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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:
 Required Reading June 3, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Gingrich was a Professor of History before he was a politician. If it is possible for some of us to think "apolitically" - we would all be better off reviewing the novel in question. The negative reviews I've read on this novel escape the book itself and dwell on the 'evils' of the 19th and 20th Century American Empire or our current war of civilizations. To do only this does a disservice to the book and its authors who have striven mightly to keep this novel of alternative history in historical context with action, events and leadership which in real life, was brought to play at the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway.
One cannot get a full appreciation of this book with out first reading other works that lay a true historical prospective of the Pearl Harbor Raid and the personalities involved.
We should start with "The Reluctant Admiral" Hiroyuki Agawa's 1982 masterpiece which traces Yamamoto's rise thru the Imperial Navy Ranks and his 'American Experience' at Harvard, traveling around the United States at his own expense (!!) funded by his poker winnings. His gambling nature was a truism and should never be discounted in any book - be it a novel or non-fiction. It is interesting to learn - as a young officer - he lost part of his hand from a shell in a 1905 Battle with the Russians.
Next- I would recommend: "Two-Ocean War: A Short History of the United States Navy in the Second World War" by Samuel Eliot Morison. Giving a context and prelude to US Navy preparedness (or lack thereof) as well as keying in on the insights of Halsey and his combat staff - who performed brilliantly against all odds (although not at the Battles of the Coral Sea and Midway in real life). Anyone of lesser boldness and leadership would have either lost or prolonged the war. It also gives us an insight into fire (lack of) fighting procedures, bad torpedoes, obsolete aircraft, lack of night vision devices, etc that hamstrung American strategy and tactics at the beginning of the war.
One personal disappointment in the novel was the treatment of LCR Wade McCloskey, who in real life was a hero at the Battle of Midway. Relegated to a "too valuable" to fight category - this goes somewhat unexplained in the novel other than to parallel the same role assigned to Fuchida. In real life his squadron of Navy DAUNTLESS Dive Bombers did the bulk of the damage - sinking the first Japanese Aircraft Carriers their planes and pilots at the Battle of Midway - losses the Imperial Navy never recovered from.
Armed with this background - one can only begin to appreciate the attention to detail and subject craftsmanship, historical research and military accuracy that went into the creation of this novel. Taken from this point of view the novel is a forceful counterpoint to those who freely expound how 'easily' or carelessly we disposed of our Japanese foe.
great reading June 2, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I enjoy reading Gingrich's books very much. This series is as good as the Civil War Series.
days of infamy June 2, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
i've read both pearl harbor and days of infamy and both are very interesting, and you don't want to put the book down until your finished. it really keeps you wondering whats going to happen next. i will read more of newt gingrich's books!!!!
Fast-paced and imaginative war thriller June 1, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was only moderately impressed with "Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8, 1941," the first title in Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen's alternative-history series about World War 2 in the Pacific. While the action scenes weren't bad, the character development wasn't great and an awful lot of time was spent with characters sitting in rooms talking about Chinese politics and other back-story matters.
"Days of Infamy," on the other hand, doesn't have that problem. The first 170 pages or so are one sustained battle scene, and following a brief lull in the action, most of the rest of the book is too. Unlike "Pearl Harbor," where the point at which the authors' fiction deviated from fact may have been obscure to people not familiar with the details of the attack, the events of "Days of Infamy" (as distinct from many of the characters) are fictional from start to finish. The authors are thus free to create a compelling, even engrossing, story. Certainly, I was pulled in right away, and read the whole volume cover to cover in just a few hours this weekend.
Although the authors did a better job with character development this time than in the first book, this series really is not "about" the men and women in any significant way. They are war stories painted on a very large canvas. And now that Gingrich and Forstchen have defined their alternate -- though still very plausible (no time-travel or anachronistic weapons) -- world, they're free to pull out the stops and let the guns roar. I still don't believe the series will displace Wouk, say, among the great novels of the second world war, but for an exciting ride for a few hours on a weekend, they're not bad at all.
Another Great Book from Newt May 31, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Having just read a couple of books about Pearl Harbor this made for great reading. It is fun to play what if and Newt does it well. As a retired AF Pilot and a WWII Historian my friends and I have been playing "what if for years"
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