arloscott123's review against another edition
5.0
A great book about what happend on that devistating morning of december 7th. It tells stories of the survivors so all together an exellent book
backonthealex's review
4.0
Reading History Smashers: Pearl Harbor, made me realize that I've read and reviewed a lot of books about the events of December 7, 1941, but most of them were novels - good novels but fiction nevertheless. Amazingly, I've never read a nonfiction book about Pearl Harbor for this blog, so I was pleased to read this new book by Kate Messner from her series History Smashers.
Messner takes a look not only at the facts surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor, but also looks at some of the myths and legends that have circulated ever since. And she begins at the beginning, debunking the popular idea that the attack "happened completely out of the blue, with no warning and nothing to suggest there might be trouble." By carefully and succinctly looking at Japanese history from 1853, when Commodore Matthew Perry led an expedition to try to open up isolationist Japan to trade with other countries, Messner shows how opening this small island country led to its desire for more land and more natural resources, eventually leading to the invasion of Manchuria and China in the 1930s.
Following Germany's lead, Japan also set her sites on islands in the Pacific already colonized by other nations, including the US. After Japan signed a agreement with Germany and Italy in which they promised that if one were attacked, the others would help defend them. Feeling protected and now quite militarized, Japan invaded French Indochina.
Next, Messner looks at the errors in judgement made by the United States that led to such devastation when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. She goes back to 1924, when an army officer named William Mitchell was sent to evaluate the preparedness of US forces in the Pacific and Far East. He warned that Japan was thinking about expanding its empire, had its sites sent on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines and that that would eventually lead to war. But by 1939, Americans didn't want to go to war and so President Roosevelt tried negotiating with Japan to maintain peace. While Japan readied itself for the attack, by training pilots, redesigning torpedoes for the shallow waters where the American fleet had been moved to, mistakes, miscommunications, and incomplete intelligence gathering all led to what ultimately felt like a surprise attack to Americans, all of which Messner carefully looks at.
History Smashers: Pearl Harbor is a short but very informative, well researched look at the attack on Pearl Harbor. Not only does Messner lay out her facts and debunk the myths surrounding the attack that led America into WWII, but she takes this very complicated event and makes it accessible to young readers. Plus, she takes the narrative beyond Pearl Harbor and looks at the racist treatment and incarceration of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast of the US.
Messner includes lots of informative sidebars introducing readers to people, places, and histories, as well as lots of photographs and maps. There is extensive back matter that includes A World War II and Pearl Harbor Timeline, an Author's Note, Books, Websites and Museums to Visit for further exploration, and an excellent Bibliography.
This is a book that should be read by anyone interested in WWII. How good is it? Well, I thought I knew a lot about Pearl Harbor, but even I learned a few new facts.
This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was an eARC gratefully received from NetGalley
Messner takes a look not only at the facts surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor, but also looks at some of the myths and legends that have circulated ever since. And she begins at the beginning, debunking the popular idea that the attack "happened completely out of the blue, with no warning and nothing to suggest there might be trouble." By carefully and succinctly looking at Japanese history from 1853, when Commodore Matthew Perry led an expedition to try to open up isolationist Japan to trade with other countries, Messner shows how opening this small island country led to its desire for more land and more natural resources, eventually leading to the invasion of Manchuria and China in the 1930s.
Following Germany's lead, Japan also set her sites on islands in the Pacific already colonized by other nations, including the US. After Japan signed a agreement with Germany and Italy in which they promised that if one were attacked, the others would help defend them. Feeling protected and now quite militarized, Japan invaded French Indochina.
Next, Messner looks at the errors in judgement made by the United States that led to such devastation when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. She goes back to 1924, when an army officer named William Mitchell was sent to evaluate the preparedness of US forces in the Pacific and Far East. He warned that Japan was thinking about expanding its empire, had its sites sent on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines and that that would eventually lead to war. But by 1939, Americans didn't want to go to war and so President Roosevelt tried negotiating with Japan to maintain peace. While Japan readied itself for the attack, by training pilots, redesigning torpedoes for the shallow waters where the American fleet had been moved to, mistakes, miscommunications, and incomplete intelligence gathering all led to what ultimately felt like a surprise attack to Americans, all of which Messner carefully looks at.
History Smashers: Pearl Harbor is a short but very informative, well researched look at the attack on Pearl Harbor. Not only does Messner lay out her facts and debunk the myths surrounding the attack that led America into WWII, but she takes this very complicated event and makes it accessible to young readers. Plus, she takes the narrative beyond Pearl Harbor and looks at the racist treatment and incarceration of Japanese Americans living on the West Coast of the US.
Messner includes lots of informative sidebars introducing readers to people, places, and histories, as well as lots of photographs and maps. There is extensive back matter that includes A World War II and Pearl Harbor Timeline, an Author's Note, Books, Websites and Museums to Visit for further exploration, and an excellent Bibliography.
This is a book that should be read by anyone interested in WWII. How good is it? Well, I thought I knew a lot about Pearl Harbor, but even I learned a few new facts.
This book is recommended for readers age 8+
This book was an eARC gratefully received from NetGalley
bronsonmh's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
I thought this was a great non fiction about Pearl Harbor. What I like about Kate Messner's History Smashers is that she writes about all the information a lot of kids don't learn about K-12 here in the United States. Most people learn more about what really happened until the get older or go to college. I like how she broke down the racism that was going on in the United States military back then and how the United States gathered up all the Japanese American citizen (men women and children) took them from their homes and put them in Interment Camps for awhile during the war.
maidmarianlib's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
3.0
Provides a lot of facts and context to those facts, includes a range of ideas about racism and colonialism as well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
andeez's review against another edition
4.0
Kate Messner's History Smashers are my favorite. I don't care if I'm 40 years over the intended audience. I stand by my statement.
Let's face it - those of us growing up before the 2000s seriously lacked information in our history textbooks. There are plenty of adult reads out there to fill in the gaps. But Messner does it in a way that middle graders AND their teachers will find reader friendly. Personal testimonies and information hard to grasp is presented in graphic novel form - the pictures tell the stories as much as the text.
I recommend this whole series for 3rd grade and up. But especially adults like me who got the watered down version growing up.
Let's face it - those of us growing up before the 2000s seriously lacked information in our history textbooks. There are plenty of adult reads out there to fill in the gaps. But Messner does it in a way that middle graders AND their teachers will find reader friendly. Personal testimonies and information hard to grasp is presented in graphic novel form - the pictures tell the stories as much as the text.
I recommend this whole series for 3rd grade and up. But especially adults like me who got the watered down version growing up.
mrlindqvist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
4.0