Newt Gingrich & William R. Forstchen, Pearl Harbor Review

Pearl Harbor

Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen

Dunne, May 2007, $25.95

ISBN: 0312363508



The premise of this alternate history is the debate between two competent Japanese naval officials over how many waves of attack would be needed to render the Americans as helpless. Admiral Yamamoto felt you had to keep the pressure up to and including the forty-eight contiguous states while Admiral Nagumo felt Pearl Harbor left the United States helpless and defeated. In this novel, Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen explore the Yamamoto theory, starting with the Japan of the 1930s until the December attack on much more than just Pearl Harbor.



The look at Japanese society and its military invasion of China in the 1930s is fabulous and insightful. The argument between the two admirals over what is needed to beat America is terrific as Yamamoto believes the United States can come back if it is a one, or even two, punch assault. However, the political leaders, FDR and Hirohito seem one dimensional and that dimension is wordy, pompous and out of touch. Still this strong what if alternate military history account of the War in the Pacific is discerning yet entertaining.



Harriet Klausner