This December 7, a lot of people will be asking you to remember the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese in 1941. I won't say not to do that--memory fades despite our best effort and remembering such events is important on that basis alone. But being a librarian, I will ask you to read a book as well.
At Dawn We Slept: The Untold History of Pearl Harbor, by Gordon W. Prange remains to my mind the best written account of the events of that day in history. During World War II Prange served as an officer in the Naval Reserve and during the occupation of Japan (from December 1945 to July 1951) he joined General Headquarters, far East Command, Tokyo, as a civilian. From October 1946 to June 1951 he was chief of General Douglas MacArthur's G-2 Historical Section, and from June to July 1951 he was acting director of the Military History Section. He thus brought an unusual experience and background in the Army, Navy and academia to his research and writing about Pearl Harbor. Additionally, Mr. Prange spent 37 years of work preparing this book. By the time of its publication he knew more about the subject than anyone else. He interviewed virtually every surviving Japanese officer who took part in the Pearl Harbor operation as well as every notable or important American source. The scope of this work is without equal.
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