To Wake the Giant

May 1, 2020
In Shaara's dramatic historical novel, America sleeps while Japan carefully plans a vicious wake-up call. Japanese Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull, and seaman Tommy Biggs will never meet, but their stories weave together and culminate in the attack on Pearl Harbor. Biggs is a 19-year-old Florida kid who has no skills but baseball and joins the Navy as a way out of poverty. He's excited to be assigned to the battleship USS Arizona, where he serves as a hospital apprentice. Hull sees through Ambassador Nomura's lies that Japan does not seek conquest--while it is in the process of overrunning Asia. American cryptologists decode Japanese diplomatic messages, but they reveal nothing of military intentions. Yet Hull understands that "in Japan, a great many people are hoping for a war." FDR reads a secret report that Japan would launch a surprise attack before declaring war and dismisses it as "a real gem." Others call the idea absurd. American short-sightedness stems from a lack of imagination, scant military intelligence, and a widespread racist attitude that the Japanese were physically incapable of, say, skilled piloting. Powers higher than Yamamoto want a war with America, but he knows Japan cannot win a protracted fight. So he argues successfully for a quick, paralyzing strike to "severe[ly] damage" the U.S. fleet using airplanes to "show those people how ugly a war can be." The diligent, honorable Biggs puts up with guff from a petty officer who has lived his life at sea and dreads his upcoming forced retirement. Then comes the attack and aftermath: the explosions and flames, the shrapnel and body parts, the blood and burns. Suddenly, America is wide awake. Shaara interviewed many Japanese as well as Americans for this deeply researched, nonjudgmental account of Pearl Harbor and its prelude. An exciting war story that will provide a better understanding of Pearl Harbor.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

May 25, 2020
Shaara (Gods and Generals) dutifully dramatizes the run-up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in a well-researched if overstuffed narrative. Secretary of State Cordell Hull is involved in some intricate diplomacy with Japanese Ambassador Nomura, trying to ascertain Japan’s true intentions in the Pacific. At the same time, Adm. Isoroku Yamamoto puts into play his plan to attack the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor. The reader also meets Tommy Biggs, a young “hospital apprentice” assigned to the ill-fated battleship Arizona; Takeo Yoshikawa, a Japanese spy who arrives on Oahu under diplomatic cover; and Joseph Rochefort, a cryptanalyst who is trying to decode the Japanese navy’s secret signals traffic. They are all on a collision course as the clock ticks down to the attack, which is depicted in a thrilling you-are-there recreation. But first, the reader must plod through chapters of wooden conversations, most devoid of dramatic punch. Though the period details are convincing, Shaara’s novel adds nothing new or revelatory in its take on a well-known event. Still, diehard fans of military fiction will find much to enjoy.