Excellent detailed story of Pearl Harbor's lead Navy pilot who through special circumstances wrought only by God found himself after the war travelling in the USA with Billy Graham and preaching the Gospel in Christian Crusades.

An awesome true story. Definitely one of the three best books I've read in the past decade. In a time like this of Osama bin Labens and shocking inter-civilizational conflict, Fuchida's life story shows how true reconciliation and inter-cultural brotherhood can be experienced. It gives hope in spite of the huge obstacles to inter-cultural understanding. A powerful human interest story. Don't miss it!

A friend of mine introduced me to this book in April of this year. He told me it was unlike any book about the Pacific war that he had ever read. Although skeptical at first, I sill went ahead and purchased the book. I left it on my book-shelve for several months and forgot all about it. As I began packing up in July to move I noticed this book again, so I picked it up and began reading it. I found the style of writing extremely fluid, and the chapters were concise. This well balanced account of Mitsuo Fuchida life traces it from his days as an Imperial naval aviator to Christian evangelist. 'God's Samurai' is a truly inspirational book filled with numerous accounts of honor, bravery, loyalty, and sacrifice - all the codes of a Samurai warrior. I have enjoyed this book tremendously, and I have just begun reading, 'Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan: The Japanese Navy's Story' by Mitsuo Fuchida, Roger Pineau (Editor),Masatake Okumiya(Contributor). Both 'God's Samurai' and 'Midway' are 'must-have' books for anyone who is truly interested in the Pacific war and naval battles!

This is quite a short book that was written by two Japanese one who was a flyer from the Akagi. Although a book of a little over 200 pages the book describes the attack on Pearly Harbour, the cruise of the Japanese carrier fleet in the Indian Ocean and the attack on Sri Lanka, the bombing of Darwin, the battle of the Coral Sea and Midway.

The facts around these battles have been explained in a range of other books so that there are no real surprises. What is of interest is the insight that the book gives into the process of Japanese decision making during the war.

The authors show that following the victory at Pearl Harbour the Japanese didn't know what to do. The cruise to the Indian Ocean achieved little and used a large amount of their oil reserves. The overall command simply was not able to formulate a plan. Some groups thought of invading Darwin a plan which was shelved. In the end the attack on Midway was decided on. Such a plan put the Japanese miles from home at a considerable disadvantage.

The authors go on to show how the arrogance and self-confidence in that attack doomed the Japanese fleet. The failure to properly use sighting planes, the leaving of large numbers of aircraft on deck prior to the American attack.

The book is one of the most coherent attacks on the reputation of Yamamoto that I have read. For some reason Yamamoto has had a high reputation with American writers. The record shows that although Pearl Harbor went to plan it was all down hill after that.

The book is readable and evokes the frustration of felt by Japanese fighting men at the shortcomings of their leaders.

The author actually covers much wider ground than his title suggests - before proceeding to Midway he gives a detailed account of the campaigns leading up to it, starting before Pearl Harbor. This is interesting reading in itself.

His orders of battle are useful too, including the revelation that the carrier Soryu had 2 Judies aboard as fast recons, which I hadn't heard before. This is the kind of detail I like. The IJN lost 47% of its aircraft carrier tonnage at Midway, which makes it the Trafalgar of the carrier age. Fuchida still feels the pain. Definitely a recommended read, and it's well translated too.

One of Fuchida's less perceptive comments does rather stick in my mind. Writing in around 1950, he comments that his country has been completely laid low by military defeat, and he is deeply pessimistic about Japan's prospects in a world dominated by the huge economic muscle of the victors. The Japanese are, after all, he muses, a nation of craftsmen and artisans - they'll never get the hang of this massive-industrial-output lark!

Yeah, right! -- but fortunately his naval analysis skills are miles better than his futurology!

Commander Fuchida Mitsuo, leader of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, along with co-author Okumiya Masatake, provide the most intimate Japanese account of the turning point at sea of World War II. Discussion of "victory" disease which lead to faulty dispositions and assumptions about what America would do rather than what she could do perceptively explains the disaster which the Nihon Kaigon (Imperial Japanese Navy ) experienced. The Kido Butai (First Striking Force) was destroyed as a unit at Midway, but Japanese naval airpower was not critically hurt until the Battle of Santa Cruz. This book is an absolute must for any student of the Pacific War. Even after 40 plus years, it has yet to be surpassed.