Long Day's Journey Into War; December 7, 1941
New York: Truman Talley Books, Dutton, 1991. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. x, [4], 706 pages. Illustrations. Maps (Russian and Middle East Fronts, December 6, 1941; The Pacific Rim, December 6, 1941; and the Pacific Expanse). Sources and Strategies. Index. Cover has some wear and discoloration. Some edge soiling. Chapters include The Day Before: December 6, 1941; Long Day's Journey; The Day After; and Curtain Call: Doomsday. This work presents a global analysis of the twenty-four hours that thrust the United States into World War II, featuring interviews with survivors and a detailed countdown of events that led to the attack on Pearl Harbor. The author has identified in notes for each chapter only those oral, manuscript, and documentary materials unique to this narrative. A few exceptions to the rule are limited-access publications not likely to be found in most research libraries. There is also a vast literature on Pearl Harbor itself, as well as on the vast arena of the war beyond Hawaii. Stanley Weintraub (April 17, 1929 – July 28, 2019) was an American historian and biographer. He served with the Eighth Army in Korea, receiving a Bronze Star. Except for visiting appointments, he remained at Penn State for all of his career, attaining the rank of Evan Pugh Professor of Arts and Humanities, with emeritus status on retirement in 2000. From 1970 to 1990 he was also Director of Penn State's Institute for the Arts and Humanistic Studies. Derived from a Kirkus review: Galvanic, hour-by-hour account that traces the events leading up to and following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Professor Weintraub, who recounted the final days of the Great War in A Stillness Heard Round the World, details how the simultaneous Japanese attacks on American and British forces in the Pacific and Asia suddenly plunged millions into arguably the first truly global conflict. He illustrates how both ordinary and powerful people experienced the mounting horror in far-flung locales— Washington, Manila, Moscow, Tokyo, Tobruk, Singapore, London, Berlin, and, of course, Hawaii. Cryptographers and junior naval functionaries sense something amiss, only to see their warnings ignored by top brass; an urgent plea for peace from FDR to Hirohito is delayed for ten hours by some Japanese leaders; a group of scientists meet in a coffee shop to discuss the atomic bomb; German forces bog down in the Soviet Union and North Africa; Hitler pops open champagne to celebrate Pearl Harbor, then later takes an ominous step closer to the Final Solution with the ``Night and Fog Decree.'' This structure emphasizes the dizzying speed of events, accurately mirroring the chaos. A dazzling example of historical narrative, revealing the almost infinite variety of human responses—courage, fear, intelligence, idiocy, outrage, and sorrow—as the world trembled on the brink of war. Condition: Good.
Keywords: World War II, Pearl Harbor, Bereton, Chennault, Hirohito, Harry Hopkins, Cordell Hull, Frank Knox, Husband Kimmel, Douglas MacArthur, Singapore, Yamamoto, Mitsuo Fuchida, Joseph Grew
ISBN: 0525933441
[Book #82312]
Price: $35.00