Customer Reviews

God's Samurai: Lead Pilot at Pearl Harbor (The Warriors)

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A friend of mine introduced me to this book in April of this year. He told me it was unlike any book about the Pacific war that he had ever read. Although skeptical at first, I sill went ahead and purchased the book. I left it on my book-shelve for several months and forgot all about it. As I began packing up in July to move I noticed this book again, so I picked it up and began reading it. I found the style of writing extremely fluid, and the chapters were concise. This well balanced account of Mitsuo Fuchida life traces it from his days as an Imperial naval aviator to Christian evangelist. 'God's Samurai' is a truly inspirational book filled with numerous accounts of honor, bravery, loyalty, and sacrifice - all the codes of a Samurai warrior. I have enjoyed this book tremendously, and I have just begun reading, 'Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan: The Japanese Navy's Story' by Mitsuo Fuchida, Roger Pineau (Editor),Masatake Okumiya(Contributor). Both 'God's Samurai' and 'Midway' are 'must-have' books for anyone who is truly interested in the Pacific war and naval battles!

I'm an avid military historian, my specialty is WWII Pacific theater - Pearl Habor is my favorite reading area. I read Prang's books because he and his team produce the best written books on that era on the market today. (Possibly even the best written military histories of any era!) Prang has such a unique historical perspective - he was there so through him we actually hear the real voices of the people of that era. Beyond that extraordinary first hand experience, this book is as heavily researched and referenced as any I've found. While it provides remarkable historical perspective, there is a theme that would be compelling for even the non-historian. This is the story of Mitsuo Fuchida who lead the mission to attack Pearl Harbor. This is a man who had committed his life to his Emperor and Japan's goals. The book traces a profound, almost mind-boggling evolution in this man's life from Japanese warrior to a Christian missionary spending time in the United S! tates! Prang et al breath life into history and provide something for more than just us in the narrow audience of military historians.

An awesome true story. Definitely one of the three best books I've read in the past decade. In a time like this of Osama bin Labens and shocking inter-civilizational conflict, Fuchida's life story shows how true reconciliation and inter-cultural brotherhood can be experienced. It gives hope in spite of the huge obstacles to inter-cultural understanding. A powerful human interest story. Don't miss it!

Got the book for my son, who is a ministerial student seriously considering a call to Japan as a missionary. The book gave him insight into the perception Japanese have of Christianity and the spiritual process one Japanese man, Mitsuo Fuchida, a distinguished wartime navy pilot, went through after the war in seeking the truth about Christianity which led him to salvation in Jesus Christ. Formerly he led bombers attacking American ships at Pearl Harbor; later he preached the gospel in Japan and the U.S. and became a naturalized U.S. citizen. Some have expressed disappointment that the book didn't give as much detail about Captain Fuchida's World War II, but that was not it's purpose; other books and articles contain those accounts by him. It was written to show how his life was transformed by the gospel. I ordered the book On Line and had it mailed directly to my son at his college. Some of his school friends saw it and have expressed and interest in reading it as well.

This is one of the most enojyable books I have read to date! As an avid reader, and historian, it was refreashing to take a look into the life of one of WW II's leaders. What touched me most was the impact that Christianity had on Mitsuo Fuchida. The ability of Christianity to reach across cultures and languages to transform the life of one of Japan's foremost heros impressed me considerably! I also enjoyed reading about Fuchida's experiences in WW II - especially his role in hte planning/executing of the attack on Pearl Harbor and his impressions of the devastation created by the A-Bomb. I highly recommend this book! It is very fast paced - sure to keep your interest. A must buy

I heard about this book from a fellow author and soon found myself ordering a copy from Amazon to get my own copy. I found this work intriguing and a delight to read. Having a great interest in history and related fields, reading this book answered many questions and provided a number of illustrations for lectures and other speaking engagements.

This is one of the best books I've ever read. Very thoroughly documented based on interviews with Mitsuo Fuchida, the lead pilot who lead the attack on Pearl Harbor starting WWII. They double checked his statements with official documents from both sides of the war, and were impressed with how accurate his memory was and how truthful he was.

You can see how the hand of God was not only on his life to bring him to the destiny, calling and purpose God had for him, even years before he knew God and Christ as his savior, but also see clearly how God really was also overseeing the events of the entire war and brought it to the conclusion that we have the fruits of today (which most of today's leaders are ignorant of and squandering).

There is no commentary that this is what is happening in the text, it just becomes clear to the reader after you follow all the events before, during, and after the war.

My favorite part was how that Captain Fuchida became incensed when he was summoned to testify about Japanese atrocities at the war crimes trials in Tokyo after the war ended. He thought that all people committed atrocities during wartime, including the US.

When he read in the newspaper that a ship was returning from the US with Japanese POW's, he got a notebook and ran to the dock to interview the returning POW's and record all the atrocities the Americans had done to them.

Instead, all he heard was how they were not only NOT mistreated, but that the US took care of them, and when they tried to commit suicide (because of the shame of "failing" and being captured), the Americans would stop them save their life, give them medical care, and prevent them from doing it again. Then, some would try starvation to kill themselves, but the Americans would put IV's in them and keep them alive.

Then, the POW's kept telling him of a young volunteer girl who would bring them food and blankets at her own expense. When asked why was she doing this, well... I won't ruin the best part for you.

Read it to find out.

And awesome book, more about the power, sovereignty, and grace of God than anything else. And it does this by being very strictly a historical documentary and biography, without even trying to convince you.

This book deals with the life of Captain Mitsuo Fuchida and his conversion from the attacker of Pearl Harbor to Christian minister. About half the book condenses the war years. The other half focuses on his religious conversion after the war. The book does not delve too deeply into the character of Fuchida's colleagues like Admirals Yamamoto and Nagumo and Captain Minoru Genda. Neither does it go into much detail into the battles Fuchida took part in or his role as part of the Naval High Command after Midway. For the avid military historian looking for a detailed account of Fuchida's role during the war and his comprehensive views on what Japan did wrong, the lack of detail on the war years and the seemingly greater emphasis made on Fuchida's religious conversion in the second half of the book will be a great disappointment. Look for book entitled "Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan" written by Fuchida himself and Masatake Okumiya instead.

The Second World War completely changed its major participants and exacted some huge sacrifices from all involved. This and other books about the people who did the fighting shows how similar the attitudes were on all sides. The main character changes some of his thinking after the war, but his thoughts and actions during the war are really interesting, especially when compared to the thoughts and actions of the people on other sides.

Excellent detailed story of Pearl Harbor's lead Navy pilot who through special circumstances wrought only by God found himself after the war travelling in the USA with Billy Graham and preaching the Gospel in Christian Crusades.