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December 7, 1941: The Day Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor
Uses interviews with American eyewitnesses and Japanese participants to recreate the attack on Pearl Harbor and the resulting events
493 pages, Hardcover
Published September 23, 1991
272 people are currently reading
295 people want to read
About the author
Gordon W. Prange
22 books44 followersA graduate of the University of Iowa, from where he received his Ph.D. in 1937, Gordon Prange began his teaching career as a professor of history at the University of Maryland. In 1942, he was granted a leave of absence from the University to embark on a wartime career as an officer in the United States Navy. Sent to Japan in 1945 as a member of the American Occupation Forces, after completing his Navy service he continued in Japan as a civilian from 1946 to 1951 as chief of General Douglas MacArthur's 100-person historical staff. When censorship of the Japanese media by Allied Forces was lifted in 1949 and the Civil Censorship Detachment disestablished, Professor Prange, recognizing the historical significance of the CCD material, arranged for its shipment to the University of Maryland. The materials arrived at the University in 1950. On September 15, 1978, the Board of Regents of the University of Maryland passed a motion to name the collection the 'Gordon W. Prange Collection: The Allied Presence in Japan, 1945-1952.' Professor Prange continued to teach at the University of Maryland until several months before his death on May 15, 1980. He is still remembered by alumni as one of the University's truly great teachers, and is well known today for major works on the war in the Pacific, particularly Tora! Tora! Tora!" The Terrapin, the University of Maryland's yearbook, said of his World War I and World War II history lectures in 1964: "Students flock to his class and sit enraptured as he animates the pages of twentieth century European history through his goosesteps, 'Seig Heils', 'Achtungs', machine gun retorts and frantic gestures.
Dr. Prange's manuscript about the attack on Pearl Harbor is credited as the basis for the screenplay Tora! Tora! Tora!, filmed in 1970 while Prange took a leave of absence from the University of Maryland to serve as technical consultant during its filming. His extensive research into the attack on Pearl Harbor was the subject of a PBS television program in 2000, "Prange and Pearl Harbor: A Magnificent Obsession", and was acclaimed "a definitive book on the event" by The Washington Post.
Dr. Prange's manuscript about the attack on Pearl Harbor is credited as the basis for the screenplay Tora! Tora! Tora!, filmed in 1970 while Prange took a leave of absence from the University of Maryland to serve as technical consultant during its filming. His extensive research into the attack on Pearl Harbor was the subject of a PBS television program in 2000, "Prange and Pearl Harbor: A Magnificent Obsession", and was acclaimed "a definitive book on the event" by The Washington Post.
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December 10, 2021
“Colonel Farnum urged his light gray Mercury toward his office. ‘We either get through this or we die,’ he told himself, jumping out of his car to join his officers and men fighting fires, dispersing gas trucks, and helping the wounded. On a bright green patch of grass several yards square in front of Headquarters, he found the body of his inventory section chief, a master sergeant, ‘an excellent soldier, good-looking, well-built, and a wonderful person.’ Velvety petunia blossoms and the ever-present red hibiscus framed his body, which was naked except for khaki trousers; his bare toes pointed to the sky. His clear blue eyes were open, and his face looked upward ‘with a normal expression on every feature.’ Little blood was visible beyond a small stain on the sergeant’s shoulder. He might have stretched out to relax for a moment, except that his head lay several feet from his body. [Colonel] Farthing thought that a large piece of shrapnel had beheaded him quickly and smoothly, ‘as though he had been struck with a knife so whitehot it had coagulated his blood on the spot…’”
- Gordon Prange, Dec. 7, 1941: The Day the Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor
Gordon Prange is an excellent example of life’s callous indifference to our projects and passions. Prange studied Pearl Harbor for thirty-seven years, interviewing participants from both America and Japan, and from all the rungs of the ladder. While undertaking this work, he developed a number of manuscripts. Before he was able to publish anything, however, he died of cancer at the age of sixty-nine. Eventually, Donald Goldstein and Katherine Dillon posthumously edited his work for publication.
According to Goldstein and Dillon’s introduction, Dec. 7, 1941 is the last of five books – and the third about Pearl Harbor – to emerge from Prange’s manuscripts. (I believe a sixth, about Japanese flyer Mitsuo Fuchida, was eventually published later). It is also, perhaps not coincidentally, the most basic.
Whereas At Dawn We Slept and Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History excavated intelligence failures both large and small, casting judgments on those Americans who shared the blame for the disaster, Dec. 7, 1941 is a straight-down-the-middle recreation of the fateful date itself. It is essentially an oral history, and while it has its merits, it pales in comparison to Walter Lord’s Day of Infamy.
Dec. 7, 1941 begins on the eve of Japan’s dawn attack, and ends in the hours that followed. For whatever reason, I found the before-and-after to be the most fascinating sections, following people first as they lived the last moments of peace, and later as they tried to comprehend the epochal change worked upon their world.
Most of Dec. 7, 1941’s 393 pages of text, though, are devoted to a blow-by-blow account of the attack. Here, I suppose I should interpose what I found to be the merits of Prange’s effort. Above all things, this is a collection of personal anecdotes, many of them gathered by Prange himself in interviews. If you read any Pearl Harbor book today, you will find the debt it owes to Prange in the endnotes. Checking the notes section of Dec. 7, 1941, you begin to get an inkling of the work that Prange did. And this isn’t just archival research, sitting in a library looking through documents. No, Prange was creating history by getting eyewitnesses to talk about what they’d seen.
For this reason alone, and for Pearl Harbor students in particular, Dec. 7, 1941 is required reading.
In other respects, unfortunately, this is a bit of a slog.
All the ingredients are here; a literary chef is not.
Dec. 7, 1941 is dense and slow-moving. It is absolutely crammed with stories, so much so that the narrative cannot breathe. There is no pacing, no modulation of tone, no attempt at artistry. This is really a bit of an info-dump.
The biggest problem is that Prange, and his co-authors, made no attempt to cull their material for the best bits, or to pare down storylines to something more manageable. Instead of following a few – or even a dozen – men and women throughout the course of the day, Dec. 7, 1941 throws out dozens upon dozens of names, spread out all over Pearl Harbor. Most characters are mentioned only once and disappear. For those that are reoccurring, it is extremely difficult to remember who they were, where they were, and what they were doing. On the very last pages, appended as an afterthought, is a “cast of characters” that gives you the names of perhaps ten percent of the men who appear on these pages. This is not, I hasten to add, helpful in the least.
Compounding the storytelling issues is the lack of a map of Pearl Harbor. Thus, not only do you have to keep a running tally of an enormous number of perspectives, but you need to periodically stop to figure out where this or that person is located. The lack of the map and the half-assed cast of characters leads me to believe that Dec. 7, 1941 was an afterthought production, a last squeeze of the Prange-lemon.
While confusion is a major flaw, repetitiveness exacerbates the problem. The lack of effort put into choosing worthwhile story threads, while excising those that are unenlightening or duplicative, means that you keep getting the same information over and over. For instance, Prange and his co-authors quote as many as ten different people, all saying a variation of the same tale: that they thought the early Sunday morning explosions were military exercises. Once is enough. Hit that point and move on. It is almost unfathomable, but Dec. 7, 1941 turns one of the most momentous days in history into a jalopy with a flat tire.
History is not history unless it is remembered. And memories remain truest – though not necessarily true – when they are written down. For that reason alone, I must give Prange – and Dec. 7, 1941 – its due. The subject of Pearl Harbor can be revisited, retold, and reinterpreted in the future, long after all survivors have gone to their reward, because of Prange’s efforts.
With all that said, if you are looking for the best book on that terrible day, Lord’s Day of Infamy remains the gold standard. It covers the exact same ground, but with crispness and artistry.
- Gordon Prange, Dec. 7, 1941: The Day the Japanese Attacked Pearl Harbor
Gordon Prange is an excellent example of life’s callous indifference to our projects and passions. Prange studied Pearl Harbor for thirty-seven years, interviewing participants from both America and Japan, and from all the rungs of the ladder. While undertaking this work, he developed a number of manuscripts. Before he was able to publish anything, however, he died of cancer at the age of sixty-nine. Eventually, Donald Goldstein and Katherine Dillon posthumously edited his work for publication.
According to Goldstein and Dillon’s introduction, Dec. 7, 1941 is the last of five books – and the third about Pearl Harbor – to emerge from Prange’s manuscripts. (I believe a sixth, about Japanese flyer Mitsuo Fuchida, was eventually published later). It is also, perhaps not coincidentally, the most basic.
Whereas At Dawn We Slept and Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History excavated intelligence failures both large and small, casting judgments on those Americans who shared the blame for the disaster, Dec. 7, 1941 is a straight-down-the-middle recreation of the fateful date itself. It is essentially an oral history, and while it has its merits, it pales in comparison to Walter Lord’s Day of Infamy.
Dec. 7, 1941 begins on the eve of Japan’s dawn attack, and ends in the hours that followed. For whatever reason, I found the before-and-after to be the most fascinating sections, following people first as they lived the last moments of peace, and later as they tried to comprehend the epochal change worked upon their world.
Most of Dec. 7, 1941’s 393 pages of text, though, are devoted to a blow-by-blow account of the attack. Here, I suppose I should interpose what I found to be the merits of Prange’s effort. Above all things, this is a collection of personal anecdotes, many of them gathered by Prange himself in interviews. If you read any Pearl Harbor book today, you will find the debt it owes to Prange in the endnotes. Checking the notes section of Dec. 7, 1941, you begin to get an inkling of the work that Prange did. And this isn’t just archival research, sitting in a library looking through documents. No, Prange was creating history by getting eyewitnesses to talk about what they’d seen.
For this reason alone, and for Pearl Harbor students in particular, Dec. 7, 1941 is required reading.
In other respects, unfortunately, this is a bit of a slog.
All the ingredients are here; a literary chef is not.
Dec. 7, 1941 is dense and slow-moving. It is absolutely crammed with stories, so much so that the narrative cannot breathe. There is no pacing, no modulation of tone, no attempt at artistry. This is really a bit of an info-dump.
The biggest problem is that Prange, and his co-authors, made no attempt to cull their material for the best bits, or to pare down storylines to something more manageable. Instead of following a few – or even a dozen – men and women throughout the course of the day, Dec. 7, 1941 throws out dozens upon dozens of names, spread out all over Pearl Harbor. Most characters are mentioned only once and disappear. For those that are reoccurring, it is extremely difficult to remember who they were, where they were, and what they were doing. On the very last pages, appended as an afterthought, is a “cast of characters” that gives you the names of perhaps ten percent of the men who appear on these pages. This is not, I hasten to add, helpful in the least.
Compounding the storytelling issues is the lack of a map of Pearl Harbor. Thus, not only do you have to keep a running tally of an enormous number of perspectives, but you need to periodically stop to figure out where this or that person is located. The lack of the map and the half-assed cast of characters leads me to believe that Dec. 7, 1941 was an afterthought production, a last squeeze of the Prange-lemon.
While confusion is a major flaw, repetitiveness exacerbates the problem. The lack of effort put into choosing worthwhile story threads, while excising those that are unenlightening or duplicative, means that you keep getting the same information over and over. For instance, Prange and his co-authors quote as many as ten different people, all saying a variation of the same tale: that they thought the early Sunday morning explosions were military exercises. Once is enough. Hit that point and move on. It is almost unfathomable, but Dec. 7, 1941 turns one of the most momentous days in history into a jalopy with a flat tire.
History is not history unless it is remembered. And memories remain truest – though not necessarily true – when they are written down. For that reason alone, I must give Prange – and Dec. 7, 1941 – its due. The subject of Pearl Harbor can be revisited, retold, and reinterpreted in the future, long after all survivors have gone to their reward, because of Prange’s efforts.
With all that said, if you are looking for the best book on that terrible day, Lord’s Day of Infamy remains the gold standard. It covers the exact same ground, but with crispness and artistry.
Read
January 17, 2021Excellent recount of this historical event. Heartbreaking and factual. An excellent research source as it is filled with notes and documentation.
July 26, 2017
On the plus side, I admire that this is an exhaustively researched book based on extensive interviews with survivors and witnesses. Prange has done excellent research and undoubtedly the book is essential for Pearl Harbor historians.
Having said all that, I'm not sure it's the best book for a casual reader who just wants to know more about the attack. This is not so much an overview as it is an encyclopedia. At least, in the sense that what Prange does, essentially, is to zero in on what is happening, moving almost minute-by-minute. For me, this created two problems.
First, he was constantly throwing different names, ranks, geographic locations, and military terms at me, many of which meant nothing to me (e.g., "lieutenant jg" -- I know what it is but it isn't especially meaningful). And some terms that must be extremely familiar to a navy person were completely opaque to me ("at the con", "frame 41" (or whatever) -- no idea what those mean). After a while, I felt so overwhelmed with meaningless (to me) terms that I stopped paying attention and it just interfered with my comprehension.
Second, and even more problematically, was that he is so engaged with providing these exceptionally detailed individual accounts that I had trouble getting a clear sense of the bigger picture. It felt like walking through a forest where you're looking in extreme close up at every tree with a guide who is throwing scientific terms at you, when what you really want is an overview of the forest.
Part of this second issue might be with the fact that this is an older book. It felt like the goal, which is less common in histories today, was simply to collect as many facts as possible, with only a minimal attempt to organize them around a larger thesis or provide accompanying analysis of the broader story these facts reveal.
That's not to say this is a bad book -- it's not and I now have great respect for Prange and the invaluable service he's done for future historians. But it wasn't the book I was hoping for.
I'd recommend this book easily to military historians and dedicated WWII buffs. But I wouldn't recommend it for a visitor to Hawaii wanting to get an overview of the story and better understanding of the attack in preparation for an upcoming trip.
Having said all that, I'm not sure it's the best book for a casual reader who just wants to know more about the attack. This is not so much an overview as it is an encyclopedia. At least, in the sense that what Prange does, essentially, is to zero in on what is happening, moving almost minute-by-minute. For me, this created two problems.
First, he was constantly throwing different names, ranks, geographic locations, and military terms at me, many of which meant nothing to me (e.g., "lieutenant jg" -- I know what it is but it isn't especially meaningful). And some terms that must be extremely familiar to a navy person were completely opaque to me ("at the con", "frame 41" (or whatever) -- no idea what those mean). After a while, I felt so overwhelmed with meaningless (to me) terms that I stopped paying attention and it just interfered with my comprehension.
Second, and even more problematically, was that he is so engaged with providing these exceptionally detailed individual accounts that I had trouble getting a clear sense of the bigger picture. It felt like walking through a forest where you're looking in extreme close up at every tree with a guide who is throwing scientific terms at you, when what you really want is an overview of the forest.
Part of this second issue might be with the fact that this is an older book. It felt like the goal, which is less common in histories today, was simply to collect as many facts as possible, with only a minimal attempt to organize them around a larger thesis or provide accompanying analysis of the broader story these facts reveal.
That's not to say this is a bad book -- it's not and I now have great respect for Prange and the invaluable service he's done for future historians. But it wasn't the book I was hoping for.
I'd recommend this book easily to military historians and dedicated WWII buffs. But I wouldn't recommend it for a visitor to Hawaii wanting to get an overview of the story and better understanding of the attack in preparation for an upcoming trip.
May 29, 2025
This is an excellent book that focuses exclusively on December 6 through 8, 1941. It begins with what felt like incompetent deliberations in Washington regarding what, in hindsight, feels like coded messages warning Washington that war is coming. I’m fascinated by the wholesale normalcy bias that happens everywhere throughout the book. The beauty and peace of Hawaii subconsciously and consciously assures military personnel that it is invulnerable, and the Japanese will never attack the place.
September 11, 2001, dawned marvelously clear in New York, too. People even commented on the extreme blueness of the sky that morning. We cannot sit in judgment on those in 1941 who scoffed at the thought that Hawaii could come under attack.
You get snappy cuts among people in Hawaii, Tokyo, Washington and elsewhere that help unfold December 7. I found myself saddened by the bumbling lack of preparation that enabled the attack to happen. It saddens me because I’m convinced, we’ve learned nothing from that history, and when, not if, but when, the continental United States endures a nuclear attack, we will be equally unprepared.
Aside from the maddening unprepared bumble of too many leaders, you get heart-lifting stories of individual heroism that make this worth reading. These remarkable young Americans worked to save one another’s lives, and they did that in many instances. The authors include a look at the heroism of medical personnel in the vicinity of Pearl Harbor, and that’s a chapter worthy of your time and attention.
I never thought about how the raid would impact residents. As it turns out, everyone was jumpy and trigger happy for days. Some of the stories of near misses are at once chilling and fun to read. There’s an excellent chapter that focuses on the rescue of some of the more fortunate men from ships the Japanese destroyed. The final chapter looks at the impact of the war news on select Americans, usually those who either already were or would be household names in 20th-century history.
Some years ago, I read a book by Edwin T. Layton that seemed to take exception to some of the material in some of Prange’s other books. Perhaps it’s time to reread the Layton book and refresh my memory as to the problems he had with this author’s work. Don’t look for that immediately.
In summary, I enjoyed this immensely. If it has a drawback, it is that there are so many names and places to try to keep track of.
September 11, 2001, dawned marvelously clear in New York, too. People even commented on the extreme blueness of the sky that morning. We cannot sit in judgment on those in 1941 who scoffed at the thought that Hawaii could come under attack.
You get snappy cuts among people in Hawaii, Tokyo, Washington and elsewhere that help unfold December 7. I found myself saddened by the bumbling lack of preparation that enabled the attack to happen. It saddens me because I’m convinced, we’ve learned nothing from that history, and when, not if, but when, the continental United States endures a nuclear attack, we will be equally unprepared.
Aside from the maddening unprepared bumble of too many leaders, you get heart-lifting stories of individual heroism that make this worth reading. These remarkable young Americans worked to save one another’s lives, and they did that in many instances. The authors include a look at the heroism of medical personnel in the vicinity of Pearl Harbor, and that’s a chapter worthy of your time and attention.
I never thought about how the raid would impact residents. As it turns out, everyone was jumpy and trigger happy for days. Some of the stories of near misses are at once chilling and fun to read. There’s an excellent chapter that focuses on the rescue of some of the more fortunate men from ships the Japanese destroyed. The final chapter looks at the impact of the war news on select Americans, usually those who either already were or would be household names in 20th-century history.
Some years ago, I read a book by Edwin T. Layton that seemed to take exception to some of the material in some of Prange’s other books. Perhaps it’s time to reread the Layton book and refresh my memory as to the problems he had with this author’s work. Don’t look for that immediately.
In summary, I enjoyed this immensely. If it has a drawback, it is that there are so many names and places to try to keep track of.
September 9, 2016
Exhaustively researched but written by an academic. The writing is somewhat dry. Yet is is recognized as the seminal work on the subject
October 30, 2017
A 'must read' for those interested in World War II
I found this book especially interesting after reading books covering the events both before then after December 7, 1941 as it fills in the events of the day. Initially I had problems remembering who was who as many people share their remembrances of the day, then I realized the important thing was how it happened and not to whom. How people reacted to the bombing was one thing, but how many thought there were three waves of bombing hours and hours later shows the confusion of the day.
I found this book especially interesting after reading books covering the events both before then after December 7, 1941 as it fills in the events of the day. Initially I had problems remembering who was who as many people share their remembrances of the day, then I realized the important thing was how it happened and not to whom. How people reacted to the bombing was one thing, but how many thought there were three waves of bombing hours and hours later shows the confusion of the day.
October 11, 2018
This is a solid account of the events at Pearl Harbor and their immediate aftermath. There is a very good fusion between the factual narrative and personal anecdotes. There are a bit too many characters and inevitably I lost track of who was who at certain points. There aren't many numbers in terms of casualties, planes destroyed, etc.
I have to add this title is a vast improvement in readability for me from Prange's At Dawn We Slept
I have to add this title is a vast improvement in readability for me from Prange's At Dawn We Slept
June 8, 2020
This is a very good collection of the detailed actions that many military staff took on Pearl Harbor Day 1941. Reading it gives you an understanding of the different tasks and contributions men and women, from military to civilian, made to respond to the Japanese attack. I was impressed with the tremendous sense of duty that prevailed that December morning. The author assembled an immense treasure of history, recollections, and memoirs to make this book possible.
June 24, 2020
A very, very comprehensive look at the events of December 6, 7, and 8th, 1941. This book goes through both American and Japanese time tables and looks almost minute by minute at what was going on before, during, and after the attack. It is an amazing volume and a must-own for any student of the Second World War.
December 21, 2020
A very readable history of the events about what happened the day before, day of and day after the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, Washington (with a few added bits from Tokyo and the Japanese and American fleets at sea). Very well done, it corrects a few mistakes from At Dawn We Slept. Very comprehensive.
February 25, 2018
Another fine tone
Gordon hits it out of the park again. One of the most knowledgeable historians on the day off infamy, this is an excellent follow up to At Dawn We Slept, filling in quite a few more details about the attack.
Gordon hits it out of the park again. One of the most knowledgeable historians on the day off infamy, this is an excellent follow up to At Dawn We Slept, filling in quite a few more details about the attack.
Read
August 5, 2020Hard to read. Too much military jargon. Wasn’t able to put it all together. Someone who has been in the military would enjoy it more than a regular reader. I was a history major but still goes by what I said.
May 6, 2020
Very detailed book primarily about the day before and day of the raid, telling the story from many points of view. Frustrating to see the decisions and lack of decisions that cost America so much.
August 27, 2021
Excellent book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 21, 2023
Strangely enthralling.
Humans really are in need of an extinction event!
Humans really are in need of an extinction event!
December 26, 2023
Recap of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
August 5, 2011
This book is the result of thousands of hours of interviews and review of diaries, logs and personal papers. It is a narrative of eyewitness experiences (both American and Japanese) covering the three day period December 6-8, 1941. It is invaluable if read in concert with a comprehensive history of Pearl Harbor, such as Prange's first book "At Dawn We Slept". One of the most valuable insights to be gained from this eyewitness narrative is an understanding of how things were then, and how very limited it was - communications, command and control, strategic thinking and foresight, intelligence, international situations and perceptions. There has been a lot of second-guessing and criticism of the decisions and acts of those responsible for Pearl Harbor - much of it seems based on an application of modern capabilities and 20/20 hindsight to a 1941 environment that is both unfair and deeply misleading. This narrative will lead you through an hour by hour, event by event experience and the reader will come out of it with the awareness of the severe practical and experiential limitations of the day - and an awareness that Pearl Harbor was not preventable. The effects of the attack might - and I stress MIGHT - have been mitigated or dissipated somewhat, but human nature being what it was and is, that did not happen -- not a criticism, just an observation of reality. As it was, the response of the American forces was remarkable - the second wave of Japanese planes flew into a totally different environment than did the the first wave - surprise was gone and the Americans were fighting back with no small effect. This book humanizes those three days like nothing else I have read.
January 30, 2017
Good book by Gordon Prange who spent his whole life researching Pearl Harbor. This book describes the attack from the viewpoints of both sides. He relates the history of Japan that led them to plan and carry out the attack. Using memoirs is fighting men from both sides he recreates the events of the day and why U S forces were caught so unawares. The great fear was from sabotage not attack on the fleet. This history comes alive through the words of the people who were there.
January 27, 2017
I loved this book. I got it as a christmas present from my husband. I already had "At Dawn We Slept" by the same author and liked it as well. I love history, especially WW2, and this book gave me some new information that I did not already know....I will be reading it again.
July 19, 2013
one of the best histories I have read about the attack
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews