keet reports Tomi's father and grandfather to the police, falsely accusing them of being Japanese agents. He also tells the police anything Tomi's family does, exaggerating it so it sounds like they are Japanese supporters. He kills Tomi's father's prize racing pigeons, saying that they are messenger pigeons. He also breaks Tomi's family's clothesline and spoils their water supply.

The book starts out several days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It encompasses some of The Rat's baseball games, and their friendship with another team. Then Pearl Harbor is bombed. Tomi's peaceful life erupts into chaos. Everyone is suspicious of all the Japanese, and there are several lynch mobs. His father is shot in the leg by an American aircraft and taken away when coming back from a harmless fishing trip. Many Japanese are being taken the mainland internment camps, which are places that the U.S. government built so Japanese-Americans would not spy. But what will happen to Tomi's family as the only peaceful world they had ever known is crumbling around them?

The largest theme in the book is teamwork. Tomikazu's baseball team sticks together through Pearl Harbor, other baseball games, and bullies. It is a theme that makes you think teams can pull through anything, which they usually can. Another theme is racism. Tomi struggles through the racism directed at Japanese-Americans by white Americans who feared that they were spies following the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

I would recommend this book to anyone ages 11-14. It is a very good book, and deservedly won the prestigious Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction. It is very accurate for that timeframe, and it teaches in an entertaining way. It accurately describes the fear and racism following Pearl Harbor and gives glimpses of life in the internment camps. This book is suited for anyone who wants a realistic historical fiction or a tale with courage and bravery. The author writes this book seriously, staying on topic with very few humorous jokes, although it gives me an almost perfect mindset of where it takes place. It describes almost everything, from the dew on the leaves to the dust on the baseball diamond.

The book was pretty good as I recall (it was a while back when I read the book). If I remember right, the book seemed liked it ended TOO abruptly (Mazer left 'ya hanging). But after searching on Amazon I see why: There's a Sequel. It was A good book overall.


P.s. If I recall corectly, There was some mild profanity in it.

A Boy at War was an awesome book because it was full of suspense. The book is about a boy named Adam who moves a lot and is new to Pearl Harbor. One day he goes fishing with his friends and Japanese planes start to bomb Pearl Harbor. As he is running away he sees his father's ship, The Arizona, sink into the water. I think Harry Mazer is a great author and this was a fantastic book. I would recommend this book to all readers from 10-12 who like war stories.

This is a great and stunning book! It is about a high school age boy named Adam. Adam's dad is in the Navy in Hawaii. In the beginning of the book Adam doesn't have any friends because his family has to move a lot. Then he becomes friends with two boys, Davi and Martin.

One day when Adam is fishing with Davi and Martin the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor and bomb American battleships. After that the Americans think of the Japanese as their enemy. Adam helps the wounded soldiers. He searchs for his father, a lieutenant in the Navy, because he saw the Arizona, his father's battleship, explode.

In this book Adam has to grow up very quickly. During this one horrible day he has to do a lot of adult things including driving a jeep to help find his father. Does Adam's dad survive? Is Adam going to be okay after being injured? Will Adam and his sister Bea ever see their dad again?

If you like historical fiction you will like this book. It's about a boy that goes to live to Hawaii in about the 1900s. His name is Adam. In school he finds two friends. Later in the book his friends take him on a fishing trip to Pearl Harbor. Then the Japanese made a surprise attack on the navel base of Pearl Harbor. Then they tried to get to a hospital because a guy hit one of Adam's friend in the face with a gun and he started bleeding a lot. But they crashed. Something happened to Adam's dad during the attack. Read and see what happens next.
There are many good characters in this book. First there is Adam. He is smart and overprotected. Davi is another character. He is also smart but not that caring. Harry Mazer described the characters he used a lot of details. I could really visualize what they were like. I felt so amazed and exited when I read this book. I would recommend this book to readers who like a lot of action.

I thought that this book was a waste of money and trees, because Mazer has no creativeness to him. He was trying too hard to make it like a movie, but the real newsflash is that it was just plain bad.

The scenario is as follows. The United States is the victim of an attack that kills a large number of people. Shortly after, the nation rallies and launches a war that lasts for years where many more people are killed. After the dust has settled, official hearings are convened so that the nation may know how it was possible that such an attack could be carried out. The commission formed to investigate comes back with a series of recommendations and it becomes clear that someone dropped the ball. There was a large number of intelligence and other warning signals that were ignored or dismissed. When people came forward and pointed out some of the failures, they were often rudely dismissed. The errors are so significant and widespread that there is some extremely circumstantial evidence that the American President knew that something was about to happen but did nothing about it.
The attacks on September 11, 2001 fit this scenario, but that is not the first time that this has happened to the United States. On December 7, 1941 the Japanese navy attacked the American Navy at Pearl Harbor, causing the United States to enter World War II. It was a case where many things had to go wrong on the U. S. side, but the greatest error was a consequence of the core belief that the Japanese were not capable of carrying out such an attack.
In this book, Prange puts forward a complete list of all the things that went wrong, from incompetence to a torrent of bad luck. Many people saw the danger flags and passed that information along, however it either went slowly up the chain of command or somewhere it simply fell off. This is truly a masterpiece of investigative work, Prange explains in detail how so many people and functions failed in their jobs on a day where many people died and most deaths could have been prevented. That also is a description of the events of September 11, 2001, demonstrating that the behavior of humans inside bureaucratic structures has remained constant since the day Pearl Harbor was attacked.

This text should be highly valued in providing a first glance or survey of Pearl Harbor, but given the passage of time since its publication, it is now very dated.

With the release of newer materials, it should no longer be considered "definitive" or even "authoritative." It is also widely known to have several flaws (e.g., lacks the Brigg's interview) and factual errors (e.g., how are blinker lamps and signal flags "heard" in tactical radio circuits).

Gordon Prange was a military historian on MacArthur's staff who researched and interviewed key people involving Pearl Harbor for nearly 40 years prior to his death. He never finished this book and a couple of graduate students of his compiled, edited, and finished his work, so this is a composite production.

The books(yes, books - the edition I own is 2 volumes) themselves are arranged in sections called "Prelude", "Action" and "Aftermath". Prange and his students are not writers and this is a long, detailed book that is not for the idle reader looking for a popular account.

But the main reason for the low ranking of this book is that it lacks so much essential information. Some has only become available in the last few years but a fair amount was simply not included by Prange or his students. Some material is still locked up. A fair amount was destroyed or disappeared at the orders of the accusers of General Short and Admiral Kimmel, the scapegoats. And if that isn't circumstantial evidence, I don't know what is. In fairness, Prange never completed this hobby of his.

Prange's students overall decide that the Pearl Harbor debacle was the fault of the 2 primary commanders, General Short of the Army and Kimmel of the Navy. The majority of the book is actually a defense of this thesis and defense of President Roosevelt and his staff.

The basic problem is that the Japanese destroyed our Pacific Fleet with almost no losses. And someone must have been at fault. Of course, it is quite possible for no one or everyone to be at fault, but the Pearl Harbor blame game has continued for 60 years and shows no signs of stopping. This book is the best and most complete defense of Roosevelt, General George C. Marshall and other top Washington Insiders. For the missing parts of the puzzle I recommend Infamy: Pearl Harbor and Its Aftermath and Final Secret of Pearl Harbor: The Washington Contribution to the Japanese Attack.

The greatest strength of this book is the extensive Japanese information and interviews. The main Japanese commanders who had the greatest knowledge were, however, almost all killed during the war or in the war crimes trials shortly thereafter.

The key factor in believing that Pearl Harbor could have been prevented was that the US had broken the Japanese code and intercepted and translated messages regularly. Yet for some reason, the code-breaking machines, called "Magic", were never sent to the Pacific, the area which most needed this information. As a matter of fact, the listening stations in the Pacific relayed the intercepts to Washington. Why? Roosevelt wanted control as he tried his best to get America in WWII. And the best way to do that was to get Japan to attack the US. This information, readily available is not included in this book and is one of its most glaring problems.

There were multiple intercepts of war messages, none of which ever got to Pearl Harbor. The code for launching attack was "Execute Winds". This message was intercepted and decoded December 4, 1941, 3 days before the attack on Pearl Harbor. This information was never transmitted to the Pacific under orders from at least 20 Washington Insiders including President Roosevelt and General Marshall.

The meat of the book are the investigations after Pearl Harbor. The first was the Roberts Commission. Roberts was a Supreme Court Justice and the rest of the group were cronies of General George C. Marshall or Roosevelt, the 2 figures who covered up the information that would have saved thousands of lives at Pearl Harbor. There was one exception, a retired Admiral Standley who came late to the hearings and found that the witnesses weren't being sworn in, no one had asked hard questions of the Washington Insiders and the testimony wasn't even being recorded. Roberts even forbade Kimmel and Short from calling any witnesses. Finally, the court assigned 2 stenographers, one a mere teen-ager and neither of whom had any court experience. These incompetents missed or garbled much of the testimony and Justice Roberts refused to even let Kimmel and Short correct the errors. The fix was in. Commenting on this kangaroo court Admiral Bull Halsey noted, ""I have always considered Admiral Kimmel and General Short to be splendid officers who were thrown to the wolves as scapegoats for something over which they had no control." Other admirals called this panel "as crooked as a snake" and said the report was "the most unfair, unjust, and deceptively dishonest document ever printed by the Government Printing Office". Strong words from those most likely to know what really happened. And this book has none of this, to its shame.

Kimmel and Short then pushed for a courts-martial so they could tell their side. Eventually the Navy and Army tried these officers in 1944. Kimmel had heard by then of all the intercepted messages that had been withheld from him. 43 of these were delivered to the court and "The admirals on the Court listened to them being read with looks of horror and disbelief. Two of the admirals flung their pencils down. More than 2,000 died at Pearl Harbor because those messages had been withheld." The Roberts Commission findings were reversed; Kimmel and then Short were exonerated. General George C. Marshall and other Washington Insiders were censured. But George C. Marshall was the highest General in the land and this was 1944 - the war was still on. So the innocent verdict was suppressed as a state secret by Secretary of Navy Knox on Roosevelt's orders. Clearly, Roosevelt was behind all of this, but the investigation had purposely not examined the President's role.

Roosevelt died shortly thereafter and the war ended. And then Secretary Knox convened other hearings - this time with his hand-picked cronies. Officers were demoted and transferred who had previously testified. One was thrown in a mental hospital. The Chief Warrant Officer Ralph T. Briggs, the man who had originally intercepted the "winds" message at a United States monitoring station was summoned before his commanding officer, who forbade him to testify. "Perhaps someday you'll understand the reason for this," he was told. Briggs had a blind wife to support. He did not come forward as a witness.

But the father of Naval Cryptography, Captain Laurance Safford, refused to be cowed. He continued to testify of the truth. Gradually others began to again confirm that the Roosevelt Administration had prevented the transmission of the intercepted Japanese information. It was found that just four days after Pearl Harbor, Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes, director of naval communications, told his subordinates: "Destroy all notes or anything in writing." This was an illegal order -- naval memoranda belong to the American people and cannot be destroyed except by congressional authority. And this book, again, has none of this.

Then Congress convened its own investigative body. With 6 democrats and 4 republicans, it broke along party lines so that the new President Truman, wouldn't lose any votes. And that was that. General Short died and then Admiral Kimmel.

We know now that Kimmel and Short were right. Dozens of sources of the information that Japan was attacking have since turned up - all suppressed by a Roosevelt administration determined to get us into WWII. As historian John Toland reports, both Japanese assistant naval attachés posted at the Washington embassy in 1941 have verified that the message to attack was transmitted on December 4th, exactly as Safford said.

As a final footnote, on May 25, 1999, the U.S. Senate approved a resolution that Kimmel and Short had performed their duties "competently and professionally" and that our losses at Pearl Harbor were "not the result of dereliction of duty." "They were denied vital intelligence that was available in Washington," said Senator William V. Roth Jr. (R-Del.). Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) called Kimmel and Short "the two final victims of Pearl Harbor."

And so Kimmel and Short have been finally vindicated. Roosevelt, Marshall and others purposely withheld information that would have prevented the disaster at Pearl Harbor to get us more committed and unified. And that this book has none of this information means that it is not worth reading.

In the end, this is just one more, decades old, sordid government cover-up of treasonous activities by Insiders bent on their own agenda. Korea, Vietnam, assassinations of key figures, Waco, Oklahoma City,Iraq and 9-11 are just the continued fruits of a government over which we long ago lost control. Now why would I bother to even review this flawed book on an event that is being forgotten? "Those who will not learn from history are condemned to repeat it." Vincet Veritas! And Long Live the Republic!

Gordon W. Prange studied Pearl Harbor raid ,events surrounding it, for 32 yrs.The outcome is this tome.

Author is vehemently critical on Adm Husban E. Kimmel (c-in-c Pacific Fleet) and Gen Walter C. Short( commander US Land Forces
,Hawaii). Both,according to him ,lacked qualities to command forces. They failed to show imagination,foresight at a time when things were becoming explosive in the Pacific.

This is untrue.Evidence shows upon the receipt of war warning message of Nov27,1941,Adm Kimmel mounted long range reconnaissance missions north of Hawaii to detect the presence of hostile ships within the strike radius of Pearl Harbor.Unfortunately Pacific Command never had sufficent planes at its disposal to maintain an all out vigil.This never would have happened if Washington officials not denuded Pacific fleet of its strength to fight an undeclared war against German U boats in the Atlantic. As a result critical gaps in the aircover remained which Japanese exploited.

Now we know two weeks prior to attack based on intelligence furnished Cdr Joseph J. Rochefort of Hypo(combat intelligence centre of US Navy located in Pearl Harbor naval yard)Kimmel instituted a search for Japanese carrier force operating north of Hawaii.He vectored the Pacific Fleet to an area from where Japanese planned to launch their surprise assault. But his efforts were frustrated. Once White House came to know about Kimmel's manoeuvre he was told to withdraw.This was in line with official order of turning north Pacific into a 'vacant sea'.Strangely this reversal of direction has been ignored by every Pearl Harbor enquiry held from 1941-46.Regretably,neither Kimmel nor his family could recall this sortie and its unfortunate reversal.Yet it provides exculpatory evidence because after the war Kimmel was accused of not conducting precisely this type of search.

Author says Japan's expansionist designs on east Asia made Pacific war inevitable.But it should be admitted ,as latest reaearch shows , regardless of Tokyo's ambitions US hatched a plan to push that nation on the road to war.As war raged in Europe and Africa ,threatning to engulf the world,a memorandum started circulating in the corridors of power in Washington.Written by Arthur H. McCollum (dated Oct7,1940 later called 8-ction memo)head of the Far Eastern Branch of ONI,it advocated a series of measures aimed at engineering a situation wherby Japan is force to attack American ground,naval,air,forces in Hawaaii as well as British and Dutch colonial outposts in the Pacific.With FDR's connivance the plan was put into effect.

Of particular importance to the defence of Hawaii were the crucial bomb plot messages . Its timely dispatch to Short,Kimmel would have stopped the Japanese attack on its tracks.Army radio intercept station MS 5 at Fort Shafter in Oaahu was regularly intercepting messages sent to Tokyo by Japanese spy ring which contained information on the where abouts of Pacific Fleet.Information sent on lowgrade ciphers was broken read by senior officers of US Army ,Naval intelligence.This clearly pointed to a Japanese intent to attack Pearl Harbor. Instead of promptly alerting the C in C PAC Washington officials sat on it.

It is military topbrass esconced in Washington who were unfit to exercise command.Are these men so obtuse,doltish that they failed to perceive the significance of these intercepts?Such an incredulous attitude stands to reason only if they had a hidden agenda.Unfortunately,author does not hold them fully accountable for Pearl Harbor defeat. We find this disturbing pattern emerging regarding other significant Japanese intercepts.Tokyo"s reply to American ultimatum of Nov 26,1941 which came in 14 parts
,decision to present Washington an ultimatum at 1pm EST all of which portended war.

I feel Prange's book , loaded with interesting facts and information, requires revision.History of Pearl harbor raid requires fresh interpretation ;facts which have emerged based on latest research have made this indispensible.Because if we are to believe authors like Stinnet,Toland Washington officials knew the attack was coming and they were awake.

More than 60 years have passed .Pearl Harbor raid and events surrouding it have continued to intrigue and fascinate me.I read Prange's book because I wanted to get different perspective on the subject.

The best book, hands down, for information on Pearl Harbor. It will take a long time to read, but is very interesting. Miracle at Midway by the same author is just as good. Excellent pictures and hundreds of references quoted, along with personal interviews. I've seen no other book is as thorough in its approach to the subject.

Barry Denenberg has done better than this, but I still thought it was an okay book. It was sort of cheesy. The conversations went like, "Here's your coat and hat? What's your hurry?" when people were leaving their home after a dinner party. They also start paragraphs for no reason, like they would just put "Yummy." I am not saying that that is wrong in any way, but I think that it is just kind of annoying, especially after talking about sweet potatoes and yams.
This book is about a girl named Amber Billows who is 12 and lives with her Mother and Father and Brother, Andy. Andy likes planes and on December 7, 1941 his knowledge comes to use identifying the Japenese planes attacking Pearl Harbor. I thought that part was sort of weird, but, who cares. Well, you may want to read this book to find out.

This Book Is With Out A Doubt, The Best Book I Have Ever Read. Amber Billows Is A Caring Generous Sarcastic Normal Teen Growing Up In The 1940's. This Is The Best Book And I Would Reccomend It To ANYONE!

"In the past few weeks I had gotten used to the sound of planes flying over my head while the army was on maneuvers. But this sound was different- it was louder, deeper, and there were more planes than I had ever seen before. And, besides, the army never had maneuvers at eight `o clock on a Sunday morning. There were coming in unbelievably low, barely clearing the treetops, circling in the sky and then peeling off, forming smaller groups of four and five. `It's Pearl Harbor! It's Pearl Harbor!' My brother Andy was screaming. He was pointing to the column of black smoke that was rising up in the skies above Pearl Harbor."
Amber Billows' family has moved yet again. This time, they have moved to the area around Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The family arrives in November, and settles in, makes new friends, and is finally used to Hawaii when the attack on Pearl Harbor occurs. Amber's mom is a nurse, and she is called into work to help the victims. Amber decides to go with her mom and she sees many, many dead and wounded. Then, her Japanese friend, Kame, has a family tragedy. The government, for questioning, took her father away and no one knows where he is. Aside from all of that, everyone on the island has to wait very long to get ration cards and gas masks (which they must carry everywhere.) Plus, Amber can only go into two rooms of her house at night, because they are the only rooms with blackout paper. Then, Christmas comes around. No one in Amber's family gets much of anything, due to rationing. Nevertheless, it was still a happy Christmas. Amber's friend Kame and her aunt ate Christmas dinner with the Billows family and everything seemed all right. This book was very good, because it had sadness, happiness, and was a glimpse of what life was like after going through a surprise attack against the county.
This book had a lot of sadness in it. A few examples would be when Amber found a family friend in shock in the hospital (he was screaming and acting insane), when a good friend, Mr. Arata, (the bookstore owner) is killed, and when Kame's dad was taken away and her whole family was split apart.
Some happy parts in this book would be when Amber makes a friend quickly (Amber had never been good at making friends) and when Amber's dad arrives safely after playing golf on the morning of the attack. Finally, the happiest part of all was when Amber's dad announced that they were moving. Amber said that it felt "like a bad dream finally ending."
Finally, Early Sunday Morning was a glimpse of what life was like after going through a surprise attack against the county. For one, Amber's family got much closer than it would have been. Two, people all around them were losing family members and such, and Amber's family learned to count their blessings. Lastly, Amber learned to accept the fact that bad things happen to good people.
Early Sunday was a great book, because it included how life would have been if there was a surprise attack on our country, it included some happy parts and some sad parts.
-Elizabeth H.

When Twelve-year-old Amber Billows' dad, a news reporter, announced that they are moving to Hawaii in two weeks, she was devastated. It was maddening for her to have just settled into Washington D.C. and have to move yet again in the middle of the school year.

When Amber arrives in Hawaii, she meets a new friend named Kame, who is Japanese. They both became best friends and looked forward to the school dance on December 8. The day before the dance, however, the Japanese bombard Pearl Harbor. Many of Amber's parents' new friends are killed or seriously injured. For instance, one of the librarians who lived in his own library was crushed under an American plane that crashed. During the bombardment, Amber and her brother Andy hid under a couch-fort that they made while their mom goes to work as a nurse in the local hospital. After the Japanese had gone, Amber and her family paint the windows black and create a bomb shelter. People were crowding stores and stocking up on everything that they might need. Everyone on the island was required to carry a gas mask with them at all times. Amber helped her mom out at the hospital, were they were using sterilized coke bottles to put donated blood into, and not changing the sheets between patients. Kame, however, was not so fortunate. Her family was not allowed to talk on the phone in Japanese, her father was taken away for questioning, and the military searched her entire house for anything that resembled Japanese people or communication.

This book had excellent details and a good plot, although it was probably written for someone younger than me. I would recommend this book to anyone ages eight to twelve.

Another excellent book in the Dear American series Amber Billows moves to Hawaii a couple months before the attack. Her father is a reporter and is used to moving. Amber recounts the days leading up to and follow the attack at Pearl Harbor so vividly. I also loved her discriptions Hawaii. I've been to Hawaii its such a beautiful state.

I absolutely loved this book. I love the characters. I love the plot. It's one of those books I can just randomly pick up and read again and again. The first time I read it I was in 7th grade. I'm 16 now and I picked it up a few weeks ago and still enjoyed it

i fell in love with this book. I was crying at the end. Bekah's story was very touching. I would suggest this book to EVERYBODY. a must read:)

I just finished this book. its really good and i enjoyed reading it. the end is a bit sad. but the plot and characters are well develped you really feel you can relate to Bekah, i did at least. i just wish the ending had left a little more info, instead of leaving you wondering.

"pearl harbour, 1941" is one of the best historical disasters/romances that i've read. it tells the story of bekah martin and scott deangelo, who meet on a boat traveling to hawaii.
bekah was previously engaged to david maclaughlin, who she saw die in a fire. her family and his have decided that she should marry ian, his twin brother. to piece her life back together after the fire, bekah went to san francisco to take a nurse training course. upon her return to hawaii [with her aunt, who likes to play matchmaker], she meets scott, who challenges her bitterness towards love [she doesn't love ian, her fiancé.] after some time, she realizes that she has fallen in love with him, but before she gets a chance to tell him, the japanese attack pearl harbour. what happens in the next few chapters is a vivid description of the events on the ship nevada, including bekah seeing scott on fire. will she ever get to tell him her real feelings?
this book is very well written, with descriptive words and a good plot. while the romance seemed a little unrealistic [but what can you expect, it's fiction!], the description of the attack was vivid and very, very real. and the dialogue between bekah & scott was pretty cute. if not for the romance, read it for the pearl harbour attack; you will be very pleased! :)

I think how you feel about the book depends on what kind of stories you like to read. If you enjoy historical-fiction and romance then it is a good book, if you don't enjoy that, you probably won't want to read this book. I think the author tied together the history of the war time and the love story very well. It gives the reader a look in to Bekah and Scott's lives from two different views. Not only does is it a story about their love and what they have to overcome to be together but also about how they lived their normal lives during that period of time. I enjoy both historical-fiction and romance so I found the book very good and enjoyable to read.

I recieved Descent In to Darkness as a Christmas pressent from my sister. I could not stop reading the book. I have always been a huge history buff as well as a great interest in diving . Febuary of this year (2002) I went to Maui to visit my cousin. While in Maui I got my scuba certification. My last day we flew over to Pearl Harbor to see the USS Arizona. It was very moving because I had more of a conection to the Arizona due to Raymer's detailed report on Pearl Harbor and the Arizona in the salvage eforts to raise our Pacific Fleet.

what a great book! i couldn't put it down. commander raymer and the men working with him were brave heroes.this book gives a glimpse of life in hawaii in the early forties as well as the navy's diving program in its infancy.not to mention the unique problems of salvaging the ships that were damaged in the pearl harbor attack.i highly recommend this book.

Most books on WWII center around specific battles. However, Commander Raymer gives the reader a somewhat different perspective of WWII. Although, Raymer discribes several important engagements and the sinking of his own ship by Imperial Japanese naval forces, he also concentrates on the overwhelming and depressing daily tasks of the Navy salvage diver stationed at Pearl harbor shortly after the infamous attack. His objectives; recover bodies, raise or salvage the flagship U.S.S. Arizona, and other capital ships such as the U.S.S. California, U.S.S. West Virginia, and others.

His writing style is simple, and straight to the point. His ongoing descriptions of the scenes he saw and experienced in Hawaii and through the divers helmet port are well worth the read!

If, you liked the movie; "Men of Honor" then I guarentee you will like "DESCENT INTO DARKNESS!"

Commander Raymer did a fantastic job setting the mood of this story in the first chapter as he described his first dive into the sunken Arizona (it was the first ever dive on the ship), months after it had sunk. His descriptions are so vivid, I often pictured (what he experienced) as if I were there.

Other reviewers mention Raymer's escapades into early WWII Honolulu and his encounters with the the locals, but this story really focuses on what the divers did, hazards they overcame, and innovations they devised as they fought to return the heavily damaged warships back to the fleet.

This really is a first-rate account of a process that has largely been ignored by writers and historians. I think it's a "given" that diving around sunken, fully armed and fueled battleships would be dangerous, but until I read this book I didn't realize just how MANY different hazards there were. For example, who would have known that it's dangerous to enter a previously-sealed but empty compartment that contains rust? (the formation of iron oxide [rust] depletes oxygen in the space)

The reader gets a firsthand account of the daily lives of salvage divers, and how frequently solutions to problems were devised on the spot. Rather unexpectedly, readers also get a firsthand description of what life was like "on the ground" during the Guadalcanal campaign.

Anyone wanting to know more about the Pearl Harbor attack really should read this book. Many people tend to think of the battle as being over when the last Japanese plane returned to its carrier; in truth, the battle had just BEGUN.

The Weedflower is a great, realistic, fiction book about a Japanese girl named Sumiko raised on a farm in California. She is the only Japanese girl in her class and is always being teased. Especially after the Pearl Harbor tragedy, she was thought of as a spy like the rest of the Japanese people in America by most citizens. Also as the suspicion grows about spies, Sumikos' family finds that they're being moved to an internment camp in one of the hottest deserts in the USA. The old life they had is now just a memory. Then Sumiko discovers that the camp is on an Indian reservation, and that the Japanese are just as unwanted there as they were at their old home. That is when she meets a young boy from the Mohave tribe. Could this be her real first friend? Even if he is angry that the camp she is living on is his tribes land. The theme is a Japanese girl who is being mistreated and being left out of a lot of things. The reason why I like this is because Sumiko always finds a way to prevail and be happy at the end of every situation she is put in.

I am in love with this book! Weedflower is about a twelve year old Japanese-American girl named Sumiko. Her parents died when she was little so she lived with her Aunt, Uncle, Grandfather and cousins. They raise a flower farm until Japan bombed Pearl Harbor and they had to go live in a war camp in Poston, Arizona. This book is a serious book, but it has a bit of humor. I would say that this is a challenge to anybody under fifth grade. But it is way worth it. My favorite part was when Sumiko was invited to her very first birthday party, but when she got there she got kicked out because she was not white. It was sad but I liked it. I liked this book because it kept me going. I never wanted to put it down. At one point my dad had to take it away from me. This book was the best book I have ever read, and if you are up for a challenge then I most definitely suggest this book to you!

I really liked Weedflower, as it as very descriptive about lfe for Japanese-Americans bfore and after Pearl Harbor. It would be nice if Cynthia Kaohata wrote a sequel, too.

-Emma D. (for a school project)

The Weedflower is a great realistic fiction book about a Japaness girl named Sumiko raised on a farm in California. That is the only Japaness girl in her class and that is always being teased. Espiesally after the pearl horbor insident, she was being thought of as a spy like the rest
of the Japaness people in america by most americans. Also as the suspicion grows about spies, Sumikos family finds that thier being moved to an internment camp in one of the most hottest deserts in the usa.The old life they had is now just a memory.Then she discovers that the camp is on an indian reservation,and that the Japaness are just as unwanted thier as they were at thier old home.That is when she meets a young boy from the Mohave tribe.Could this be her real first friend. Even if he is angry that the camp she is living on is his tribes land.

Weedflower is told from the perspective of Sumiko, a young girl born to a Japanese immigrant family in the U.S. during World War II. Weedflower chronicles the treatment of Sumiko's family, as the older men not born in the U.S. are shipped off to a virtual prison, and the rest of the family is sent to a detention camp in the desert. Their property, not to mention their dignity, are stripped away because of fear caused by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Sumiko, however, maintains hope through her passion for growing flowers.

This book is written in a simple, easily accessible style, but tells an important story. Although set in the 1940's, Weedflower carries implications for today, in how we treat people of Muslim descent. The story is a window into what it's like for people to be mis-treated, at the hands of their own country, simply because of their ethnicity. It shows how unfair and greedy people, including the government, can be (as when the Japanese were forced to sell their possessions for pennies on the dollar). It also illustrated what can happen to people when their rights, and their ability to strive for success, are taken away. Some of the children run wild, and steal things. Some of the young men give up hope, and lie around all day. Here is an example of the boredom and hopelessness of the camp overtaking Sumiko:

"Sumiko felt the ultimate boredom closing in on her. The ultimate boredom wasn't dread of the next year or of what the government might do next; it was dread of your own mind, dread of the next day, the next hour, the next minute. You could lose your mind at any time. Like one morning, for no good reason, Sumiko actually stomped on a butterfly that landed in the dust. After she moved her foot, she saw the squished bitterly and wondered what had come over her. She hadn't thought about it beforehand, but had just suddenly stomped on the poor butterfly. She figured maybe she'd had a sudden attack of the ultimate boredom, and then when she'd seen the dead butterfly she snapped out of it."

There are examples of non-Japanese Americans who do the right thing, too. A young woman volunteers to teach the Japanese kids at the internment camp, despite difficult surroundings. A woman takes time to write to the Japanese woman whose house she is now living, to let the Japanese woman know that the other woman is taking good care of her dog. The Japanese woman sobs with happiness. Christmas presents are donated to the detention camp for the kids. The examples stand out, like the flowers that the Japanese grow from the dusty ground of their camp.

The characterization in Weedflower is quite strong. Many of the characters, especially Sumiko, her friend Frank, and her cousin Bull, feel real. Their characters are mostly revealed through action, rather than being described. This is especially true of Bull, Sumiko's quiet, strong cousin, who intervenes when he see the opportunity, to keep things running smoothly.

A scene that I think will resonate with kids occurs early in the book, before the family is sent to a detention camp. Sumiko, the only Japanese girl in her class at school, is excited to be invited to her first birthday party. She dresses up, and her uncle spends precious money for her to buy a present. However, when the parents at the party learn that she's Japanese, they quietly and politely ask her to leave. Here is what Sumiko thought afterward:

"Like anyone, Sumiko had known momentarily embarrassing moments, but right now she felt so overwhelmingly humiliated that it was as if nothing in her life would ever be the same again, as if everything she did -- disbudding flowers, heating the water, cooking rice -- would be different from now on. In the future, she wouldn't be Sumiko who was disbudding flowers, she would be Humiliated Sumiko disbudding flowers. She wouldn't be Sumiko heating water and cooking rice, she would be Humiliated Sumiko heating water and cooking rice. And right at this moment she wasn't just Sumiko sitting along on the bench, she was Humiliated Sumiko."

Overall, I think that Weedflower is strong on theme and character, and a detailed portrayal of life among Japanese immigrants during World War II. It's an enjoyable read, but it doesn't have a strong "what happens next?" sort of plot. I think that it's a book that adults will like, and that some kids will enjoy, but that others may find a bit slow-paced.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on February 17, 2007.

This book is history personified on the Japanese Navy in WWII. Not only does Mr. Dull explain every battle in the war with detail, in one of the appendixe's he has the fate of each warship. a great piece of work, in my opinion.

"A Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy" will make a fine and intellectually stimulating addition to a military history collection. A veritable compendium of surface naval engagements that have been revisited by Mr. Dull using Japanese-language sources, it is not, however, the most comprehensive source of information and insight about the role of the Imperial Japanese Navy in the Pacific War. Other sources, for instance, that greatly complement this book include "Kaigun: Strategy, Tactics, and Technology in the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1887-1941" and Prange's seminal books on Pearl Harbor and Midway.

The book has some noticeable quirks too for the non-initiated. For instance, was there ever a pink-painted Japanese cruiser? The book does not dwell on the minutiae of the warships involved, so it is rather surprising to encounter an odd little detail such as the cruiser Haguro's paint scheme.

What makes the book especially valuable to me is the subtext: the Japanese Navy had in essence intensely prepared for the wrong war to fight. Deeply absorbed in the Mahan doctrine of the decisive naval battle--a principle that emphasized destroying an enemy fleet in a grand engagement that effectively ends the conflict--Nihon Teikoku Kaigun was, by the outbreak of the Second World War, ready to confront the US fleet within the context of a short yet decisive campaign. Then, after helping Japan secure access to the mineral resources of Southeast Asia, the navy would have been instrumental in safeguarding the perimeter of the newly-won oceanic empire.

It didn't quite turn out that way. As Dull's book elucidates in meticulous detail, the Japanese Navy was forced to fight practically to the last ship. Having lost the initiative midway through the conflict, a once-powerful armada that helped subdue one-third of the globe was to all intents and purposes wiped out by the end of the war.

Paul Dull's Battle History of the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1941-1945 is one of those books that is a hidden gem. Few know about it, and it sheds considerable light on topics covered only in musty archives in Washington and Tokyo.

The naval war in the Pacific has been covered by every major historian ad nauseum. Dull, drawing on his knowledge of Japanese and Japanese culture, has drawn his information primarily from the official records of the IJN. This book is a treasure trove of information about Japanese fleet movements, little known battles, and methods of ship to ship combat that both sides used that are glossed over or completely neglected in large histories. Dull is not afraid to criticize Japanese commanders, and assesses Yamamoto, long considered to the be Japan's finest naval officer, to be hesitant, battleship centric, and slow to seek out battle.

This is a phenomenal stand alone work, and serves as a must read for anyone reading about Nimitz or Halsey or the US Navy in WWII. Great appendix with information regarding the names, classes, and fates of all major Japanese surface combatants during the war. Though I am sure there is something we all wish he had addressed(for me the construction and design history of their battlefleet), Dull does exactly what he set out to do. Tell a focused story with new information that has not seen the light of day. For a book published in 1978, it is remarkably fresh and relevant, and was an extremely enjoyable read.

Of the four major navies in the twentieth century (Royal, U.S., Imperial German/Kriegsmarine, and the Imperial Japanese), the Imperial Japanese Navy is the least known of outside its own country. Paul S. Dull, a former Japanese-language officer in the Marine Corps turned academic, wrote this book in 1977, and it is a testimony to its importance and the small number of studies on the IJN that it is still in print. Dull based his account on official unit records and ship logs that the United States government seized during the occupation of Japan and the official Japanese histories of World War II.

Dull has produced a useful book that offers important insights and helps balance the English-language historical record of this conflict. He revisits a number of smaller battles that many people pay little attention to (most Americans know Pearl Harbor, the fall of the Philippines, Coral Sea, Midway, and then jump forward to Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the bombing of Japan). Dull has done some impressive work balancing the various American and Japanese accounts of these engagements. He gives his readers exceptionally useful maps that carefully show American and Japanese positions--the maps of each navy vary significantly for the same battle. His insights on Kurita's decision at Leyte Gulf to retreat, snatching defeat from the jaws of victory makes a lot of sense and is very compelling. He essentially argues that there was no great impending victory, that the IJN had shot its load and was played out. In fact, this explanation is so convincing, it is surprising that authors since 1977 have not accepted it in total.

The only problem with this book is that it seems rather "bloodless." There is no passion. There is no discussion of the personalities of the figures involved. Indeed, the lack of human agency in this account is rather surprising. In the end, the book is as dry and matter of fact as the source material that Dull used in writing this account. If readers are aware of these limitations, they will find this book highly informative, but not that entertaining.

I am glad to see this aging warhorse in print. It is still the only really comprehensive source on the IJN based largely on Japanese-language sources. Way too much fo the Pacific War literature is based on partisan or hagiographic readings of the conflict, almost exclusively from the American perspective (although Spector, Gailey, and Costello try to be balanced). The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force has produced a monumental 100+ volume history of the war, but almost none of it has been translated into English. Until we have some historians who can either read the originals and use them to fill in gaps, or translate some key chunks and publish them as a "greatest hits" collection with commentary and comparisons to the US semi-official Morison history, Dull will have to do for understanding "the other side of the hill."

This book is far too long. Made up of hundreds of unrelated stories, many of them only a paragraph long, this book reads like a post-modernist novel and took me ten years to read (I read a couple of hundred pages and tucked it away for a decade until I could muster the fortitude to finish it).

Also, the author has strong emotions and does not hesitate to color his narrative to suit his prejudices. For instance, he paints the America Firsters as a sinister group of anti-semitic, Hitler lovers. No doubt there were a few mixed in there, but most of them were sincere if misguided people who were afraid that if we got involved in World War II, we would become an imperial power with an enormous military industrial complex. They may have been wrong, but most of them were not Nazis. I am very much against the protestors of the war in Iraq, but I recognize that only a small minority of them are in favor of genocide and the restoration of a Saddam-like strongman. The America Firsters deserve more sympathy than the current raft of protestors since we are currently in a war and the protestors want us to lose, rather than keep us out as the AFers did. Also, we were not aware of the Nazi genocide until 1942, whereas we have found the bodies in Iraq to prove that Saddam has been a practitioner of genocide for many years.

Or MacArthur, another bete noire of Mr. Weintraub, who gets a lot of blame for losing his planes on the ground, even as the author shows how much it was the fault of Gen. Brereton, the Air Force Chief in the Philippines. Since Brereton went through the war going from blunder to blunder (while always procuring for himself the fanciest HQ, liquors and women) - he presided over the one of the costliest and least effective bombing raids of the war, the most disastrous friendly fire incident in history and the only Allied airborne assault failure in the war - you would think that some of the snide remarks that Mr. Weintraub has for Gen. MacArthur could have been spread to the real culprit.

Occasionally, the author's hatreds catch him telling tall ones. Chiang Kai-Shek was receiving aid from the Soviets (which was one of the causes for the postwar Sino-Soviet rift), so Chiang's Nazi sympathies must have been muted if they existed at all.

OK, so the book is too long and somewhat untrustworthy. Why four stars? Because the author attempts something rarely seen, which is valuable in its own right. A reader of a book like this would be foolish to actually think he's learning about the events. The narrative is too choppy for that. The value here is in reminding us that history ISN'T a smooth narrative, that events are happening around the world, some of them relevant, some of them not, two steps forward and one step back. The author made a great and largely successful attempt to find events happening simultaneuously around the globe, all on a single day. Breaking 12/7/41 into the 47 hours of the sun's movement around the globe (from midnight 12/7 on the western side of the International Date Line to midnight 12/8 on the eastern side) and moving from Orson Welles in a train heading to Chicago to General Rommel in a conference with an Italian general in the Egyptian desert to Cordell Hull in DC waiting for Japanese diplomats to the withdrawal of a Spanish division in Russia to a football game in Manhattan to the aircraft carriers steaming toward Pearl Harbor, the story is compelling.

John Ellis wrote a book about a day in October, 1944 and there is an excellent book about a day in the middle of the American Civil War, but those books focused on their respective wars and told their stories on a theater by theater basis. You had a feeling that you were the President being given an intelligence report the first thing in the morning. They were exciting books because of that, but they had a different purpose than Mr. Weintraub's book, which is, ultimately, an impressive acheivement.

This is a unique look at the events of December 7, 1941. Mr. Weintraub has taken on the enormus task of not only describing the events of December 7, 1941 in regards to Pearl Harbor, but he examines the Day of Infamy on a world-wide scale. The reader finds themselves in the frozen Soviet Union as the Germans desperatley try to hold back the counterattacking Red Army. In North Africa, Rommel is being harassed by the British at Tobruk. In Washington, the reader is taken inside the White House as Roosevelt writes his personal plea for peace to Hirohito. I thought that the chapter headings with a clock showing the time at different places in the world was a nice touch for the reader. I have read numerous books on the subject, but never on a world-wide scope such as this. I would highly recommend this book for Pearl Harbor readers. Another book that is similar to this one is Gordon Prange's December 7, 1941.

For someone who wants a quick study of what happened at Pearl Harbor, standard version, I would suggest buying Tora Tora Tora. In less than two hours, you would be caught up in the basic facts surrounding the Pearl Harbor attack.

The issue currently at discussion among serious readers is not what happened on 12/7/41, but what lead up to it. Furthermore, I believe that the author has inserted his political views into the discussion. For example, on p2266 (Lyons Press 2001), the author cites Admiral Kimmel's decision to stop the 300 mile air patrol, instituted by his predecesor Admiral Richardson. The author also gives the impression that the AA guns of the Navy and were not in combat readiness. This is either a failure of research, or an example of bias. Admiral Richardson was removed from his command by Roosevelt, for telling Roosevelt that among other deficiences, he could not fly 300 mile air patrols on a continuous basis because he did not have enough aircraft or aircrews. Nor did he have enough trained mechanics and spare parts. Roosevelt sent the fleet to Pearl Harbor against the advice of Richardson. And then FDR removed ships and aircaft to Russia and the Atlantic. Richardson warned Roosevelt that such a move would present an inviting target to Japan. Richardson, who was a permenent 4 star Admiral had an advantage that Kimmel did not have. Richardson's rank could not be removed if he was replaced at Pearl Harbor. Kimmel, who was a 2 Star Admiral was advanced ahead of senior officers to a temporary 4 star rank.

Writing that Kimmel was responsible for ordering a stop of the 300 mile patrols is irresponsible. The writer seems exposed to a pro-Roosevelt stance when he avoids my conclusion of the facts known today. Roosevelt fired Richardson and replaced Kimmel. Blaming Kimmel for the disaster at Pearl Harbor, simply because he was the man in charge, seems to ignore where the buck really stops, and that was on Roosevelt's desk.

Another reason I give this book 2 stars is the problem I had using the index. Names and pages did not match. I also found reading about the war in Russia distracting. Had Weintraub wanted to write about someting closer to home, he should have focused on the Atlantic War, which was a full blown shooting war by December 7, 1941. It was Roosevelt's policy to keep that war secret from the American Public. It was the withdrawal of forces from the Pacific Fleet to the Atlantic Fleet that drove Admirial Richardson to confront Roosevelt, which lead to his replacement.

How would Weintraub explain that the Atlantic Fleet was not put on a war footing, unless it was already operating under one.


In US Navy Air Combat, by Robert Lawson and Barrett Tillman, (2000), quotes a Navy Ensign assigned to the Carrier Wasp then at anchor in Bermuda, no recall was made to the ship to get underway the day after the Pearl Harbor attack.

These deceptions are the reason why there is no "Final Conclusion" to the questions behind Pearl Harbor.

As has often been observed, to write history is to choose. Similarly, to read history is to choose. Should we read a history covering thousands of years, or a history limited to a single historical actor, or the annals of a single campaign, and so on?

With Long Day's Journey into War, Weintraub contributes a valuable innovation to historical writing. The history covers a brief period -- December 7, 1941 -- the 48 hours that it takes for the earth to complete a single date. During this time, Weintraub assembles a seamlessly woven montage from all parts of the globe as they experience the preceding tensions and subsequent ripple effects of Pearl Harbor. Cairo, Moscow, Washington, Pearl, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London and other key locations. Weintraub includes anecdotes from "lowly" privates running for cover, to worried diplomats, to America First isolationists, to a certain overrated general, to presidents and prime ministers.

The overall effect is successful and powerful. The reader becomes immersed and rooted in time and place, emerging with a sense of having experienced the fateful day on a global scale.

A splendid and unique history worthy of any bookshelf.

In LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO WAR author Stanley Weintraub dissects December 7, 1941 hour by hour as it occurred around the globe. Relative to one's geographic location on the planet, December 7th occupied parts of three days, December 6, 7, and 8 (Hence the "long day" of the title). But December 7, 1941 was also a "long day" in the sense that it was a watershed of history. A vast chasm separated the world of the day before and the world of the day after, and that chasm had it's fault line at Pearl Harbor.

Weintraub uses both historical documentation and personal reminiscences to describe the occurrences of December 7th, and does so in a creatively novelistic manner that holds the reader's unflagging interest. Pearl Harbor Day is thus described from the standpoint of military men, diplomats, and the ordinary people who found themselves caught up in the extraordinary events recounted here.

Weintraub uses a bank of clocks at the head of each chapter to illustrate the relative time in, let's say, Tokyo, Manila, Washington D.C., and Stalingrad. Part of his thesis is that December 7, 1941 was the high-water mark of the Axis Powers. Although the Axis-dominated portion of the globe did geographically expand after this date, the edifice had begun to crack. Weintraub makes a convincing argument that this day in December was the Beginning of The End for Japan, Germany, Italy and their smaller satellites, as in retrospect it seems to have been.

Filled with accurate historical data and interesting personal stories, LONG DAY'S JOURNEY INTO WAR is a fascinating presentation of a day which deserves the unique treatment this book provides.

The author is known for his previous book, "Doomed From The Start" which is the history of the USAAF's fighters' struggles in the Philippines from December 8, 1941 until the surrender of Bataan. It was ground breaking hisotry and is the standard reference on the subject.

This book looks at the results of just one day and asks "why?" Why was the Far East Air Force virtually destroyed on the ground the day after Pearl Harbor when there was plenty of warning about the attack on Pearl Harbor. The answer will surprise and dismay you. It is meticulously researched with numerous references and footnotes, but it is not dry history. There are plenty of first person stories woven into the book. It is well worth the price if you are an aficionado of WWII in the Pacific.

A minor criticism is maps--there are virtually none--one small one that is so small in scale it is almost impossible to read and 50% of the airfields mentioned in the text are not shown. When will publishers learn that if you are publishing WWII history, include good maps that cross-reference the places written about in the text?

Overall, a first class read and sure to be another "standard reference".

This book is a blow by blow account of the Japanese attack on Clark Field on December 8th 1941. Starting even before MacArthur was recalled to day in July 1941, the author tells the story of how the Japanese planned their attack, and how the FEAF was created and reinforced and eventually attacked on December 8th.

The low rating of for the bad analysis and absurd over the top dislike of MacArthur, who is seems was to blame for every mistake. The bad analysis results from the desire of this micro-history to inflate its importance of the Japanese attack, as well as leaving important questions unanswered.

The truth is that the FEAF was "Doomed at the Start", (which BTW, is the title of much better book about the the P-40 fighter pilots in the FEAF from Dec 1941-to May 1942). Given that lack of AAA protection for the airfields, the lack of spare parts or reinforcements, and being outnumbered 3-1, it was never possible for the FEAF to have accomplished anything.

The author never makes clear how 18 B-17s on their first combat mission, flying unescorted to an bomb a Formosa harbor with unknown targets could have accomplished anything significant. MacArthur is blamed for the disaster although he did nothing more than delay the decision to attack till 10am and order a photo recon. The fact is that 18 B-17s were simply too little to have accomplished anything.

An interesting book, with a lot of detail. It is refreshingly free of hero-worship and nationalistic cheerleading.

This is a follow up book to "Doomed From the Start" written by William Bartsch. This book takes the extra notes from his earlier work with interviews from both sides and numerous extracts from "Doomed" and Walter Edmonds book "They Fought With What They Had" and forms a very comprenhensive look at the events leading up to and immediately through the attacks on Clark and Iba Air Fields on 8 Dec 1941. The book starts in 1940 when the Air Corps begins modernizing the forces in the Philippines and looks at all the attempts by subordinate personnel to provide adequate forces, defense, and doctrine for the air forces of the far east. The book looks at the development of the Japanese operation plan and shows how junior officers and NCO's proved that the attack on Clark didn't require aircraft carrier support for escorts. This book illuminates enough blame for everyone above the rank of major in the chain up to and including FDR. The book points out a study conducted by Maj Hoyt Vandenburg (later AF Chief of Staff) after listening to briefings by Sir Hugh "Stuffy" Dowding on lessons learned by the RAF from the Battle of Britain which recommended action which if implemented might have delayed the final fall of the PI to a point that would have crippled the Japanese timetable most likely in a fatal manner. IMO a delay in taking Luzon by 6 months would have been fatal to Japanese intentions, a relatively secure Subic and Manila Bay would have provided a staging area for American submarines which would have made southern Japanese expansion untenable.
The largest points to come out of the book may have been obvious before reading but are still worth noting:
1. American fighter aircraft and pilots were not up to the task of intercepting the Japanese even if suffecient numbers had been available for the intercept, most of the Americans never got above 18,000 feet, the Japanese bombed from 21,000.
2. MacAurthor or his chief of staff Sutherland was criminally negelent in releasing the Air Force to conduct offensive operations against Formosa...these may not have prevented the strikes against Clark but would have severely restricted future Japanese operations from there after repairs to the bases. Additionally it would have preserved the B-17's lost on the 8th.

Overall this is an excellent book for those interested in delving into the formulation of a disaster that was 8 December1941. It left me screaming inside "IDIOTS, do un to others BEFORE they do un to you!"

Well what can I say, another masterpiece from Bill Bartsch. "December 8, 1941" and his other book: "Doomed at the Start" has answered many quesitons on the early air operations in the Philippines. Again wish I could personally congratulate you on this Mr. Bartsch..

Tony Feredo
Philippines