Model research work (61 reference pages) on the ploys of Stalin's master spy Richard Sorge.
Sorge penetrated the highest power circle in Japan and had excellent connections with the Nazi-party through the German Embassy in Tokyo.
Prange proves that Sorge informed Stalin about the German attack against the Soviet-Union (operation Barbarossa) and that Stalin didn't believe him. That Sorge pinpointed the Pearl Harbor attack is for the author a myth.
Sorge got caught by the Japanese when his spy work became careless. He hoped that Moscow would save him through an exchange of prisoners, but his friends let him fall as a burnt spy. He was hanged. Only twenty years later Moscow admitted that he was an agent of the Comintern.
Excellent portrait of Sorge: a desperate soldier of WWI, who saw in communism the salvation of humanity, but also a hard drinker and a compulsive womanizer. The definitie book on Sorge. I agree with one of the rewiewers that this work is essential historical reading about WWII.

This is an excellent account of the Sorge spy ring that operated in Tokyo prior to and during WW II. Richard Sorge was an NKVD agent (predecessor to the KGB) who was sent to find out if Japan was going to attack the USSR.

His mission was a first rate success. He was able to tell Stalin that the Japanese militarists were going to attack to the south, against the East Indies, Philippines, and Australia. They would not attack Russia unless three things happened: the Germans captured Moscow, civil order broke down inside the USSR, and the Japanese Army had a significant force superiority along the Mongolian boder.

As a result of that information, Stalin pulled army divisions out of Siberia, and was able to use them for the counterattack outside Moscow in the Winter of 1941-2. That one piece of information could well have been the key to Hitler's defeat because if Moscow had fallen, the Germans probably would also have taken Stalingrad, and then captured the oil of the Middle East. Remember, the Luftwaffe didn't run out of airplanes; they ran out of fuel.

This book is an essential item for any historian of WW II.

Richard Sorge was a spy--pure and simple. I'm not denying that. He worked for Stalin. In the 1930s, Stalin sent him to Tokyo where he became a mole in the German Embassy in Tokyo. The Japanese were onto him from the beginning. It wasn't until he got sloppy that the Tokko, the Japanese secret police arrested him. He was executed in 1944. Near the end, Sorge's spy ring warned Stalin about Hitler's plan to invade the Soviet Union but Stalin refused to listen.

This is the centerpiece of Prange's (and Goldstein and Dillon's) Pearl Harbor trilogy. 'At Dawn We Slept' set the stage for the attack, and 'Pearl Harbor: The Verdict of History' summarizes and draws conclusions. But this title, 'December 7, 1941,' tells the story of the attack itself, from the point of view of both American and Japanese planners, participants, and spectators.

Prange's research is stunning, and he presents his facts in a straightforward and non-sensationalist way. He doesn't point fingers or call names, he just lays things on the table. As someone who's read a fair amount of Pearl Harbor literature, I really appreciate that.

I recommend Prange's trilogy for anyone interested in serious Pearl Harbor scholarship. And if you're just looking for a fact-filled, yet easy to read, introduction to the event itself, 'December 7, 1941' is the title for you.

Highly recommended.

This book is a must. Though difficult to obtain, it is well worth the wait. It is a usual Gordon Prange Book: Well researched, easy to read, and without errors. Prange's relentless search, and also of his "sucessors" after his death, for the TRUTH about the the attack on Pearl Harbor, make this a must read. It belongs with Prange's other works "Miracle at Midway", "At Dawn We Slept", and "At Dawn We Slept: The Verdict of History".

This book dispells many myths (as do the other books) about the December 7th attack: FDR's "guilt"(he was innocent), Kimmel and Short's responsibility (they were scapegoats), The USS Arizona (a bomb NEVER went down the smoke stack). Prange's exhaustive research gives an accurate account of Dec. 7th.

This book is a must for anyone interested in the Pearl Harbor attack, and should actually be the FIRST book to read on the subject.

I cannot praise this book and his other works enough. He IS the authority.

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!

How to Transcend the Present and Record the Past for the Future Or, Prange's Present toPosterity Seth Hieronymus History of PearlHarbor Abroad November 22, 1997 Principia College, Elsah, IL, 62028 At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor, by Gordon W. Prange, manages to break new ground in history writing. Although the manuscript in this form was authored primarily by two of Prange's ex-students Dr. Donald Goldstein and CWO (USAF Ret.) Katherine V. Dillon, due to Prange's enormous contribution, At Dawn We Slept is truly his tale. Prange endeavored to write the most complete work on the subject extant, an inside look from both the Japanese and American points of view. In his own words, "I [Prange's italics] am the only individual who has come to grips with the entire Pearl Harbor problem and conducted extensive research and interviews on both sides of the Pacific." Prange, through his research and his use of both the Japanese and American perspectives, has succeeded brilliantly in writing this unbiased look at Japanese / American relations leading up to, and immediately following the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. Prange's story starts in Japan, New Year's Day, 1941, with its 2601st birthday, and ends in 1946, with the conclusion of the Joint Congressional Committee Investigation into the attack at Pearl Harbor. , , Even though At Dawn We Slept contains several historical references outside this timeframe; for instance, Commodore Mathew Perry's expedition in 1895 that normalized Japanese-American relations, they serve mainly as background information that support the main story. Similarly, although the book briefly mentions the Atlantic theatre and events in Washington, it does not try to expand its focus beyond its original purpose, the Pacific, from Japan to Pearl Harbor. What makes this book great are not the dry facts about who was involved, and where or when it happened, but rather how it tells the events. It is arranged much like two trains, one Japanese and one American, that stop every so often to trade passengers, but inexorably race on to a truculent collision on December 7, 1941, at Pearl Harbor. The language of the book lets the reader look through the eyes of the characters, lets him feel their emotions, and gives him a first-hand look at the events. For instance, speaking of Japanese ships, "[Abukuma] led nine of the newest and best destroyers under the Rising Sun flag... Nagumo's trouble-shooters... could spring to battle at a moment's notice," and later: On Nagumo's shoulders rested a responsibility and a burden such as few commanders had ever borne in the history of naval warfare. The venture ripped out all the pages of Japanese naval tradition, violated their basic rules of strategy, and tossed into the classified waste the plans which Japan had long formulated to fight the U. S. Navy. , The word pictures that At Dawn We Slept paint personalize the history, and make it more accessible and enjoyable. Furthermore, the pictures, although rather sparse, give a visual perspective that speaks out from the past, for instance Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto's stately demeanor and Lt. Commander Shigekazu Shimazaki's smug confidence. As with any historical work, research forms its backbone and determines its credibility. The contribution of Prange's own history should not be forgotten, because his background determines the skills and opportunities that he brought to the investigation. Born in Iowa, on July 16, 1910, Prange taught history at the University of Maryland from 1937 to 1980, when he died. Beyond that, he was Douglas MacArthur's chief historian from 1946 to 1951, and had a chance to talk to the participants first-hand. How often are people in the right places at the right times that they are able to record the events of history for posterity? Prange was. Because he spent 37 years of his life gathering first- hand, eye-witness accounts for this book, Prange forces us not only to trust him, but to actually relive the events, as they happened. His hundreds of interviews consisted of individuals who actually participated in the history, from the lowest ranks of the military to the highest, and many of the civilians. The sheer magnitude of his work is an essential element in this book's appeal. For example, Prange met with Commander Minoru Genda -- the main author of the Japanese attack -- a total of 72 times, and Commander Mitsuo Fuchida, the flight leader, 50 times. , Prange's original plan was to write a book solely from the Japanese perspective. Consequently, a bias could have been introduced as Prange did not interview many of the American participants until much later. In one case, the commander of the Hawaiian Department, Lt. General Walter C. Short, whom the Inquiry Board found partially responsible for the attack, died on September 3, 1949, before Prange even had a chance to interrogate him. However, the magnitude of Prange's research and interviews enabled him to find the germane facts in people's otherwise embellished tellings. In this way, Prange minimized distortion of the actual events, and thereby minimized any bias introduced. This is not to say the book falls short of placing both blame and praise for the attack. Of Short, and Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, "Both Kimmel and Short exercised poor judgment in this crisis." And about Genda, and Commander Mitsuo Fuchida: From the moment Genda explained his assignment, Fuchida brought a new dimension to the Pearl Harbor picture. Henceforth he and Genda formed a unique team - Genda the creative genius supplying the original ideas, Fuchida the aggressive activist hammering them into reality. At Dawn We Slept essentially becomes Prange's thesis about the how historical events leading up to Pearl Harbor occurred - on both sides of the Atlantic. However, the book does more: It goes beyond dates and places, and instead brings the history alive. This book, in doing so, becomes a model for its contemporaries and a benchmark for the future. End Notes Gaddis Smith, "Remembering Pearl Harbor," The New York Times Book Review 29 November 1981: 3. Donald Goldstein, Telephone Interview, November 20, 1997. Goldstein Interview. Gordon W. Prange, Donald Goldstein and Katherine Dillon, ed. At Dawn We Slept: The Untold Story of Pearl Harbor (New York: Penguin, 1991) 814. Prange 3. Prange 722. Prange 842. Prange 392. Prange 395. Prange 1st Picture Set. Prange Cover. Goldstein Interview. Prange 821-825. Prange 827. Prange 829. Prange 728-729. Prange 410. END

While science is my area of expertise, I have a continuing interest in history. That interest lead me to pick up Prange's book. Gordon Prange has devoted years to accumulating information about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. That information includes interviews and military and government information from the USA and Japan. That accumulated information was then boiled down into this final work -- completed after Prange's death.

While there have been many books and theories proposed about why and how the debacle at Pearl Harbor took place, Prange's approach is well documented, and includes details of the pre-attack politics of the USA and of Japan. His book also includes detailed information about the attack itself, gleaned from interviews with those on both sides who actually participated in the event. But, even with that level of detail, I must admit that the most compelling part of the book for me is the section that follows the actual attack -- when the US government and the military were trying to figure out what actually happened, and who was to blame.

The final series of chapters of the book provide insight into the thoughts and tactics of Adm. Kimmell (CincPAC) and Gen Short (Commanding General of army at Hawaii), the two primary "interested parties" in the event.

Before reading the book, I had a tendency to believe that there may have been something of a conspiracy by the Roosevelt administration to get us into WWII, but after reading this account of Pearl Harbor, I am more likely to believe that the great success, including complete surprise by Japanese naval aviation was the result of a series of ill-advised decisions by the commanders at Hawaii rather than by any entity in Wash DC.

The sticky point in the whole affair was "magic" the US's code-breaking machine that allowed us to monitor coded diplomatic messages sent between Tokyo and some of its embassies. While "magic" was the source of a great deal of information that may have resulted in a different outcome at Pearl Harbor if the commanders there had access to it, we will never really know.

If you are interested in looking in repurcussions from the attack at Pearl Harbor, or if you have an interest in thinking about the whys and hows of the US entry into WWII, I urge you to read this book.

The writing is passable, though sometimes quite dry. The information is well documented, and is believable. This is not, however, a quick read -- there is a lot of meat in this book to be digested as you go along.

All in all an outstanding contribution to the telling of a sensitive piece of American history.

5 stars for content and believability.

Alan Holyoak

Gordon W. Prange, et al does a superb job of collecting interview and documentary data to examine the entire aspects of the attack (he examines the inquiries in a later book) from American and Japanese perspectives. This is the single most detailed, objective and comprehensive account of the attack on Pearl Harbor ever written. The U.S. military did believe an attack was coming but assumed it would be only in the Phillipines and Southeast Asia. The assumption was made that Japan could not do both, attack in Asia and strike our fleet. We were wrong to assume and Japan made us pay a severe penalty but not one nearly so severe as it could have been, especially as our carriers were at sea and the sub base and fuel farm were unhit. History now shows it is more vital to hit bases than ships. If Pearl Harbor itself had been more damaged, the Pacific Fleet would have had to relocate back to the West Coast and being short of tankers, would have been unable to intervene in any decisive way for some months. As it was, with the base intact, our carriers were able to strike back and within six months won a miracle victory at Midway. For a complementary study, I would recommend Cpt. Homer N. Wallin's, Pearl Harbor, Why? How? Fleet Salvage and Appraisal especially for the details of the huge salvage effort.

Why is that so many good battle histories lack decent maps? The maps in this book, to use a adjective favored by my grandchildren,[are bad]. Prange's prose is dense and detailed and the absence of good maps limits the ability of the reader to understand him.

This is a good book -- maybe the best about Midway, the most important battle of the Pacific War. People these days seem to forget that in 1942, Americans were probably more worried about Japan than they were about Germany.

Prange tells the story of Midway from both the Japanese and the American side. The insights from military leaders -- now virtually all dead -- make this an irreplacable source of information on the battle. I suggest a new deluxe edition of this book -- rewritten in places to improve the comprehensibility of the prose and with detailed maps, timelines, a glossary of military terms, and more photos of the battle and the equipment in use. I would like to see, for example, photos of the many different aircraft participating in the battle.

For a guy who has been dead a while, the author keeps turning out some good books. At Dawn We Slept and Miracle at Midway are two of them. Midway was the battle that turned the tide against Japan. Midway is a Battle so exciting that fiction could never top it, and yet this was history. And this book captures the battle brilliantly. Walter Lord also did a great job in Incredible Victory. This battle showed the determination of American sailors and airman, the leadership of Nimitz, the importance of aircraft carriers,some luck and intelliegence. I enjoyed this book very much.

In the same tradition as At Dawn We Slept, Miracle At Midway engulfs and captivates the reader. This book describes in great detail both American and Japanese plans for battle. The apprehensions of the Japanese staff to approve the Midway mission are described, as well as Washington's uncertainty of the Japanese intentions. Many believed that Japan would try to attack Hawaii or the West Coast. Thanks to the codebreakers, Midway was found to be the true objective. Prange describes in great detail how the brave torpedo bomber pilots flew undaunted against the Japanese carriers, clearing the way for the deadly attacks by the Dauntless dive bomber pilots. Also, the Japanese blunders in rearming their aircraft after the Midway strike are described. This book is a must read for any fan of naval warfare.