Review of "Pearl Harbor," by Ernest Arroyo

 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.