Book Review of
Pearl December 7, 1941
Author: Daniel Allen Butler
Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 978-1-61200-938-4
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $34.98
ISBN: 978-1-61200-938-4
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright 2020
MSRP: $34.98
Pearl December 7, 1941 is the story of how the United States and Japan, two nations with seemingly little over which to quarrel, let peach slip away, so that on that “day which will live in infamy”, more than 350 dive bombers , high-level bombers, torpedo planes, and fighters of the Imperial Japanese Navy did their best to cripple the United States Navy’s Pacific Fleet, killing 2,403 American servicemen and civilians and wounding another 1,178.
It is a story of emperors and presidents, diplomats and politicians, admirals and generals – and it’s also the tale of ordinary sailors, soldiers, and airmen, all of whom were overtaken by a rush of events, that ultimately overwhelmed them.
Pearl shows the real reasons why America’s political and military leaders underestimated Japan’s threat against America’s security, and why their Japanese counterparts ultimately felt compelled to launch the Pearl Harbor attack.
Pearl offers more than superficial answers, showing ow both sides blundered their way through arrogance, overconfidence, racism, bigotry, and old-fashioned human error to arrive at the moment when the Japanese were convinced that there was no alternative to war.
Once the battle was joined, Pear then takes the reader into the heart of the attack, when the fighting men of both nations showed that neither side had a monopoly on heroism, courage, cowardice, or luck, as they fought to protect their nations.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is one of those rare moments when, in the space of a few hours, the “hinge of Fate” turned and the course of history was utterly changed. Nearly eight decades later, it has become an event which almost everyone knows of, but hardly anyone seems to know about.
How-and why-did the Empire of Japan and the United States of America collided in blood and flames that Sunday morning when the sun rose and the bombs fell ?
It is a story of emperors and presidents, diplomats and politicians, admirals and generals – and it’s also the tale of ordinary sailors, soldiers, and airmen, all of whom were overtaken by a rush of events, that ultimately overwhelmed them.
Pearl shows the real reasons why America’s political and military leaders underestimated Japan’s threat against America’s security, and why their Japanese counterparts ultimately felt compelled to launch the Pearl Harbor attack.
Pearl offers more than superficial answers, showing ow both sides blundered their way through arrogance, overconfidence, racism, bigotry, and old-fashioned human error to arrive at the moment when the Japanese were convinced that there was no alternative to war.
Once the battle was joined, Pear then takes the reader into the heart of the attack, when the fighting men of both nations showed that neither side had a monopoly on heroism, courage, cowardice, or luck, as they fought to protect their nations.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is one of those rare moments when, in the space of a few hours, the “hinge of Fate” turned and the course of history was utterly changed. Nearly eight decades later, it has become an event which almost everyone knows of, but hardly anyone seems to know about.
How-and why-did the Empire of Japan and the United States of America collided in blood and flames that Sunday morning when the sun rose and the bombs fell ?
THE BOOK:
Casemate Publishers is also a publisher of their own books and an importer and distributor of other publications. They are based in Havertown, PA, USA.
The book is hard-bound of 256 pages. Two pages are blank.
The book has a paper jacket. The cover art shows a black and white photo of ships at Pearl Harbor burning and sinking. Super-emposed over this photo is a white silhouette of a Japanese bomber.
The back cover begins with info about the author and some history of the attack over another black and white photo of ground-crewmen walking around a damaged air field after the attack.
The book is predominantly text.
There are 38 black and white wartime photos in the center of the book.
They are: Portraits of Hirohito, emperor of Japan, President Franklin Roosevelt, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, Admiral Husband Kimmel, commander of the Pacific Fleet, Japanese Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi, Lieutenant General Walter Short, Lieutenant Commander Fuchida Mitsuo, bombing instructor at the Imperial Navy Academy, Japan’s ambassador Nomura Kichisaburo, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Special Envoy Kurusu Saburo together.
Ships shown are: The Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku and zuikaku, U.S. battleships California, Arizona, Maryland, Oklahoma, Nevada, Pennsylvania, tennessee and Virginia.
Aircraft shown are: a Curtis P-36 Hawk, a Curtis P-40B Warhawk, a Japanese Aichi D3A “Val”, a Japanese Mitsubishi A6M “Zero”and a Japanese Nakajima B5N “Kate”.
A photo of a group of Japanese pilots being given final briefing before the attack. Zeros on the deck of the Akagi warming up for the raid. Four aerial photos of Pearl Harbor. Photos of battleship Nevada, destroyer Shaw on fire. Battleship Row in flames, two photos of battleship Arizona blowing up and the battleship Virginia on fire.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Daniel Allen Butler, a maritime and military historian, is the best-selling author of “Unsinkable – The Full Story of the RMS Titanic”, “Distant Victory – The Battle of Jutland & the Allied Triumph in the First World War”, “The First Jimad – The Battle of Khartoum”, “The Dawn of Militant Islam”.
He is an internationally recognized authority on maritime subjects. He lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He was educated at Hope College, Grand Valley State University, and the University of Erlangen.
This book will be of great interest to military historians and modelers alike.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample.
All Casemate books and the books of other publishers they distribute can be seen on their website at:
Casemate Publishers is also a publisher of their own books and an importer and distributor of other publications. They are based in Havertown, PA, USA.
The book is hard-bound of 256 pages. Two pages are blank.
The book has a paper jacket. The cover art shows a black and white photo of ships at Pearl Harbor burning and sinking. Super-emposed over this photo is a white silhouette of a Japanese bomber.
The back cover begins with info about the author and some history of the attack over another black and white photo of ground-crewmen walking around a damaged air field after the attack.
The book is predominantly text.
There are 38 black and white wartime photos in the center of the book.
They are: Portraits of Hirohito, emperor of Japan, President Franklin Roosevelt, Japanese Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, Admiral Husband Kimmel, commander of the Pacific Fleet, Japanese Vice Admiral Nagumo Chuichi, Lieutenant General Walter Short, Lieutenant Commander Fuchida Mitsuo, bombing instructor at the Imperial Navy Academy, Japan’s ambassador Nomura Kichisaburo, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull and Special Envoy Kurusu Saburo together.
Ships shown are: The Japanese carriers Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku and zuikaku, U.S. battleships California, Arizona, Maryland, Oklahoma, Nevada, Pennsylvania, tennessee and Virginia.
Aircraft shown are: a Curtis P-36 Hawk, a Curtis P-40B Warhawk, a Japanese Aichi D3A “Val”, a Japanese Mitsubishi A6M “Zero”and a Japanese Nakajima B5N “Kate”.
A photo of a group of Japanese pilots being given final briefing before the attack. Zeros on the deck of the Akagi warming up for the raid. Four aerial photos of Pearl Harbor. Photos of battleship Nevada, destroyer Shaw on fire. Battleship Row in flames, two photos of battleship Arizona blowing up and the battleship Virginia on fire.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Daniel Allen Butler, a maritime and military historian, is the best-selling author of “Unsinkable – The Full Story of the RMS Titanic”, “Distant Victory – The Battle of Jutland & the Allied Triumph in the First World War”, “The First Jimad – The Battle of Khartoum”, “The Dawn of Militant Islam”.
He is an internationally recognized authority on maritime subjects. He lives and works in Los Angeles, California. He was educated at Hope College, Grand Valley State University, and the University of Erlangen.
This book will be of great interest to military historians and modelers alike.
I want to sincerely thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample.
All Casemate books and the books of other publishers they distribute can be seen on their website at:
Highly recommended.