Customer Reviews

Pearl Harbor: America's Darkest Day

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

 

 

With the recent interest in Pearl Harbor bringing books out of the woodwork, I spent alot of time searching for a comprehensive summary of that "infamous" day. This coffee table book has it all. Stunning photography and wonderful writing. From the start, the forward by Senator Inouye brought tears to my eyes. I've gone over it cover to cover several times and its a treasure!! If you have interest in this important part of our country's history...buy this book!

Pearl Harbor is a day that our nation will never forget, and this book helps those who weren't there understand why it is imperative to remember. This book draws up a landscape of history that is relevant to the incident, and discusses both prior and after effects of this notorious day.

The book is excellently done, encompassing informative material that allows people to understand many different aspects of the attack, and life at the base, both before and after.

If you enjoy US History, then this book is a wonderful addition to your collection. I keep going back to it to read about different aspects of not just Pearl Harbor, but World War II.

Since I am only 21 years old, it was difficult to grasp the human aspects of such an attack, but this book puts things into perspective.

I will always keep this book, not only as an informative guide, but also as a reminder of America's Darkest Day.

Great book! It made a great gift book for my WWII veteran father. The book, by Susan Wels, tells the story of Pearl Harbor from a full 360 degree view, from the earliest planning, to the end of the War. It is an amazing story, told through great writing, along with many dramatic photos -- many of which have apparently never been published before (one in particular of the attack in progress is just unbelieveable). This is the type of book that will work for a veteran of the Pacific war, as well as for a student who just wants to learn about what Pearl Harbor really means. It is all explained in great detail and through the many photos in this book...I know this book will do well once the movie hits the theatre...I bought it in advance for Father's day, but could not keep it from my dad...

What I liked best about the book were its real-life pictures with facts in the captions. I enjoyed most of the book. My great-grandfather was at Pearl Harbor. I am glad to know now what happened and what went on day by day. It was easy to read in some parts, too. The writing, however, failed to hold my attention after reading only a few pages. Also, the book was about a couple of battles, not just Pearl Harbor. Still, I would recommend this book, especially to someone who wanted to know about our nation's wartime past.

One of the nice things about Beh Affleck's awful movie was it got people interested in this subject, and a some good books were written for those people to read. Better entertaining than the bomb that they were inspired by.

This one of the better ones. Nicely written. Very informative. Well illustrated both with original art and period photographs. A good read on this subject.

I bought this for my personal interest in Pearl Harbor. I understood that this was a photographic book, which is the primary reason for my purchase. I wanted more pictures than the few famous photos that we see on day to day documentaries about the subject.

On that score, this book is perfect. It exceeded my expectations, as far as the photography went. One photo is even from one of the Japanese planes looking down on the horror it was reaping. If for no other reason, the photography is worth the book's purchase.

One reviewer here implied that the written text portion of the book was boring. I wouldn't say that at all. It carefully describes the events which led up to the attack, step by step. I am not a Pearl Harbor expert, so I cannot vouch for its accuracy, but I can say it was written clearly and very well.

I expected that once the attack was over, the narrative would write a simple conclusion and the book would be finished. I was wrong. This is the exact point where the book takes a very bizarre turn and disappointing turn.

I did not expect the book to continue and so descriptions of key battles were a surprise. What was more than a surprise, was to discover that the book suddenly slanted and sounded very biased for the Japanese. One minute you are reading the horrors of Pearl Harbor, the next minute you are reading about the atrocities Americans were committing against the Japanese.

Internments are mentioned many times as well as their devastating result, along with pictures of those camps. There are photos of Japanese in American POW camps. There are photos of the devastation as a result of the "big bomb". All of that is fine, after all these are facts about the war. I have no problem with facts, what I have a problem with is balance.

Where are the photos of Americans in Japanese POW camps? You will find none. Where are the descriptions of the Kamikaze effects, or photos of those? You will find none. Where are the descriptions of the Japanese eating American livers and performing experiments, just like the Nazis did? You will find none.

As a result of this, the love of this book really took a downward spiral. In the end, the writer's decision to filter out equal and factual information ruined the entire book for me.

It is worth its purchase for the pictures and perhaps the narrative to the point of the attack. After that it sounds very propaganda-ish.

A Fantastic Read

This book is terrific. I really liked the fact that it put the attack in the context of the Second World War. It gives you a good understanding of the conflicts in Europe and the Pacific and helps you to see why the attack was so pivotal. I've never been all that interested in books about war, but this one proved to be engaging and very moving. Susan Wels has done an outstanding job presenting the people and the politics behind this much-discussed event.