BATTLE REPORT

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 23, 1944

This is the official report of the U.S. Navy's operations in the Pacific from Pearl Harbor to Coral Sea, a pattern of defeat and disaster, of heroism and striving against hopeless odds with too little, and too late. There will be subsequent volumes, chronicling the succeeding months and years, and for students -- here is the record. There is a certain macabre fascination in reading blow by blow the story of Pearl Harbor -- offered without comment or explanation, but through actual visual record official reports, diaries, letters, etc. Cognizance is taken of contradictions -- people varying in report of the same events. But on the whole, a consistent picture emerges, frequently correcting false first impressions and fuzzy memory. Every ship -- in every class -- is traced; its whereabouts, its part, its fate. The men to whom awards have gone are depicted, -- officers and crew. The painful laboratory process of trial and error, through which today's success is being achieved, is reported as it happened, with the raids on the Marshalls, the Gilberts, Wake -- the sole highlights of comparative success....The value of this record from primary sources will be great for historians. Only those vitally and personally concerned seem to me to be today's immediate market.

Pub Date: Nov. 23, 1944

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Farrar & Rinehart

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1944

Categories: NONFICTION