Review of
Pearl Harbor,
by Ernest Arroyo, ISBN 097607740x
Five out of five stars
Photos of the day of infamy
Given the
behavior of the Japanese when they attacked the Russian Asian fleet anchored at
Port Arthur in 1904, it was logical that the Japanese would engage in a
surprise attack on opposing fleets in the Second World War. While there was a
wide belief in American military circles that history would be repeated, the
belief was that it would not be at Pearl Harbor. The American military and
political leadership vastly underestimated the technical capabilities of the
Japanese, thinking that they simply could not carry out the powerful attack
that they managed to execute. This belief was so deep in American thinking that
there were many who believed that some of the planes that attacked Pearl Harbor
were in fact piloted by Germans.
The destruction
of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is captured in these images from both
Japanese and American sources. While the American pictures of the destruction
of the ships are powerful, the most striking images are those of the ships in
the harbor taken by the Japanese. All those ships simply lined up at anchor,
stationary targets for the skilled pilots of the Japanese Navy.
Luck had a
great deal of action in the Japanese action at Pearl Harbor on December 7,
1941. How such a massive fleet was able to escape detection on such a long
journey and how the American forces were caught figuratively sleeping that fateful
morning has been the subject of many books and studies. In war, sometimes
things just break your way, and this book is a visual explanation of just how
well they went for the Japanese forces that day.
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