Sunday in Hell: Pearl Harbor Minute by Minute Paperback - 2011

From the publisher

Using long established historical records and contemporary journals as well as recently-released war-time documents, Bill McWilliams has created a brand-new minute-by-minute narrative of the Day that Will Live in Infamy. Told from the point-of-view of dozens of characters from Generals and Admirals and politicians and diplomats down to deckhands and private soldiers and also innocent civilians at all levels, this panoramic overview of one of the most traumatizing and shocking events in American history puts the reader in a spot where they can understand the big picture of strategy and tactics as well as the intimate detail of what the chaos, violence and sudden death felt like to people immersed in the surprise of an armed attack on American soil. December 7, 1941 was a turning point in the history of the United States, which had been teetering on a decision between isolationism and intervention. It can be argued that every U.S. military engagement since then has been affected by what happened when America learned that it was not possible to stand by and watch war among strangers without being at risk of becoming involved whether they wished to be or not. Praise for SUNDAY IN HELL: PEARL HARBOR MINUTE BY MINUTE "The attack on Pearl Harbor was a profoundly bitter surprise for an unprepared America. It was an earth shaking event in a chain of devastating events perpetrated by the twentieth century's new totalitarians-the Axis powers of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and militarist Japan. This work revitalizes the cry, 'Remember Pearl Harbor!' and records anew America's entry into World War II, the deadly, never-to-be-ignored lessons totalitarians leave in the archives of history's darkest hours." -Gordon R. Sullivan - General, US Army, Retired - 32nd Chief of Staff "Bill McWilliams delivers a most readable history that immerses us in the depths of our Nation's darkest hour. Feel the shock and anger, the humiliation and devastation that roused the 'Sleeping Giant' and inspired the greatest mobilization of spirit, and pride our nation has ever seen. This is the story of real people whose shattered lives became the stuff of the 'Greatest Generation.'" -General John P. Jumper - US Air Force (Ret) - Chief of Staff 2001-05 "A memorable history should read like an exciting true story, create clear visual images, and cause readers to feel they are among the people living the events. This work does. Bill McWilliams pulls us into the story, where we experience the sights, sounds, tastes, and smells of war, while feeling the powerful crosscurrents of emotion war provokes." -General Thomas R. Morgan - USMC (Retired) - Assistant Commandant - Marine Corps, 1986-88 "Masterfully told; a powerful true story of the devastating events surrounding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that propelled America into the most destructive war in human history. McWilliams' third major work after A RETURN TO GLORY and ON HALLOWED GROUND wrings inspiration and remembrance from sacrifice, valor and tragedy. Reading like an action-packed novel, this is truly history at its best." -Colin Burgess - Award-winning Australian military and spaceflight historian and author