As the Japanese commander watched the first planes from the squadrons dive on the ships of the U.S. Navy - still sleeping in the morning sun at Pearl Harbor - he radioed back to his task force the code words saying that complete surprise had been achieved. The attack was sure to succeed. Now, after thirty-seven years of unparalled research, Professor Gordon W. Prange has written the authentic record of how Japan planned and executed the infamous assault. The 1941 attack was a military classic, one of the greatest surprises in the history of warfare. It shattered the quiet Sunday morning on Oahu, destroying myths, illusions, cherished ideas, and assumptions, as completely as a tornado levels a Midwestern town. Pearl Harbor was a national disgrace. It remains a living symbol of America's lack of alertness, and its gross underestimation of a potential enemy. This book tells us about ourselves as a people, our political and military leaders, and the way they thought and acted. Not only was that fearful December 7 an ignomious defeat for the U.S., it marked a watershed in the relations between Japan and America. It was a turning point of World War II.