The New York Times-bestselling authors of Miracle at Midway delve into the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor during WWII in "a superb work of history" ( Albuquerque Journal Magazine).
In the predawn hours of December 7, 1941, a Japanese carrier group sailed toward Hawaii. A few minutes before 8:00 a.m., they received the order to rain death on the American base at Pearl Harbor, sinking dozens of ships, destroying hundreds of airplanes, and taking the lives of over two thousand servicemen. The carnage lasted only two hours, but more than seventy years later, terrible questions remain unanswered.
How did the Japanese slip past the American radar? Why were the Hawaiian defense forces so woefully underprepared? What, if anything, did American intelligence know before the first Japanese pilot shouted "Tora! Tora! Tora!"? In this incomparable volume, Pearl Harbor experts Gordon W. Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon tackle dozens of thorny issues in an attempt to determine who was at fault for one of the most shocking military disasters in history.

Gordon W. Prange (1910-1980) was a professor of history at the University of Maryland and a World War II veteran. He served as the chief historian on General Douglas MacArthur's staff during the postwar military occupation of Japan. His 1963 Reader's Digestarticle "Tora! Tora! Tora!" was later expanded into the acclaimed book At Dawn We Slept. After Prange's death, his colleagues Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon completed several of his manuscripts, including At Dawn We Slept. Other works that Goldstein and Dillon finished include Miracle at Midway; Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History; December 7, 1941: The Day the Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor; and Target Tokyo: The Story of the Sorge Spy Ring.
Donald M. Goldstein (1931-2017) was a retired United States Air Force officer; professor emeritus of public and international affairs at the University of Pittsburgh, where he taught for thirty-five years; a winner of two Peabody Awards; and author of many books. He also taught at the Air Force Academy, the Air War College, the Air Command and Staff College, the University of Tampa, and Troy State University. He was considered the leading authority on the Pearl Harbor attack.
Katherine V. Dillon (1916-2005) was a chief warrant officer, United States Air Force (retired), and longtime collaborator with Gordon W. Prange and Donald M. Goldstein on their work. She served during World War II and the Korean War.

• Cover Page
• Introduction
• Preface
• List of Major Personnel
• Abbreviations
• Prologue
• Part I: THE BASE AND THE SUMMIT
  • 1. "We Were All Out There"
  • 2. "Slow in Waking Up"
  • 3. "Too Deeply to Bury Their Hate"
  • 4. "Bait for a Japanese Attack"
  • 5. "To Avoid War with Japan"
  • 6. "He Had Supreme Responsibility"
  • 7. "On Lines of National Policy"
  • 8. "Looking in the Wrong Direction"
• Part II: ADVISERS, PLANNERS, AND CHIEFS
  • 9. "With Knives and Hatchets"
  • 10. "Unsurmountable Obstacles"
  • 11. "Crimination and Recrimination"
  • 12. "To Help and Serve"
  • 13. "Faults of Omission"
  • 14. "Outside of Effective Contact"
  • 15. "A Finger of Blame"
  • 16. "Primarily a Failure of Men"
  • 17. "The Pitfalls of Divided Responsibility"
  • 18. "A Lack of Imagination"
  • 19. "East Wind Rain"
• Part III: FIELD COMMANDERS AND OPERATORS
  • 20. "A Sentinel on Duty"
  • 21. "Alerted to Prevent Sabotage"
  • 22. "The Failure to Comprehend"
  • 23. "An Important Man in an Important Post"
  • 24. "Peculiar, Complicated and Tense"
  • 25. "Always Striving for Perfection"
  • 26. "His Most Grievous Failure"
  • 27. "The Last Critical Stages"
  • 28. "It Is Inexplicable"
• Part IV: THE VIEW FROM THE CROW'S NEST
  • 29. "Blessed by the War God"
  • 30. "A Strategic Imbecility"
  • 31. "A Mental Attitude"
  • 32. "In the Wake of the Pearl Harbor Disaster"
  • 33. "Remember Pearl Harbor!"
• Notes
• Appendices
  • 1. The Pearl Harbor Investigations
  • 2. Japanese Proposals of November 20, 1941
  • 3. "War Warning" Messages of November 27, 1941
  • 4. Proposed Modus Vivendi
  • 5. Japan's "Bomb Plot" Message
  • 6. The Hull Note of November 26, 1941
  • 7. Popov Questionnaire
• Selected Bibliography
• Index
• Image Gallery
• About the Authors
• Copyright Page