Pearl Harbor: The Story of the Secret War

This book not only shows that Roosevelt"s war cabinet knew about the impending attack on pearl harbor but actually invited and provoked japan to attack via diplomatic and economic sanctions.this book exposes deceit at the highest level of govt.a must read!excellent. --By Armand Herpe (MIAMI FLA)

This is one of the earliest, but still best, revisisionist studies of Pearl Harbor. Morgenstern did not have access to a lot of information that has come out since he wrote, such as Commander MacCollum's ten point memorandum on how to provoke Japan into war, which memorandum was followed almost to the letter by FDR. Nevertheless, "The Story of the Secret War" makes very clear that Roosevelt was privately seeking to provoke war while publicly denying that he was doing any such thing. Morgenstern was a long time reporter for Colonel Robert MacCormick's Chicago Tribune. That fact has undoubtedly prejudiced assessments of his book, as the Colonel was more than a little disreputable to the liberal academic establishment. Nevertheless, with the passage of years and the emergence of more information, there has been a growing consensus in favor of his thesis. It is therefore worth re-reading the book in light of new revelations. That may lead to distasteful conclusions for some but the truth is what it is. --By john thames "scholar1"

Reading this book helps put the historical buildup to America's entry into World War II into better perspective. It also reminds one of two key factors in honest journalism: use first-hand sources, and prefer contemporary accounts over versions written years after the fact. Although a history major who has studied the Interwar Period extensively, I learned a great deal from this 1946 book about the sequence of events leading up to Pearl Harbor. An honest reading of this book makes it clear that Franklin Roosevelt and Cordell Hull were provoking the Japanese to attack the United States. Although I believe it was essential that the United States enter World War II, the methods used to instigate a Japanese attack are dismaying. It is also apparent that the Japanese envoys negotiating with Hull in the last days before Pearl Harbor really were trying to avert war, but that Hull and FDR were not interested. Our administration was telling America one thing, but really doing something very different. --By bravesfan -