Today marks the 75th Anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, which officially spurred the entry of the United States into World War II.  The following day, President Roosevelt addressed Congress and famously dubbed December 7, 1941 as “a date which will live in infamy” (here’s a transcript and audio recording of FDR’s full speech).

Seven and a half decades later, few survivors of this historic event are still here to tell their tales, so a concentrated effort is being made to record their stories.  The West Branch’s history book group reads a great deal about World War II and each time we discuss another great book that captures one facet or another of the war, we comment that there is no end to the stories that exist about this fascinating and horrifying era in human history.  So today on this somber occasion, I offer reading suggestions from the library’s new nonfiction section that tell a few more of the stories that focus on the war in the Pacific.

First, about the bombing of Pearl Harbor, there’s Countdown to Pearl Harbor by Steve Twomey.  Twomey is a Pultizer Prize winning journalist.  His book examines the series of missteps and mistakes that led to the American intelligence community’s failure to recognize the Japanese’s plan to attack the naval base.  Also published to coincide with the 75th anniversary of the attack is Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness by Craig Nelson.  Nelson focuses on the how and why of the attack, as well as sharing the stories of a number of survivors.

Bill O’Reilly’s history books have, without exception, always landed him on the bestseller list.  His latest Killing the Rising Sun focuses on the Pacific theater of the war and covers the battles between MacArthur’s forces and the Japanese military, the development of the nuclear bomb and Truman’s decision to deploy it.

Speaking of MacArthur, the author of Gandhi and Churchill, Arthur Herman’s newest work is Douglas MacArthur: American Warrior.  MacArthur is, of course, a much disputed character in American history.  Herman is overall an admirer of MacArthur and this biography takes a look at some of the many lingering myths about the general and his role in World War II and Korea.

The legacy of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor touches many aspects of American history, including a grim episode in our country’s history: the internment of Japanese Americans.  Historian Richard Reeves wrote Infamy: the shocking story of the Japanese American internment in World War II  which covers the historical and political decision making process that led to the internment policy, the daily life in the camps and the stories of some Americans who vehemently opposed the imprisonment of Japanese immigrants and American citizens of Japanese descent.  If this is area you wish to learn more about, you may also want to check out today’s NPR interview with a woman that was in one of this prison camps.

For those of you who would rather read history that has a little bit of real-life romance and adventure to it, you could try Eve of a Hundred Midnights by Bill Lascher.  This fast paced tale of two married journalists details their harrowing experiences trying to cover the Pacific theater after the fall of Manila.

If you are a fan of history reading, keep an eye out for upcoming Wednesdays @ West posts.  In the coming weeks, I’ll be offering a list of the best books our book group  explored in 2016 and (drum roll) an announcement of a whole year of history reading for 2017.