stargazerb09f7's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Excellent book on Pearl Harbor. Extensively research and well written.
cartwright's review against another edition
2.0
Atrocious writing and editing. Poor fact-checking resulting in egregious errors (who is General George McArthur? Midway as AH, not AF?). No serious scholar could commit such basic mistakes. Hard pass.
albert_04's review against another edition
4.0
At first, I am a bit reluctant to read this voluminous book, a 500+ pages detailed narrative of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I thought this single major event can be easily grasp by reading some articles and introductory histories somewhere in the Internet; also WWII offers a lot of historical and major events aside from Pearl Harbor bombing in order to understand it as a whole. I initially thought, why should I read this one? Why not instead read a definitive history of WWII in a single book? For sure, Pearl Harbor bombing history is there.
But, to my surprise, I've finished reading this one! Even though I am already pessimistic while reading its prologue, the introduction and its succeeding chapters really were page-turners. My doubts diminished and I started to appreciate the detailed accounts of this particular history.
One of the personal factors which aroused my interest in reading this book is its full-packed overview of the US-Japan relations and the Pearl Harbor bombing. It is not just the story of Pearl Harbor. Instead, it is a story before Pearl Harbor centuries ago when Japan was still an isolated country—which later explored by Matthew Perry— and the US-Japan relations' starting point. It is a story during the Pearl Harbor bombing, the detailed atrocities and personal accounts of witnesses, the diplomatic talks between the two countries to delay the pending war, and the intelligence and detailed plan behind the surprise attack of Japan that the US never have been expected. And it is also a story after the Pearl Harbor bombing, its legacies and succeeding chaos brought by this turning point in history: from the US's declaration of war against Japan, the war in the Pacific theater, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombing, and the strengthened US-Japan relations after the war.
Still, this two imperialist countries in our history were the same. They were both aggressors in their own terms. Americans were never the victims because of Japan's surprise attack; and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would not put Japan in a pitiful state. They were both imperialistic countries who massacred, exploited, and conquered other countries in the past. And after the WWII, these two countries immediately were in good terms, while their victims were in desolation.
But, to my surprise, I've finished reading this one! Even though I am already pessimistic while reading its prologue, the introduction and its succeeding chapters really were page-turners. My doubts diminished and I started to appreciate the detailed accounts of this particular history.
One of the personal factors which aroused my interest in reading this book is its full-packed overview of the US-Japan relations and the Pearl Harbor bombing. It is not just the story of Pearl Harbor. Instead, it is a story before Pearl Harbor centuries ago when Japan was still an isolated country—which later explored by Matthew Perry— and the US-Japan relations' starting point. It is a story during the Pearl Harbor bombing, the detailed atrocities and personal accounts of witnesses, the diplomatic talks between the two countries to delay the pending war, and the intelligence and detailed plan behind the surprise attack of Japan that the US never have been expected. And it is also a story after the Pearl Harbor bombing, its legacies and succeeding chaos brought by this turning point in history: from the US's declaration of war against Japan, the war in the Pacific theater, the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombing, and the strengthened US-Japan relations after the war.
Still, this two imperialist countries in our history were the same. They were both aggressors in their own terms. Americans were never the victims because of Japan's surprise attack; and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki would not put Japan in a pitiful state. They were both imperialistic countries who massacred, exploited, and conquered other countries in the past. And after the WWII, these two countries immediately were in good terms, while their victims were in desolation.
readmore's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.5
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