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Cover-Up: The Politics of Pearl Harbor, 1941-1946

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This book reviews the publications of those who believe Pres. FDR and his advisors tried to keep secret Japanese military messages from the defenders of Pearl Harbor, in the president's attempt to entice the Japanese to bomb Pearl, in order to get the U.S. entered into WWII in order to assist the British in their war against Hitler. Whew, that's a lot to bite off in this short 189-page book written in 1978. Many conservatives (America First movement) understood that FDR wanted the U.S. to assist England, but they believed he was being duplicitous about how he wanted to get U.S. military forces involved in supporting England. It's an okay read for briefly reviewing the highlights of the various congressional inquiries into the Pearl Harbor attack, and explains why some believe that Adm. Kimmel and Gen. Short were wrongly blaimed for allowing the disaster to occur. No new revelations are made of missing secret documents that might indict FDR. But it is of a beginner's interest in trying to understand the mindset as to how and why some believe that FDR was misleading the public into war against Germany, by enticing the Japanese to bomb the ill-informed U.S. fleet based in Hawaii. To his credit, Mr. Bartlett wrote that he does not believe that FDR purposefully "set up" the Japanese to attack Pearl, but questions why certain Japanese messages inquring about the defenses of Pearl Harbor were withheld from the Hawaiian commanders.