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| Days of Infamy | 
 enlarge | Authors: Newt Gingrich, William R. Forstchen
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Category: Book
List Price: $27.95
Buy New: $14.74
You Save: $13.21 (47%)
Buy New/Used from $13.50
Avg. Customer Rating:  (45 reviews)
Sales Rank: 10919
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 384
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 6.5 x 5.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 0312363516
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780312363512
ASIN: 0312363516
Publication Date: April 29, 2008
Release Date: April 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
?Absolutely brilliant! Fast paced and filled with tension and suspense. Every page resonates with the momentous events and great personalities of World War II ? and scenes so carefully crafted you feel like you?re there. This is a ?must read? for all who look at history and wonder: ?What if??-- Oliver North, Lt. Col., USMC (Ret.), host of War Stories on the Fox News Channel
In 2007, bestselling authors Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen launched a new epic adventure series about World War II in the Pacific, with their book Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th, 1941, which instantly rocketed to the New York Times bestseller list.
Gingrich and Forstchen?s now critically acclaimed approach, which they term ?active history,? examines how a change in but one decision might have profoundly altered American history. In Pearl Harbor they explored how history might have been changed if Admiral Yamamoto had directly led the attack on that fateful day, instead of remaining in Japan. Building on that promise, Days of Infamy starts minutes after the close of Pearl Harbor, as both sides react to the monumental events triggered by the presence of Admiral Yamamoto. In direct command of the six carriers of the attacking fleet, Yamamoto decides to launch a fateful ?third-wave attack? on the island of Oahu, and then keeps his fleet in the area to hunt down the surviving American aircraft carriers, which by luck and fate were not anchored in the harbor on that day.
Historians have often speculated about what might have transpired from legendary ?matchups? of great generals and admirals. In this story of the aftermath of Pearl Harbor, the notorious gambler Yamamoto is pitted against the equally legendary American admiral Bill Halsey in a battle of wits, nerve, and skill.
Days of Infamy recounts this alternative history from a multitude of viewpoints---from President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill, and the two great admirals, on down to American pilots flying antiquated aircraft, bravely facing the vastly superior Imperial Japanese Navy aircraft. Gingrich and Forstchen have written a sequel that?s as much a homage to the survivors of the real Pearl Harbor attack as it is an imaginative and thrilling take on America?s entry into World War II.
Praise for the first book in the PacificWar Series,Pearl Harbor:
"A thrilling tale of American's darkest day."
--W.E.B. Griffin
"Masterful storytelling that not only captures the heroic highs and hellish lows of that horrific day which lives on in infamy--it resonates with today's conflicts and challeneges."
--William E. Butterworth IV, New York Times bestselling author of The Saboteurs
"A politician and a novelist, each an accomplished historian in his own right, are emerging as master authors of alternative history. In this ?what if? treatment of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Newt Gingrich and William Forstchen combine their talents to make the diplomacy as suspenseful as the combat, even for readers who know what happens next?or think they know."
--Dennis Showalter, former president of the Society of Military Historians
"This book is not only a great read, it is a fascinating historical story that applies today in Iraq as it did in the Western Pacific in the late 30s and 40s."
--Captain Alex Fraser, USN (Ret.)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 40 more reviews...
 Lots of Action....Not Much Else August 29, 2008
"Days of Infamy" reads well. If you like aerial and naval battle action with lots of descriptive blood and guts, this book is for you. On the other hand, if you are hoping to learn something about the facts, the strategies and the personalities of the war, this is not the place.
I thoroughly enjoyed "Pearl Harbor" by these authors. Although it was historical fiction, it seemed to portray the conditions, the rationale and the events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor quite well. My only real complaint with it was that the authors never explained where the facts ended and the fiction began.
No problem with this one. It is almost pure fiction. The only takeaways from this book are that war IS hell, that Halsey and Yamomoto were gamblers and that Churchill and Roosevelt talked to each other. Oh yes, and Roosevelt did a great job of rallying the nation and there was a backlash against Japanese Americans.
While I understand that Gingrich and Forstchen are writing not just historical fiction but alternative history, I still think it would be extremely helpful if they would provide either a foreword or an appendix to help the reader understand the fiction vs the facts. Also, both "Pearl Harbor" and this book contain numerous photos that would be far more interesting if some explanation were provided. A couple of maps would also be useful to help the reader follow the action.
All in all, this is an entertaining read that misses a golden opportunity to educate the reader about much of anything. And that is disappointing.
 marginal August 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I found the concept interesting - but the implementation marginal. I think the book is written for the reading level of Junior High Students.
Good follow up of the book Pearl Harbor August 9, 2008
The book is a good follow up from the Pearl Harbor one. There are factual errors in both books that will make the knowledgable of the battle grimace. Days of Infamy still gives a good account of the what posibly could have happened if the Japanese launched more attacks and consequences for both the U.S. and Japanese fleets in the following days.
Very good alternative history July 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Really good action and hard to stop listening to. I listened to the Audible version of this. Excellent book to listen to. As a history buff I thought it was really done well and true to history. Yamamoto would have been much more aggresive. Halsey well is Halsey... Great job Gingrich and Forstchen, is there another coming?
Good Gingrich book July 14, 2008
I found Newt's WWII historical ficton books more entertaining than the Civil war books.
They are both good but I guess I am more interested in the modern mechanics of ware rather than the strategies of the Civil war.
This book certainly holds you attention as the Japanese fleet and US Aircraft carrier commanders go up against each other immediately after Pearl Harbor.
I would recommend this to any WWII buff. Just remember it is FICTON... :-)
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