On 7 December 1941, an armada of 354 Japanese warplanes launched a surprise attack on the United States, killing 2,403 people and forcing America’s entry into the Second World War. With vivid prose and astonishing detail, Craig Nelson combines thrilling historical drama with individual concerns and experiences, following an ensemble of sailors, soldiers, pilots, diplomats, admirals, generals, the emperor and the president.Unmatched in breadth and depth, Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness in a portrait of the terror, chaos, violence and tragedy of the attack that would prove to be a turning point of the war.

About the AuthorCraig Nelson is the author of the New York Times bestseller Rocket Men: The Epic Story of the First Men on the Moon, as well as several previous books, including The Age of Radiance (a PEN America Literary Award finalist), The First Heroes, Thomas Paine (winner of the Henry Adams Prize) and Let’s Get Lost (shortlisted for WHSmith’s Book of the Year). His writing has appeared in Vanity Fair, the Wall Street Journal, National Geographic, the New England Review, Popular Science, Reader’s Digest and a host of other publications.ReviewsIn this brilliant mix of history and emotion, Craig Nelson has managed to combine grueling research with masterful reporting in order to capture the long and the short, the overview and the detail, of that infamous day in a paradisal land of orchids and jacaranda. It has taken seventy-five years, but now, finally, the Pearl Harbor book has been written — Jim deFilippi, author of MULES OF MONTE CASSINO and MURKACraig Nelson has completely retold the epic story of Pearl Harbor. Using his skills as a reporter and a literary stylist, he not only deftly paints the fleeting image – an enemy pilot waving as he flies by, a cup of coffee trembling on a table while outside a war commences – but a world roiled in titanic struggle … This book has a thousand poignant and unforgettable moments. You’ll read Pearl Harbor and want to pass it to a friend — Doug Stanton, author of HORSE SOLDIERS and IN HARM’S WAYWith lively prose and many astute insights, Nelson chronicles the Japanese-American political jockeying before moving on to the action, where he does not disappoint. Battle descriptions are socially acceptable historical porn, so readers’ eyes will be glued to the page as Nelson weaves archival research, interviews, and personal experiences from both sides into a blow-by-blow narrative of destruction liberally sprinkled with individual heroism, bizarre escapes, and equally bizarre tragedies * KIRKUS REVIEWS *Book InformationISBN 9781474605656Author Craig NelsonFormat PaperbackPage Count 544Imprint Weidenfeld & NicolsonPublisher Orion Publishing CoWeight(grams) 400gDimensions(mm) 196mm * 128mm * 36mm