Countdown to Pearl Harbor

The Twelve Days to the Attack

De: Steve Twomey

Narrado por: Holter Graham

In this “riveting” (Los Angeles Times) account of the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Steve Twomey “infuses a well-known story with suspense” (The New York Times Book Review), offering a poignant new perspective on the most infamous day in American history.

In Washington, DC, in late November 1941, admirals composed the most ominous message in Navy history to warn Hawaii of possible danger—but they wrote it too vaguely. They thought precautions were being taken, but never checked to be sure.

In a small office at Pearl Harbor, overlooking the battleships, the commander of the Pacific Fleet tried to assess whether the threat was real. His intelligence had lost track of Japan’s biggest aircraft carriers, but assumed they were resting in a port far away. Besides, the admiral thought Pearl was too shallow for torpedoes; he never even put up a barrier. As he fretted, a Japanese spy was counting warships in the harbor and reporting to Tokyo.

There were false assumptions and racist ones, misunderstandings, infighting, and clashes between egos. Through remarkable characters and impeccable details, Pulitzer Prize–winner Steve Twomey shows how careless decisions and blinkered beliefs gave birth to colossal failure. But he tells the story with compassion and a wise understanding of why people—even smart, experienced, talented people—look down at their feet when they should be scanning the sky.

The brilliance of Countdown to Pearl Harbor is in its elegant prose and taut focus. “Even though readers already know the ending, they’ll hold their collective breath, as if they’re watching a rerun of an Alfred Hitchcock classic” (St. Louis Post-Dispatch).

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Steve Twomey has accomplished something remarkable with Countdown to Pearl Harbor. With deep reporting and vivid writing, he has illumined one of the most momentous events of the twentieth century in stunningly new and penetrating light.” (David Maraniss, Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author of They Marched into Sunlight)

“This is a splendid book.... Even though readers already know the ending, they’ll hold their collective breath, as if they’re watching a rerun of an Alfred Hitchcock classic.”

“Infusing a well-known story with suspense, Countdown to Pearl Harbor reconstructs the military’s glaring errors of omission, the secret American effort to intercept Japan's encrypted communication and the fruitless 11th-hour diplomatic negotiations between Tokyo and Washington.... Gripping.”

“Steve Twomey is a masterful storyteller. Mining new and overlooked records, he has made the Pearl Harbor story new again—suspenseful, dramatic, intensely human, and tragic.” (Evan Thomas, bestselling author of Sea of Thunder)

“A riveting narrative of the American misjudgments and mistakes that contributed to a day rivaled in U.S. history only by Sept. 11, 2001. It’s not revisionist history so much as a poignant retelling of a familiar story.”

“Outstanding.”

“A fine, compelling account of the immediate prelude to that infamous day in December 1941. Through dogged research and graceful writing, Steve Twomey has made the old tragedy seem new again.” (Rick Atkinson, Pulitzer Prize winner and bestselling author of The Guns at Last Light)

“With thrilling speed and elegant craftsmanship, Steve Twomey recounts the catastrophe of Pearl Harbor as a classic tale of human nature—its glories and its flaws. A wonderful, heartbreaking book.” (David Von Drehle, author of Triangle: The Fire That Changed America)

“Excellent.”

“Portrays events... in the style of a thriller.... Twomey successfully brings brilliant color to the players.”

“A pulse-quickening read that straightens out the script of an American tragedy. The surprise in Steve Twomey’s superb book is that the “surprise attack” on Pearl Harbor wasn't so much a surprise as a screw-up, fed by complacency, racial condescension, and sclerotic Navy tradition.” (Blaine Harden, bestselling author of Escape from Camp 14)

“Steve Twomey, a careful reporter and fine writer, tells the story of Pearl Harbor in a punchy, oddly suspenseful book: you know what will happen, but can't believe it. Twomey wipes away anyone's belief in some bring-on-the-war conspiracy. And any reader will find that he tells this saddest of stories very well.” (Don Graham, former publisher of The Washington Post)

Exactly what I wanted

In depth work about the political, military, and societal factors that culminated in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Focusing heavily on American intelligence failures and the complacency that allowed the Japanese to achieve such complete surprise. Pairs well with Walter Lord’s book Day of Infamy to get a more complete picture of December 7th, 1941.

had some slow parts but over all a good listen

over all work the credit but it can be a bit slow in sooner parts

The "feeling" that things were getting out of hand and that there must be some way of stopping them.

This is one of the better military histories I have read about the Pacific war. All throughout the book you get the impression that the entire process could have been stopped if people had phrased their communiques the proper way or if they had used a bit of independent thinking to take one step more after receiving coded intelligence. I dare anyone to read this, and not wonder why we did not learn these lessons during the time of 9:11. Are we that lazy? Are we that stupid? Are we that arrogant to believe that we are beyond being hurt by "Slant eyed little men", or "Middle East ragheads", as the bigots of the day called them? I hope that we are smarter, or luckier, next time.

Please narrator don't attempt voice's

Someone should have told the narrator that trying to do voice's is not his thing. The history is interesting but the bad attempt at voices is distracting.

history

it was the truth, can't beat the truth. many thanks for it's publication. more young people should be taught this history in school.