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| Authors: Newt Gingrich, William R. Forstchen
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy Used: $5.59
You Save: $22.36 (80%)
New (46) Used (31) Collectible (3) from $5.59
Avg. Customer Rating:  48 reviews
Sales Rank: 7206
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 6.5 x 5.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 0312363516
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312363512
ASIN: 0312363516
Publication Date: April 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Recycled Library Edition
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 46-48 of 48 | | « PREV 1 ... | | |
Hopefully the series will continue... May 1, 2008
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
Having read the authors' earlier "Pearl Harbor", this follow on novel was eagerly awaited and did not disappoint. It was a very quick read because it was a story well-told that was hard to put down. The story is alternate history, exploring the what if scenarios around the earliest days of World War II in the Pacific. The authors successfully stay within the bounds of the plausible, guiding the reader through an alternate history that might have really happened but for providence and the choices of individuals.
About four days of action are packed into the 350 pages of the hardcover book. American and Japanese naval fleets battle earlier than what really happened at Coral Sea and Midway, with one interesting clash that is the 1941 version of the Battle off Samar.
This book contains less political and social commentary than "Pearl Harbor" but does touch on the issue of internment of those of Japanese descent, offering a fair discussion and different outcome without surrendering to a contemporary politically correct preachiness.
One frustration in reading this book is the occasional, but too often, errors in describing equipment, usually aircraft, involved in the story. Military history buffs will be left wondering how these errors got past editors and especially some of the military personnel who are mentioned in the Acknowlegements. The errors are an unnecessary and avoidable distraction from an otherwise great vision of what might have been.
 Second in a Great Alt History Series April 29, 2008
35 out of 41 found this review helpful
The first book in this series, Pearl Harbor, was just the opening act in a days long horror that will set the Pacific ablaze as two of World War II's greatest commanders, Yamamoto and Bull Halsey, clash in the greatest naval battle never to have happened. It is the narrative genius of Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen that makes one think that the battle in Days of Infamy must have happened.
Days of Infamy is also a meditation on one of the essential truths of war. Whatever the issues, whatever the cause, whatever the failure that led up to it, the one thing that is true of every war, especially World War Two, is that young men die decades before their time. There is plenty of such death in Days of Infamy, much of it heartbreaking.
In Days of Infamy young pilots take off from the pitching deck of a carrier with the dawn, knowing that very likely they will not live to see the dusk. Some face that prospect with resolution, some with terror.
Even more horrendous than the terror of battle thousands of feet over the Pacific, taking minutes or even seconds to resolve, is the horror of the aftermath. Days of Infamy tells about burning ships, taking on water, and crews desperately trying to keep them afloat and operational, or at least moving toward some form of refuge. Death by fire or death by water is the fate of too many long after the din of battle stills.
In Days of Infamy Gingrich and Forstchen have done it again, as they did with their epic Gettysburg trilogy, and have captured what war is like, in all of its horror and glory, by showing the reader events in another World War Two that never happened, but might have.
"What if" things had been done differently at Pearl Harbor? April 13, 2008
30 out of 31 found this review helpful
I previously picked up a copy of Pearl Harbor by Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen. Much to my surprise, it was far better than I expected, and gave me a greater appreciation of Pearl when we visited Hawaii last year. I was recently contacted by the publicist for an advanced reader copy of their follow-on novel Days of Infamy. Of course, I accepted. :) As with Pearl Harbor, it's a well-written historical novel that looks at how the Japanese/American conflict might have played out if the Japanese had made a few different choices in their strategy.
The novel covers a four day period after the initial two attack waves on Pearl Harbor. In this alternative history, the Japanese lead a third wave over the islands along with a coastal bombardment with two of their battleships. This has everyone thinking that an island invasion might be imminent, when in reality it's a ploy to draw out the carriers that fortunately happened not to be docked in Pearl during the attack. Due to a complete and total destruction of the communication facilities, there is little intel that the US can use to figure out where the Japanese fleet is, how large it is, and what their plans might be. Likewise, the Japanese don't know where or exactly how many carriers the US has available or where they were if not docked at Pearl. It's a chess match between Halsey and Yamamoto that involves millions of tons of naval and aerial equipment, tens of thousands of lives, and quite possibly the fate of the free world. The story also involves James Watson, a cryptographer who lost a hand in an earlier conflict, and is not well-equipped to be part of a battle zone. His wife and mother-in-law are Japanese, and that brings an additional burden to his work. The social backlash against *all* people of Japanese descent in the US is starting to whip up, and he can't guarantee that those he loves will be safe from marauding bands of thugs seeking revenge.
Since the timespan covered in this installment of the story is much smaller, there's not as much character development as there was in the first episode. More of the action is focused on the battle strategy and the actual attacks from both sides. Still, there is plenty of personal material here to keep you interested in the characters. Watching people overcome (or be overwhelmed by) their prejudices is a strong theme covered. I was also struck by how much warfare has changed since then. It was possible back then to be within 100 miles of each other and still not know what was going on. Now with satellite imagery and other technology, war is fought at a completely different level.
If you haven't yet read Pearl Harbor by these two authors, do so before this book comes out. That will lay the groundwork for what continues here. For fans of alternative historical novels, this is a great read.
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