Pearl Harbor: A Novel Of December 8th (2007) - Plot & Excerpts
Newt GingrichThis refers to a hardcover copy of the book (thus no editorial or spelling errors as I've seen mentioned in the eBook copy) which I received as a gift. Disclaimer: I love history, and because of this my review might be a bit biased toward this subject. But I think even if you're not a history lover, you'll like this book. The depth of the characterization for both the Japanese and Americans crucial to this book is so wonderful that you find yourself an admirer of both Commander Mitsuo Fuchsia and his American counterpart. I thought this book was fabulous. For those of us who were not alive when this happened, and in spite of the movies watched, and other historical papers and books read about it, speaking for myself I've never quite 'gotten it' before: truly how devastating the attack on Pearl Harbor was, the terror, devastation and fear. I knew it was awful, of course, but it never really dug into my heart until this reading. The pictures painted with words will long linger with me though they are not pleasant. I served in the US Navy at a now defunct weapons station, and I know firsthand the size of the ships referred to and shown in the excellent pictures throughout this book. To read of the damage done to them during this attack was frightening and left me hopeful that it never happens again, from any quarter. It is an alternative history book, so what happens in the next book, could be the US losing the war. I'll start reading that gifted book today and if it is as good as this one, I'll leave a review for it as well.
Short and Sweet: I could not put this novel down. It is just as good as the trilogy the authors wrote about Gettysburg. In those books, the writers changed history so that Lee won at Gettysburg and what happened after that.In this two-book series (of which this is the first), the writer basically one thing: Instead of sitting in Japan during the attack, Admiral Yamamoto sailed with the Japanese fleet. ***Spoiler Alert***In the real battle of Pearl Harbor, Admiral Nagumo called off the third wave of the attack and sailed back to Japan. Here, Yamamoto launches the third wave which inflicts some additional terrible damage. Then, because the American carriers were not at Pearl and he knows the huge importance of carriers, he stays on station to try and find the American carriers and sink them. That is where the next book, "Days of Infamy," begins.In real life, Nagumo was a battleship man who believe in their supremacy and the carriers were only used for support. Of course, history has shown that was not a good assumption. Carriers and their aircraft decided WWII...just look at the battle of Midway...the first naval battle where the ships never saw each other.This was an amazing, well research novel. Gingrich and his fellow writers worked with many historians to try and work up the most plausible scenario for this what-if novel.Highly recommended.
What do You think about Pearl Harbor: A Novel Of December 8th (2007)?
Pearl Harbor by Newt Gingrich Pearl Harbor by Newt Gingrich tells a story about the time after World War I. The Untied States have a new rival that is coming after them. It focuses on the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the different perspectives of it.Cecils and his friend who is an American officer are on a military ship in Japan. They meet a person named Fuchida who is Japan pilot. Cecils and Fuchida take a plane trip to Tokyo and Fuchida shows Cecils some flying techniques on how to bomb ships. Cecils seemed surprised about the event that Fuchida showed him. A few years later Cecils went back to Britain. He went to see a old friend to tell about what he experience. His friend said that this is a major issue and he needs to tell the Americans about this. The United States and their allies have realized that there friend is there worst enemy.I enjoyed reading this book because it was suspenseful and action packed. I could understand the characters from there perspective in many ways. The story seemed like it was the real thing from when it happened years ago. I would give this book five out of five stars because it kept me interested. I would recommend this book to people who like historical fiction and action packed books.
—Joe
The first 2/3 of this book should probably have been titled "Path To Pearl Harbor", as it requires the reader to take a much more patient approach to the events of December 7, 1941. Once this patience is mastered, the reader is then treated to a very personal set of events that describe the actions of key characters and their motivations through the years to the inevitable collision on that fateful Sunday morning. The last 1/3 flies by (no pun intended) as the reader really identifies with the characters as those terrifying events unfold. Gingrich and Forstchen really give life to key historical figures such as Yamamoto, Fuchida, and Genda as a large part of the book is from the Japanese point of view. The attack through the eyes of Fuchida (one of the pilots and the mastermind of the mission) is one of the most riveting things I've ever read.
—Andy
This is more of a 2 1/2 to 3 stars for me. When I bought the book it was on sale for like $5 or $6 and I wouldn't have paid anymore for it. It just isn't worth that much, and I thought it was non fiction, not fiction based on actual history from about 5+ years before Pearl Harbor to Dec 8, 1941. At one point of the book I said there is no way this could have happened and then I saw where it said novel on it... They wrote about the Civil War in a 3 part book and I would assume that this will be part of 3 books also. If the other ones are on sale then I will get them, but if not then I won't waste my money. Maybe even hit the library for it.
—Joseph
