"dramatic and highly readable"
The Daily Telegraph
"Melber offers a fresh, dramatic account of events in 1941, when Japan headed into a war with the United States that most Japanese policymakers knew their country was not likely to win.... Readers know how the story ends, but Melber's just-the-facts narrative re-creates the tension of the events as they were lived."
Foreign Affairs
"Melber clearly is on top of his subject matter, having mastered the story of Pearl Habor from the perspectives of both Japan and the United States. In so doing he offers fascinating new insights into what led to the attack on Pearl Harbor and thus to America's entry into the Second World War. He displays a thorough knowledge of the Japanese and American literature, and he writes in a manner that is both accessible and authoritative. This is an excellent book and it will find a ready readership both among university students and among the general public."
Richard Bessel, University of York
"There is no shortage of historical literature on the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, so it is a brave historian who seeks to find a new way to present a familiar story. The great merit of Takuma Melber's new book on the battle is his access to Japanese sources and literature. This is the dimension commonly missing in most accounts, and it gives Melber the opportunity to provide a fuller, more definitive and authoritative account of the battle, its background, and its consequences. Melber writes with great economy on a big subject, and he writes with flair and precision: this book is a literary achievement as well as a work of exceptional scholarship."
Richard Overy, University of Exeter
"Here is a new look at the dramatic way Japan drew the United States into World War II. The drawing of additional details from a variety of Japanese sources as well as the published and archival material in English and German offers the reader an excellent and balanced introduction to a very important event."
Gerhard L. Weinberg, William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of History Emeritus, University of North Carolina
"A fascinating look at the inner workings of Japanese political, military, and diplomatic circles."
War on the Rocks
"[A] penetrating study of one of the key events of the 20th century from the Japanese rather than the usual American perspective. Melber's nuanced picture of Japanese wartime decision-making exposes the deep rifts in the country's military and civilian leadership. His clinical analysis of the diplomatic to-and-fro between Tokyo and Washington in the months before the attack lays bare the inevitable slide towards war."
The Australian
"In this vivid book, Takuma Melber breathes new life into the dramatic events that unfolded before, during, and after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. By putting the Japanese attackers' perspective at the centre of his account, he provides a more comprehensive and authoritative history of the battle, its background, and its consequences."
Military History
"Pearl Harbor is a fine introduction to its subject, enhanced by useful additions from original Japanese sources."
Michigan War Studies Review
"His book eloquently synthesizes both Japanese and American secondary and primary sources on the attack, and the narrative is told primarily from the perspective of the Japanese. The result is an evenly balanced account that provides a “big picture” view of events."
The Strategy Bridge
"Melber’s ‘Pearl Harbor’ is an admirably concise and highly illuminating account. It mainly tells how things unfolded from the Japanese perspective. Melber's excellent book illustrates that so-called decisive attacks aiming to utterly destroy an enemy with a major attack can sometimes create terrible consequences for the perpetrators.”
Iain Ballantyne, Warships International Fleet Review
''Melber’s authoritative and persuasive book brings another vital and welcome dimension into play by revealing the Japanese side of the narrative''
Shepherd
"Melber provides a concise and judicious account of Pearl Harbor that makes good use of his familiarity with Japanese sources to provide a balanced narrative of the diplomatic run-up to the attack and the battle itself. Because Melber's book is comprehensive, clearly written,... it has the potential to become a gateway book for general readers interested in Pearl Harbor and a staple textbook in diplomatic and military history courses. ... a fascinating account of the planning and execution of the Pearl Harbor attack."
Journal of American Culture
“This is not purely a military history but one that interweaves diplomatic history into a vivid account of the battle. … Pearl Harbor serves as the most up-to-date, well-researched, and accessible account of the event for the broadest possible readership.”
Japan Review
