Sunday in Hell: Pearl Harbor Minute by Minute

I had read other books that dealt with the attack on Pearl Harbor, but I was looking forward to this book because I thought I’d get even more details. I didn’t know the half of it. Now some who gave this book negative reviews didn’t like the fact they had to read a lot before finally getting to the actual attack. That wasn’t a problem for me because I liked the huge picture that Bill McWilliams painted which led up to the attack. You don’t just get what the politicians and higher ranking officers, plus a few lower ranking officers were experiencing. Instead you get to find out what many lower ranking officers and enlisted personnel and civilians were doing in the weeks and months before, during, and after the attack.There are many examples I could choose from, but I’ll mention the seaplane tender USS Tangier commanded by Capt. Clifton A.F. Sprague. The ship was berthed on the west side of Ford Island and was one of the first to respond to the attacking planes because Sprague didn’t follow orders. Many ships in the harbor that day would under go an Admirals’ Inspection on December 8th so the ammunition in the ready boxes had been removed and stored in the magazines. Sprague ordered the ammunition left in the boxes because he had “come out here to fight a war!” But if an admiral wanted to come on board he’d have to signal the ship and the crew would have time to hide the ammunition. I mention Sprague because he would go onto become an admiral and command the escort carriers of Taffy 3 in the Battle off Samar Island. This is dealt with in a great book, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors.McWilliams takes the reader to numerous ships, airfields and the hospitals the wounded would be transported to. I also liked finding out what happened in the weeks following the attack. The fact that the US had no idea where the Japanese fleet was why they continued to search the area around the islands. Then Admiral Kimmel ordered a relief expedition to Wake Island, but it was ordered back by Admiral Pye. The evacuation of the thousands of civilians on the islands was something I was unaware of. This leads me to the one negative I have of the book. While I loved all the details the author provides, one detail got a bit tedious. When ships were at sea, in particular the convoys traveling between Hawaii and the west coast, McWilliams seemed to give every little course change they made. I could have done without so much of that. Also I would like to have seen a few more maps showing the locations mentioned in the book along with where ships were attacked and sunk. But other than that, I thought it was a great book.

A decent re-telling of events with which most are already familiar, but in vignettes as witnessed by participants. Slightly disjointed at times, but overall a good read.

At times this book was very informative and then at other times d e tail to the extreme. I do not read much fiction so I did learn a good bit, however, I scanned numerous pages with redundant information. Over 1000/ pages so not a quick read. No regrets but would not recommend to a friend.

The book is a clear and fascinating story about a truly sad day that started a very long and sad war. It spoke to the grit, heroism, sacrifice and quality training that our service personnel displayed that fateful day. Reading takes some effort given the huge amount of detail that is provided. Not only was the loss of life but also a sad display of the human nature for war something that has plagued man throughout our history. We don't seem able to learn to avoid cataclysm and the death and destruction that follows. In many respects we, humanity, are a sad lot that is so well depicted in the book.

To those in Australia who were alive in December 1941, the attack on Pearl Harbor was only another day in a war that started in September 1939. To the United States however, it was a sneak attack that forced them into enter into the Second World War and come out from the neutrality and isolationism of the 1930s. We all know the story of the ambush and attack but in this wonderful new book, author Bill McWilliams(disclaimer, we are long time friends), takes us on a gritty journey back into December 1941. Focusing always on people involved, including the story of young Annapolis graduate and his bride, the author gives great detail on the month of December 1941. Most authors leave the Pearl Harbor story on FDR's declaration of war but we find out what happened in the landmark month of December 1941. From the initial shock of the attack to a grim determination to strike back at all costs. I highly recommend this stunning history and will recommend it to anyone interested in World War 2. On a personal note, I am visiting Hawaii in June and look forward to visiting Pearl Harbor and seeing the places that Bill wrote about in such detail...

I really like this book (still reading it after 3 months or so) but at 1000+ pages, may be a bit too long and detailed.As the name implies, it is really minute by minute, or at least hour by hour and jumps around a lot. You need to pay attention for sure, but learnedsome things about the attack I did not know.Living on the West Coast, the author goes into most if not all happenings the first few weeks in my area. I enjoyed reading about some of the Southern California incidents.I would recommend this book, but be aware that it will take some time to read.

This book is the most detailed description of the attack on Pearl Harbor and its aftermath that you will ever need to read. It truly does describe the attack and its aftermath minute by minute for each of the ships sunk or damaged. It also details the change in life style in the Hawaiian Islands after the attack, including evacuation of civilians and wounded. To give you an idea of the detail, the author tells of the fates of the three Pan Am clippers including complete passenger and crew lists for each one. The amount of research that went into this book is truly awesome.

It might be a very good book, but I lost interest. I wanted to read about Pearl Harbor, I didn't want to read about the two years leading up to Pearl Harbor, and the bride's matron of Honor's letter to the bride's mother who couldn't be at the wedding.