On a quiet Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, Japanese forces stunned America by launching an air raid on Pearl Harbor, destroying all the battleships of the U.S. fleet.
One moment, the Hawaiian Islands were tranquil, sleepy, and peaceful. Then suddenly the air was filled with enemy airplanes dropping bombs and torpedoes on the American ships and airbases. In just a few minutes, the Pacific fleet was all but destroyed and thousands of Americans lay dead and dying. How did this happen and what would the consequences be for the United States?
War correspondent Edwin P. Hoyt takes us across the Pacific where we experience the attack—from the Japanese triumph in the air to the tragedy and disaster amid the flaming wrecks of the battleships in the harbor.
No one imagined that Japan would be bold enough to plan an attack so close to the mainland, and in Hawaii the shock was complete as soldiers and sailors rushed to escape from the fires and wreckage of their ships.
In this engrossing and extensively researched account, war correspondent Edwin P. Hoyt—who served in the Pacific theater—takes a close look at the personalities involved and Japan's careful planning as the kido butai (or striking force) was assembled. An endpaper map lays out the geography of the Pacific Ocean, and internal charts, maps, and historic photos appear throughout.
Edwin P. Hoyt served in the Pacific theater during World War II and afterward became a war correspondent in Asia and the Middle East. He was a news editor for the U.S. Office of War Information and a member of the psychological warfare team in India, Burma, and China. He was a reporter for the Denver Post and the San Francisco Chronicle as well as a producer for CBS News. An avid military historian, Hoyt is the author of more than 150 books.
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