Drawing on groundbreaking new research, author H. P. Wilmott along with Tohmatsu Haruo and W. Spencer Johnson, have written an exciting and very readable new account of roots of the Japanese Japanese aggressiveness and hostility to the West and their planning of the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.

Beginning with the first chapter, entitled "The Road to War", the author outlines the economic and political background in Japan that lead to the outbreak of war. What follows is a detailed account of the Japanese naval buildup and planning of the attack. This is followed by a comprehensive 75 page account of the actual attack featuring numerous photos previously unseen outside of Japan along with detailed maps and illustrations of the attack plan and American ship deployment. 

The final two chapters "The Follow-up Strike Controversy" and "Assessment and Aftermath" examine why in reality the attack was a failure from the Japanese perspective. Despite a terrible loss of American lives, the actual targets which were struck were not as serious a blow to the United States navy as they could have been had more strategic targets been destroyed, such as the naval fuel depots.

Ultimately, while many of the reasons for the attack from the Japanese perspective were well thought out and legitimate, the author places much blame on the politicians and military leaders and their insatiable desire for imperial expansion which ultimately led to their defeat.

H.P. Wilmott is an acknowledged and award-winning expert on the Pacific War and Japanese strategy during the conflict. A teacher of war studies at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, who has written numerous other books on the Pacific conflict.

This book is a must for anyone interested in the attack of December 7, 1941 and the roots of World War II in the Pacific.