Review: At Dawn We Slept

The book has aged well. Even four decades after its initial release, it remains the definitive work on a defining American moment.

That was enough for me. When I needed background on Pearl Harbor, I turned to a source I could trust. I opened Gordon Prange's At Dawn We Slept and reacquainted myself with December 7, 1941.

A comprehensive, absorbing account of the time before, during, and after the day that lived in infamy, Prange's non-fiction masterpiece reads like a suspense novel. I consulted it often when I needed the kind of detail only a dedicated scholar of a subject can provide.

Prange devotes roughly half the book to the months preceding the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He introduces readers to the issues, the players, and events that led up to the strike. He provides a well-rounded treatment of one of history's most iconic events.

Those familiar with Prange know Pearl Harbor was his passion. As the chief historian on Gen. Douglas MacArthur's staff, he interviewed many Japanese military men and turned his research into several notable works, including Tora! Tora! Tora! Colleagues published Dawn a year after the University of Maryland professor died in 1980.

In Dawn, Prange does not refrain from asking tough questions or assigning blame for the stunning attack, which drew the United States into World War II. He addresses the matters head on from the thoughtful and even-handed perspective of a serious historian.

I found Prange's scholarship useful in preparing my current work in progress, which is set on Oahu, Hawaii, in the summer and fall of 1941. That novel, The Refuge, is still set for a June 1 release.

I would recommend Dawn to students of history and anyone fascinated with an event that changed America forever. Rating: 5/5.