The Japanese, by contrast, lost only 29 planes. Hundreds of planes were destroyed or damaged. Arizona, which blew up about 15 minutes into the raid, and 17 other ships were either sunk or crippled. Thousands of Americans were killed or wounded. The whole assault lasted about two hours. naval officer on "his first night on his first patrol on his first command" spots a Japanese submarine just hours before the strike when the surprise attack finally does arrive, an excited Japanese commander shouts "Tora! Tora! Tora!" ("Victory!") before even the first bombs have fallen. The Japanese scan Hawaiian radio stations to see if their moves have been detected a U.S. Lord begins by showing how Japanese admirals, three months before their notorious sneak attack, "tested the idea on the game board at the Naval War College." (It didn't go nearly as well there as it did in real life.) Then he proceeds briskly through the preparations for the assault and delivers a minute-by-minute account about those fateful hours in Oahu. Day of Infamy deserves to stand beside that classic as a gripping narrative, and the subject matter, of course, is infinitely more important. Walter Lord is best known for A Night to Remember, his book on the voyage of the Titanic. There may not be a better book on what happened at Pearl Harbor than Day of Infamy-and it's not as if the Pearl Harbor story has lacked chroniclers.
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