Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th

Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th
by Newt Gingrich, William R. Forstchen

Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th
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Book Summary Information

Author: Newt Gingrich, William R. Forstchen
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-04-15
ISBN: 031236623X
Number of pages: 384
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

Book Reviews of Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th

Book Review: A Book that Will Live In Infamy
Summary: 1 Stars

I read this book with great anticipation, expecting something impressive from Newt Gingrich and his co-author William R. Forstchen. It was somewhat entertaining and slightly informative, but I came away hugely disappointed in Newt and this book. Having heard him talk on the radio many times on various subjects, I had come to respect his ideas. This book was a major blow to that respect! This was literally the worst edited book I have ever read. My high school English teachers would have given him an F for the grammatical mistakes alone. There were only a few major characters in the book, and he at least twice put one character's name in place of another's. The book was subdivided by historical dates of certain events. In one part he got THE key date wrong, the date of the attack! It is unbelievable how any one with any sense of professionalism could have allowed this book to be released as it was. If I had written or edited it, I would have been embarrassed to be associated with it.

The other huge flaw, in my opinion, is that he failed to identify the facts of history that were changed or where liberties were taken to enhance the story (perhaps by using footnotes). The point of the books is to take an important event in history and write about what would have happened if one important historical fact were changed. That is an interesting concept and one that I think is a good idea for encouraging discussion. The problem is, unless you already know all of the details of the historical event, you will not know what was changed and what was recorded accurately in the book. Also, without some explanation, the average person may not know what key fact was changed nor why that one fact was significant. To me, that defeats the whole point of the book. Also, if he is changing or filling in other details but doesn't point those out, after reading the book you then come away with a false or distorted impression of the historical event. You would think he would care about the impact of his writing on historical topics. The man is a history professor for goodness sake!

At the beginning of the book he makes a big deal about the naming convention he adopts for the Japanese characters, place names and military equipment, none of which turns out to have any impact on the reader's understanding of the material. The part that really matters, the date he chose to subtitle the book with "December 8th", he hopelessly confuses by not clearly explaining why it was chosen and then mixing together the references. The reader may start out with the impression, as I did, that he changed the historical date of the attack for purposes of the book, which turns out not to be the case. Or, that he used that date to emphasize that the book was going to be about what happened after December 7th, which also turns out to not be the case. Or, finally, that he used that date to emphasize the Japanese point of view (Dec. 7th was Dec 8th in Tokyo), which turns out to be the reason. That was a bad choice because of the confusion it automatically causes when he shifts between Tokyo time and Hawaiian time.

The conclusion I have come to is that Newt is not too concerned with details or historical accuracy. I'm still kind of amazed about the whole thing (i.e. the flaws in the book). It's good to know now, even if disappointing; I will now automatically question anything I hear or read from him. I will still listen to his ideas, though.

Summary of Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th

Fresh from their series on the American Civil War, bestselling authors Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen now launch a new epic adventure by applying their imaginations and knowledge to the ?Date of Infamy?---the attack on Pearl Harbor.

Pearl Harbor covers the full spectrum of character and events of that historic moment, from national leaders and admirals to the views of ordinary citizens caught in the chaos of war. From the chambers of the Emperor of Japan to the American White House, from the decks of aircraft carriers to the playing fields of the Japanese Naval Academy, this powerful story stretches from the nightmare slaughter of China in the 1930s to the lonely office of Commander James Watson, an American cryptographer, who suspects the impending catastrophic attack. It is a story of intrigue, double-dealing, the horrific brutality of war, and the desperate efforts by men of reason on both sides to prevent a titanic struggle that becomes inevitable.

A compelling, meticulously researched saga, Pearl Harbor is also a novel of valor about those who took party in this cataclysmic moment in world history. It inaugurates a dramatic new Pacific War series that begins with the terrifying account of the day that started it all.

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