Editorial Content for Countdown to Pearl Harbor: The Twelve Days to the Attack
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
As we solemnly mark the 75th anniversary of the devastating event that propelled the United States into World War II, Steve Twomey offers an examination of the shortcomings in the nation’s military and diplomatic systems that might have been able to lessen the carnage if they had been better organized.
With all the mistakes, missteps and miscommunications, after reading COUNTDOWN TO PEARL HARBOR one comes away wondering how we managed to win the war. Responses all around seemed to have come up short as those in positions of power dickered over the best course of action, which in many instances was no action at all.
"The narrative is followed by more than 40 pages of notes and bibliography, a testimony to the author’s thoroughness."
Despite all the warning signs, America’s leaders --- through hubris or ignorance or simple disbelief over the capabilities of the enemy --- were not as ready as they should have been given the political climate. After all, Japan made no secret of their desire for geographic dominance. The author peppers his report with passages like, “There was going to come a moment when war with Japan was no longer an abstraction that might be encountered in a far-off future, but a genuine likelihood. The trick would be to recognize that moment.”
Unfortunately, no one on the American side did so until it was too late.
The descriptions of Japan’s strategy and philosophy --- perspectives that are usually lacking from American accounts --- are particularly interesting. That nation’s military is usually represented as having a fanatical loyalty to the Emperor, but individually there were doubts. Traveling thousands of miles in 12 days (the time period referred to in the title) was practically a suicide mission; it would be extremely difficult to traverse such a distance, engage in any type of protracted battle, and be able to return home with any degree of safety. It’s refreshing to learn the enemy’s point of view and not take at face value the way they had been portrayed --- as almost subhuman --- by the media at the time.
The distance of time has allowed thoughtful analyses on the conditions that led to the worst attack on American-held soil (Hawaii was not yet a part of the United States at that time). There are no spoilers here; Twomey uncovers no secrets. The sense of impending doom mixes achingly with a sense of increased urgency as the days before the attack count down.
Younger readers immersed in today’s technology and the ability to reach anyone anywhere in real time will no doubt be stunned by the unfathomable delay in communications all those decades ago. That’s why advance preparation was so vital, and the attitudes from certain admirals, generals, politicians and members of the Roosevelt administration --- that it would be impossible to “sneak up” on a major military power --- were so misguided.
Another sad but inevitable fact in publishing contemporary interpretations: the protagonists about whom Twomey writes are all gone, so there’s no first-person account other than from memoirs and journals. The narrative is followed by more than 40 pages of notes and bibliography, a testimony to the author’s thoroughness.
Teaser
In Washington, DC, in late November 1941, admirals composed the most ominous message in Navy history to warn Hawaii of possible danger --- but they wrote it too vaguely. They thought precautions were being taken, but never checked to be sure. In a small office at Pearl Harbor, overlooking the battleships, the commander of the Pacific Fleet tried to assess whether the threat was real. There were false assumptions and racist ones, misunderstandings, infighting and clashes between egos. Steve Twomey shows how careless decisions and blinkered beliefs gave birth to colossal failure. But he tells the story with compassion and a wise understanding of why people --- even smart, experienced, talented people --- look down at their feet when they should be scanning the sky.
Promo
In Washington, DC, in late November 1941, admirals composed the most ominous message in Navy history to warn Hawaii of possible danger --- but they wrote it too vaguely. They thought precautions were being taken, but never checked to be sure. In a small office at Pearl Harbor, overlooking the battleships, the commander of the Pacific Fleet tried to assess whether the threat was real. There were false assumptions and racist ones, misunderstandings, infighting and clashes between egos. Steve Twomey shows how careless decisions and blinkered beliefs gave birth to colossal failure. But he tells the story with compassion and a wise understanding of why people --- even smart, experienced, talented people --- look down at their feet when they should be scanning the sky.
About the Book
This “riveting” (Los Angeles Times), “crackerjack read” (Smithsonian) turns the lead-up to the most infamous day in American history into a ticking time-bomb thriller. Never before has a story you thought you knew proven so impossible to put down.
In Washington, DC, in late November 1941, admirals composed the most ominous message in Navy history to warn Hawaii of possible danger --- but they wrote it too vaguely. They thought precautions were being taken, but never checked to be sure.
In a small office at Pearl Harbor, overlooking the battleships, the commander of the Pacific Fleet tried to assess whether the threat was real. His intelligence had lost track of Japan’s biggest aircraft carriers, but assumed they were resting in a port far away. Besides, the admiral thought Pearl was too shallow for torpedoes; he never even put up a barrier. As he fretted, a Japanese spy was counting warships in the harbor and reporting to Tokyo.
There were false assumptions and racist ones, misunderstandings, infighting and clashes between egos. Through remarkable characters and impeccable details, Pulitzer Prize–winner Steve Twomey shows how careless decisions and blinkered beliefs gave birth to colossal failure. But he tells the story with compassion and a wise understanding of why people --- even smart, experienced, talented people --- look down at their feet when they should be scanning the sky.
The brilliance of COUNTDOWN TO PEARL HARBOR is in its elegant prose and taut focus. “Even though readers already know the ending, they’ll hold their collective breath, as if they’re watching a rerun of an Alfred Hitchcock classic” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).
Audiobook available, read by Holter Graham
