"December 1941" by Craig Shirley (Kindle Edition)

I began reading this e-book in March. Little did I know I would be finishing it the night before V-E day (May 8th). How appropriate! The author's research and attention to detail are very admirable. The book was quite long and packed with more information than the brain can actually comprehend in a quick-read, but it held my interest steadily. Let me get the minutia out of the way: there were a smattering of curse words throughout the book (most of them were NOT in the context of a quote, so they were totally unnecessary). The author constructed some very awkward sentences - mainly in the way they were phrased... Dangling modifiers and such. The placement (or omission) of commas in odd places also caused some mild irritation. There were a few formatting errors, like missing spaces between words, quotation marks out of place, etc. But for the vast scope of the book, I can overlook all these things as trivial.

I've never read anything of substance concerning World War II before this book. The truth behind the tragedy of Pearl Harbor and the effect it had on our nation was much more astonishing than I'd ever known. Instead of giving positive/negative critiques, let me point out a few of the thoughts that impacted me the most in this book.

1. The Allies may have eventually won the war, but in December of 1941 the Axis powers were doing all the damage. It really surprised me how badly the war was going the first few weeks after America joined the fray. (The war had technically been going on for two years, but our American frame of mind usually forgets about the fact that much happened around the world before the attack on Pearl Harbor.) Japan was relentless in its desire to dominate the Asia-Pacific arena. Also, German troops had pushed their weight all over Europe, North Africa, and almost all the way to Moscow! Things could have turned out very differently for the Allies...

2. The U.S. experienced a tremendous unity after Pearl Harbor. The shared national tragedy created a solemn resolve in every American heart. The government asked so much of the people, but the people gladly met the need of the hour. Rationing, blackouts, "war bonds" - all of it was not merely tolerated, but embraced by the people with an amazing "Can-do" attitude. It made me sad to realize that our nation today is morally incapable of such unity. If we could not experience the same steely resolve and unity after the attacks of 9/11, when will we ever see it? Why is there no die-hard loyalty to the flag, to our military, to each other? Instead of the "Greatest Generation", we have people who call 911 because McDonalds is out of french fries..... It is unthinkable that the America of today would be willing to give up the rubber for their car tires, or donate a seventh work-day to the war effort without pay, or agree not to make long-distance calls in case of a defense emergency - all of which the Americans of the 1940's did without flinching. Again, the nation lacks the moral and spiritual fortitude to survive another such hour of dire need. May God have mercy on us.

3. Winston Churchill was an amazing individual. There were other men (and women) of the time period who were great in character and influence, but Churchill is just a radiant figure. I didn't (and still don't) know much about him; but I am determined to read a biography on him soon, as well as all of his speeches I can find. His skills of speech were only rivaled by his charisma as a leader.

The book was tremendously eye-opening. The picture it paints of the nation of that day, and how the men and women rose to meet a remarkable challenge against an unspeakable evil - well, in short, they make me proud to be an American. What a heritage of heroes we have! I give the book 4.5 out of 5 stars.

I received this e-book free from the publishers in exchange for my honest review.