Pearl Harbor

Rating:
Summary: Lavish and useful with minor flaws.
Review: H.P. Willmott's "Pearl Harbor" is for the most part a lavish, clear-headed and distilled view of the many aspects of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It is marred only by the limitations of the author's expertise and some peculiarly low-quality art-work selections.

Where this volume is of tremendous value is its examination of the air organization and materiel of the attack. This is an area where Willmott and his co-authors have amassed a singular degree of detail, much of which is compiled in a wonderful series of appendices. This material particularly concerns the composition of the Japanese air groups and the targets they attacked.

Willmott also provides some concise, but extraordinarily cogent examinations of the controversies surrounding a potential follow-up strike by the Japanese and the conspiracy-theory obscured issues of what information was available to U.S. commanders, leaders and intelligence services. These both deserve careful reading.

Where this work falters is in the details of the damage done to the ships, and the too-ready acceptance of a questionable new theory. The details of the damage have been available for years in the shape of Homer Wallin's account of the salvage work, and the recent reconstructive work of Tony De Virgilio and his associates, so this oversight is surprising. The count of bomb hits on the Nevada is wrong, and the idea that torpedoes struck the Arizona has been discredited for years.

While Willmott appears to have missed those facts, he has all but swallowed a recent (and highly questionable) analysis of a photograph purporting to show one of the mini-submarines launched by the Japanese torpedoing two of the battleships. The impression one is left with is that Willmott and his co-authors were primarily concerned with the air aspects of the attack and neglected the surface and surbmarine elements, leading to detail errors about the hits obtained and damage suffered, and the efficacy of the mini-sub attack.

Although the book contains many lavish and large renderings of well-known photographs and several very nice charts, it also features some crude illustrations that were obviously computer generated. Some of the luster of a detailed illustration of the flight paths of the attacking aircraft is lost when those aircraft look like balsa toy gliders with two-dimensional fuselages. A detail of the harbor suffers massively when the ships are represented by rude, boxy renderings with no resemblance to the ships themselves. A diagram of the torpedo attack in profile is thoroughly marred by contrived head-on images that again are not those of the battleships themselves and would also only be correct for a torpedo attack against the ships' starboard sides.

Regardless of its--for the most part--minor flaws, this is a book well worth reading for what it does right.

Rating:
Summary: Lavish and useful with minor flaws.
Review: Presents a good analysis of why the Japanese attacked, the attack itself, and the aftermath. Provides an interesting perspective on what a stretch it was to mount the attack, and how ill advised. Avoids the excesses of revisionist history and strikes a good balance between good coverage and good pace. (I think the section covering the possibility of a third wave (he discounts it) is a model of concise, logical exposition; the one on intellegence, should have been longer.) Many pictures, well laid out, visually appealing. My one complaint is it needed better proof reading. There are many, though minor, grammar errors: wrong tense, missing words (linking verbs, etc), and an incorrect caption or two.

Rating:
Summary: Packed with black and white photos and in-depth coverage
Review: This commentary appears in its second printing to receive renewed recognition and attention for new audiences. The author analyzes the move of Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor in a title packed with black and white photos and in-depth coverage. If only one memoir of Pearl Harbor were to be purchased, this should top the list.

Rating:
Summary: OK-3
Review: This is a big, good-looking book on a familiar subject yet it contains a substantial amount of material new to this reader. Few would have thought that so much fresh research would appear on Pearl Harbor 60 years later.
I concur with most of the other review comments, but readers with a naval aviation orientation should know that Willmott has obtained a surprising amount of "nuts and bolts" material about the way the IJN worked its carriers. Tactical air ops, launch-recovery cycles, and other data will be relished by those of the tailhook persuasion. Similarly, the tables and appendices constitute a "one-stop shopping center" for IJN units and commanders in Operation Hawaii.
Willmott's forte' is analysis, and his insightful comments at the tactical and strategic levels are well worth considering. In carrier terms, "Pearl Harbor" is an OK-3.

Rating:
Summary: OK-3
Review: This is a big, good-looking book on a familiar subject yet it contains a substantial amount of material new to this reader. Few would have thought that so much fresh research would appear on Pearl Harbor 60 years later.
I concur with most of the other review comments, but readers with a naval aviation orientation should know that Willmott has obtained a surprising amount of "nuts and bolts" material about the way the IJN worked its carriers. Tactical air ops, launch-recovery cycles, and other data will be relished by those of the tailhook persuasion. Similarly, the tables and appendices constitute a "one-stop shopping center" for IJN units and commanders in Operation Hawaii.
Willmott's forte' is analysis, and his insightful comments at the tactical and strategic levels are well worth considering. In carrier terms, "Pearl Harbor" is an OK-3.