Customer Reviews

Hawaii Goes to War: The Aftermath of Pearl Harbor

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

With the release of the new movie "Pearl Harbor", there is heightened interest in the events that began our involvement in World War II. This short work fills some of that knowledge gap, and it's crammed full of wonderful photographs taken by the female author's mother while she lived in the islands in 1941 and 1942. There is nothing like a photo to add realism to a text, and both aspects of this work complement each other. There is a lot of text that gives an overview of what happened on the islands directly after the attack, and how life changed for the residents. The bonus is that we are also given a first person account of that life by Carroll Jones, the daughter of the taker of those excellent photos. This is the type of book you will want to savor over the years, and the photos will keep it ever new in your mind and memory.

This book is essentially a manuscript of memoirs, (the impression I had was a thesis) written by the daughter of a Naval officer stationed at Pearl. The day-to-day details of pre-war life in Hawaii (considered an exotic location to most Americans in the early '40s) are well described. The civilian impressions of post-attack Honolulu are also the strengths of this work. The book is less successful as it attempts to describe the progress of the war. It probably would have been better to relate the war news "as heard" at the time, and the ups and downs of civilian morale dealing with the news, and the thousands of servicemen descending on the islands.
All in all, a fairly good read, but not an in-depth memoir of civilian life in wartime Hawaii.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The book is a narrative from the writers POV and feelings and life during this period of time. It covers aspects I feel only a person living and experiencing life in Honolulu during the attack on Pearl Harbor can elaborate on. We've read in history books what have happened, read first person narratives of adults during this time but you read about a young childs POV and that is very interesting, very rare. The honesty of the writers family life I can a appreciate and thank her for expressing. Great photo book, pictures, captions, very informative.

I feel this is a great first person POV book as well as GREAT literature for photos and detail regarding Hawaii during this period of time.

I actually married into this family, to the nephew of Carrol Jones, so I may be biased :) .
But I greatly enjoyed hearing her thoughts and feelings during that time of her life, and the plethora of pictures...are worth 1000 words. Sadly, her brother (my father-in-law)is not with us to tell us his recollections, but my teenagers love this book as they feel they are learning something about their grandfather.
I know that many of these pictures were thought to be lost or missing for many years, and so it is a great joy that they can be shared with all now.

I generally enjoyed this book about Hawaii during WW II. As most books just mention the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor and then move on. Considering the limited amount of real meat that is on the bone, the author did a good job with what they had by telling of their time on the Island.