Excellent detailed story of Pearl Harbor's lead Navy pilot who through special circumstances wrought only by God found himself after the war travelling in the USA with Billy Graham and preaching the Gospel in Christian Crusades.

An awesome true story. Definitely one of the three best books I've read in the past decade. In a time like this of Osama bin Labens and shocking inter-civilizational conflict, Fuchida's life story shows how true reconciliation and inter-cultural brotherhood can be experienced. It gives hope in spite of the huge obstacles to inter-cultural understanding. A powerful human interest story. Don't miss it!

A friend of mine introduced me to this book in April of this year. He told me it was unlike any book about the Pacific war that he had ever read. Although skeptical at first, I sill went ahead and purchased the book. I left it on my book-shelve for several months and forgot all about it. As I began packing up in July to move I noticed this book again, so I picked it up and began reading it. I found the style of writing extremely fluid, and the chapters were concise. This well balanced account of Mitsuo Fuchida life traces it from his days as an Imperial naval aviator to Christian evangelist. 'God's Samurai' is a truly inspirational book filled with numerous accounts of honor, bravery, loyalty, and sacrifice - all the codes of a Samurai warrior. I have enjoyed this book tremendously, and I have just begun reading, 'Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan: The Japanese Navy's Story' by Mitsuo Fuchida, Roger Pineau (Editor),Masatake Okumiya(Contributor). Both 'God's Samurai' and 'Midway' are 'must-have' books for anyone who is truly interested in the Pacific war and naval battles!

That's what Hawaiian's call "chicken skin"! You can't read a short page like "A Strange Encounter in Lahaina, 1927" (pg.48) without feeling that these are wonderfully unvarnished, collected archeologigal gems. Photos in back are quite interesting, as well.

Living in hawaii and encountering and hearing stories like these lead me to belive they are true.After reading this book it will leave you wondering if the stories are fact or fiction???

Obake Files is a book based soley upon the supernatural legends of ancien Hawaii such as choking ghosts, nightmarchers, and 8 ghost photographs. A book highly reccomended for those late nights alone!

Fresh from passing her bar exam, lawyer Storm Kayama is dealt a shock when her foster father and mentor is found dead in his office. While the other partners seem happy to keep her busy, Storm senses that something is not right. When she starts to investigate, her foster father's secretary is killed and someone tries to run storm off the highway. With the help of what appears to be a Hawaiian god, Storm survives, but she is more determined than ever to find the truth.

Author Deborah Turrell Atkinson writes convincingly of a Hawaii that ballances between its ancient traditions and the glitz of modern life. The HMO patient suffering from cancer and receiving both modern and traditional treatments is both important and symbolic of the broader issues that Storm, and many Hawaiians face in their daily lives.

PRIMITIVE SECRETS starts slow, really involving the reader only in the second half of the novel. I had a hard time identifying with Storm and her behavior and reactions. Although incompetent police work is standard in the mystery genre, it is difficult to believe that the Hawaiian police would be as negligent as portrayed by Atkinson. Fortunately, Atkinson turns up the suspense in the second half of the book, drawing the reader to a strong conclusion.

Storm Kayama is turning her rebellious past into a promising future. She's working hard to get her law degree while clerking for her adoptive father, lawyer Miles Hamasaki, on the island of Honolulu. Miles was her real father's best friend. When Storm's father died, Miles welcomed her into his home and his heart.

Now, the unthinkable has happened. Miles has been found dead in his office. Storm begins to notice things that don't make sense. She decides to find out what really happened. As she gets closer to the truth, her own life is threatened.

Deborah Turrell Atkinson has crafted a superb novel, set beautifully in the middle of the mystery and myth of Hawaii. Ancient superstitions and modern realities wage a battle for justice in an exciting story that will keep readers guessing until the end.

I highly recommend PRIMITIVE SECRETS and look forward to more from this talented author.

'Primitive Secrets' was a treat. The characters were real, and I liked them immensely.(Let's face it, if you don't like the characters, you don't care what happens to them.)

The plot moved fast, and had several interesting layers, so it kept me turning pages. There were several very exciting sequences, like a car chase on a rainy,winding rural road at night, and some very funny events, which I won't divulge.

One of the things that sets this book apart was that Atkinson took me to Hawaii. I felt that I knew Hawaii's people, past and present. I became part of an exotic cultural mix of customs and beliefs, and traveled to places tourists don't get to go.

If you like Tony Hillerman's mysteries set among the Navajos in Arizona, or Dana Stabenow's mysteries set in Alaska, you'll love 'Primitive Secrets'!

I found this book not very exciting . Things just kept happening with not many of them resolved.

I read this book a long time ago in a 3 in l book. I had forgotten when I bought this book. Even though, I remembered the ending, I was still completely entertained. This is a story of a doctor who gets accused of being careless and letting her patient die. As things start to unravel, you know she is innocent and the lawyer who was bound to see her in court realizes that there is a lot more to the story. Together they go out in a search of the truth. Excellent twists and turns that keep you guessing up until the end.

I had mixed feelings when I saw that Tess Gerritsen's UNDER THE KNIFE was going to be reissued in a standalone edition for the first time. This was my first Gerritsen book and remains my favorite after all these years. I'm glad people will have a chance to discover it. I've also seen how some readers who didn't discover this author until she started writing mainstream thrillers have responded to her early romantic suspense titles. I hope people will go into it with an open mind. This is a great book.

UNDER THE KNIFE was originally published in 1990 as Harlequin Intrigue 136. Yes, it is a romance novel. It is also the only one of Gerritsen's early books to take place in and around a hospital, though it is more of a murder mystery than a scientific thriller like her recent work. The main character is Dr. Kate Chesne, who is performing a routine operation on a friend in the Honolulu hospital where they both work. Then the patient dies and Kate is accused of malpractice. The woman's family hires a high-profile lawyer, David Ransom, who goes after doctors "like her." Kate is stunned. She knows she didn't do anything wrong and she is determined to vindicate herself. At first, David is skeptical of her claims of innocence. Then they learn that Kate's patient was only one of the staff members at the hospital to die under unusual circumstances. Someone is killing doctors and nurses to protect a long-buried secret, and Kate's search for the truth has moved her up to number one on the killer's hit list.

UNDER THE KNIFE is a book I have reread many times over the years, not only my favorite Gerritsen book but one of my favorite Harlequin Intrigues. I think the reason it works so well is because of the characters. I've read complaints about her other Harlequin rereleases that Gerritsen's romance characters are cardboard. It's funny. I've always thought the characters in her mainstreams were more one-dimensional, overwhelmed by plots that don't allow for much character insight. In this book David and Kate are real people with complex histories, families and hopes and fears. By the end of the book, I felt like I knew them well and cared what happened to them. That's why the final scene with David and Kate is so beautiful. I know some people will be uncomfortable with the high emotional level. There are some big moments, including the climax, will either strike readers as unbearably melodramatic or genuinely moving. I'm a guy and it takes a lot to get to me. This is one of the few books that I can think of that made me cry.

I'm making this book sound really drippy. It's not. The mystery is excellent. There is a healthy dose of suspense and Gerritsen knows how to keep readers guessing. Some of the moments where Kate is stalked in the hospital are chilling. The ending is pretty powerful, when we find out the killer's motivation and all the secrets some out. I also liked that this wasn't a one-note villain. The character was 3-dimensional too. I liked the Hawaiian setting, too. Then again, it should be clear by now that I just love this book.

In UNDER THE KNIFE Tess Gerritsen writes chilling suspense, an intricate mystery, and a moving romance. I can't think of many mysteries where the characters are as important as whodunit, or romances that are truly gripping and suspenseful. This is one. Every time I finish it I want to start over again from page one. To me, that's a great book. I'm not saying it's literature, but for six dollars, or the two-fifty I originally paid, it's well worth the price. It made me a big fan of this author and ten years later, I'm still reading her. My first, and still the best.

THIS BOOK IS ABOUT A GIRL NAME SARA.HER PARENTS WANTS TO MOVE FROM BOSTON TO HAWAII AND THEY THINK SHE WOULD LIKE HAWAII ALOT.SHE DOESN'T WANTS TO MOVE BECAUSE SHE IS GOING TO MISS HER FRIENDS IN BOSTON.SHE ALSO HAS A YOUNGER BROTHER.THEY BEEN LIVING IN HAWAII FOR 5 MONTHS AND SHE REALLY LIKES IT NOW. SHE HAS 2 BEST FRIENDS. ONE OF HER FRIENDS IS TAPE RECORDER THAT MAKES UP HER DAIRY. AND THE OTHER ONE IS A BLACK CAT THAT HER AND HER BROTHER FOUND.SHE SENDS HER TAPES TO HER FRIENDS IN BOSTON SO THEY CAN KNOW HOW SHE IS DOING AND WHAT SHE IS DOING.

The title of this book is The Broccoli Tapes.The author is Jan Slepian.This book was published in 1989. Publisher is Philomel Books a division of Putnam and Grooset. This book is about a family who goes to Hawaii for a vacation. Sara and Sam are brother and sister. They are apart of the family who visits Hawaii. One day at the lava field they found a cat who is trapped in the rocks. This cat was wild. Their parents told them to stay away from the cat . But they didn't listen. They feed him broccoli one day and he liked it, so they named him Broccoli. I do recommend this book because I like adventure bookes. If you like adveture books you should read this book because its very exsiting and you read things you dont expect. I hope you read this book you'll love it.

I read this book to my sixth grade class. They absolutely loved it. There were many aspects that appealed to my students. There was a little romance, a family secret, a new friend and pet, and all in a new place. Just enough to keep my students asking me to read more to them. Just imagine, a book that students want to read. It is terrific for students in grades 5 or 6.

We just returned from Maui, having taken the family there for 8 days. We also took 3 guide books, so I was able to compare all three books in real time while on the island. We disliked Fodor's book, but found Frommer's to be very good.

The information is well-organized, up-to-date, and very helpful while on the island. But the best of the tour books was: "Maui and Lana'i : Making the Most of Your Family Vacation (8th Ed)" by Early and Stilson. This is the book I recommend.

This book has a great clor map and online travel directory.

Traveled to Maui for our Honeymoon in January 1999...the Frommers 1999 Maui guide gave us the scoop on the entire island. Because of this book we learned all about the hidden waterfalls and took pictures of awesome "off the beaten path" paradise spots on the road to Hana. We now buy Frommers books for all of our vacations!

This book is an excellent example of the polite, pre-Hammett, pre-hard-boiled era of the mystery novel. It's certainly a fun read, but it's the introduction of the Charlie Chan character that gives it a special place in the history of the genre. Chan is certainly an appealing and engaging character, and it's easy to see how such a successful franchise followed. Biggers also makes excellent use of his tropical setting, which along with Chan's presence, makes the reading experience memorable.

As usual, the edition itself is beautiful and a great pleasure to own; many thanks to Otto Penzler for more time and money well spent.

I love Charlie Chan movies and I found the book to read much like the movies. The character still makes you smile. I really enjoyed the book and I am looking forward to reading some of Bigger's other books.

I have read all of the Charlie Chan books, and this is by far the best. All of the novels are literate and well-plotted, but THE HOUSE WITHOUT A KEY is more complex than the others. And the solution to the crime is perhaps one of the most original, yet still plausible, to have been created in the history of the detective novel.

A mystery gem. Good to see it back in print.

A wonderful story! I truly enjoyed this book, a great story and a true feeling for life in multi-cultural Hawaii, WWII in Honolulu, and the universal theme of family, motherhood, friendships and all the trials and exasperation that goes with life. I would recommend this to anyone.

A popular Hawaiian bumper sticker asserts, "Poi happens," while a contemporary Hawaiian song repeats the refrain, "No huhu (stay cool)." Kathleen Tyau develops these quintessentially Hawaiian themes as she traces the aspirations and disappointments of two women and their friendships, loves, and families over the course of forty years. Alice Lum, the Chinese/Hawaiian narrator, sensitively observes people and events from her perspective as a 50-ish mother of adult children, at the same time that she reminisces about her life as a young girl in Honolulu in the time of the Pearl Harbor attack and later as a young wife living in the remote Maui town of Hana. Most of these memories involve Annabel Lee, her hapa-haole (part Causasian) best friend from St. Andrew's Priory, with whom she still feels close--"The sisters taught me religion, but Annabel taught me how to dream."

With her chatty tone, short sentences, and occasional lapses into pidgin, Alice recreates her domestic life without embellishment or exaggeration, her story achieving power through her acceptance of events and circumstances which might have crushed a weaker woman. Unlike Annabel, whose goal was always to escape the islands into a more glamorous life on the mainland, Alice "makes do," achieving a dignity and nobility through her acceptance of what is--"We have our own battlefields. We survive in our own way." As she reveals her life and talks about those she loves, we gain insights not only into personalities, especially that of Annabel, but also into the culture which Alice has embraced. Alice is a vibrant force to which readers will be drawn and a person with whom many will identify. No huhu, Alice.

This is a great and memorable read from a fresh voice out of the asian american community. You hear the narrator speaking and can see the scenery. Makes you long to go to Hawaii to hold her hand through her trials and tribulations. This is a seasoned story, a great new voice to read. Akin to the charm of Yamanaka's stories. Cant wait to see what she comes up with next.

It's hard to tell from the title, but this is neither a conspiracy book nor (entirely) a whitewash of Adm. Kimmel but a fairly good overview. The book covers the comprehensive blind spots, especially those in Washington, that lead to the surprise at Pearl Harbor. Gannon writes entertainingly and covers detail well. However I think his (deserved) admiration for Kimmel leads him to soft-pedal the parts of the evidence that suggest his culpability. The admiral deserves, although not the whole blame for being unprepared, a sizeable amount of it. Gordon Prange's relatively hard to find "Pearl Harbor: the Verdict of History" covers much the same ground as Gannon but does not hesitate to point out Kimmel's and Short's mistakes alongside everyone else's. And Prange (himself a WWII vet) knew and liked Kimmel personally. I don't regret buying Gannon's book but I would hate to use it for my sole resource on the subject.

It's hard to decide which is more disturbing: the oversights, omissions, and bad decisions that led to America's unpreparedness in the face of Japan's devastating attack on Pearl Harbor ... or the desperation, speed, and skill with which senior military and political officials unjustly made Admiral Husband E. Kimmel and General Walter Short the scapegoats for what happened.

Both elements are exposed to view in Michael Gannon's excellent book -- a fine addition to the Pearl Harbor bookshelf.

Gannon does a very good job sorting out who was in possession of what intelligence information in the weeks and days leading up to the attack. The 'betrayal' -- one of them, anyway -- was that, for a variety of reasons, much of that information never ended up in the hands of the on-scene commanders, who needed it most.

As Gannon summarizes, 'An Army Chief of Staff orders that no operational intelligence drawn from Magic be sent to his menaced commander in Hawaii, then later states that he was unaware that enemy intelligence was denied him ... An Army intelligence chief, representing the service specifically charged with defending the fleet at Pearl, punts on the grounds that fleet ships, after all, belong to the Navy ... A Navy war plans chief states that any transmission of operational intelligence of this kind should have been sent out by ONI [office of naval intelligence], something he himself never permitted to happen ... A director of naval intelligence discerns in bomb plot messages no more than Japanese curiosity and "nicety" of detail about the time required for ships to sortie from harbor ... and a CNO [chief of naval operations], as uninformed at the time on this espionage as was the Army Chief of Staff, states four years later that ONI should have sent the information to Kimmel -- in direct violation of restraints that his own OpNav office had placed on ONI ... Surely, if ever there was a "fog of pre-war," it hung over Washington in the fall of '41' (p. 195, ellipses in original).

(Gannon firmly rejects the 'Roosevelt knew' hypothesis. He also treats Stinnett's 'Day of Deceit' to only a paragraph or so of scathing analysis, noting in italics, 'It is important to recognize that no naval operational message text in JN-25B [code] was read by the United States prior to 7 December' [p. 206].)

But the intelligence failure was only part, albeit the largest part, of the 'betrayal.' Early in the book, Gannon lists a damning catalog of the ways higher-ups in D.C rejected Kimmel and Short's pleas for men and materiel. More patrol planes? Denied. More AA guns? Denied. Money for more airstrips, so planes could be dispersed more widely? Sorry. Not in the budget. More radar installations? Maybe in the future. More trained gunners and patrol pilots? Sorry. We need them elsewhere. And on, and on, and on. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, don't give us the tools and we can't do the job.

And yet, Kimmel and Short were scapegoated precisely for their alleged 'failure' to do the job. In the end, Gannon explicitly declines to draw conclusions, leaving that, on his last page of text, to the reader. It may not be too much of a reach, though, to suggest that Gannon seems to agree with Admiral Raymond Spruance, whom Gannon quotes at the start of his final chapter: 'I have always felt that Kimmel and Short were held responsible for Pearl Harbor in order that the American people might have no reason to lose confidence in their Government in Washington. This was probably justifiable under the circumstance at the time, but it does not justify forever damning these two fine officers' (p. 261).

Personally, I think losing confidence in the 'Government in Washington' is precisely the conclusion that *should* be drawn from Gannon's analysis, 'circumstance at the time' be damned. As an illustration of bureaucracy's ability to shift blame away from itself and sweep unpleasant facts under the rug, the story of Pearl Harbor is unsurpassed. And Gannon is an excellent and insightful storyteller. I recommend this book to any student of Pearl Harbor.

December 7, 1941-Who was to blame? This book attempts to answer this burning question and does a pretty good job. There are several different points that the author makes in this book, but his main thesis is that Admiral Kimmel, Commander-in Chief of the United States Pacific Fleet, was denied valuable information which, in his mind, could have prevented or in the least alerted the U.S. forces to the impending Japanese attack. The author brings up several points to prove his case. For instance, Admiral Richmond Kelly Turner, chief of the war plans division, believed that Kimmel had in his possession a "Purple" machine, which could decipher the Japanese diplomatic code, and that Kimmel was reading all of the information that Washington was receiving. This was not true. The Purple machine that was supposed to go to Pearl Harbor was instead sent to the British. Admiral Stark and General Marshall are also singled out by the author. No "clear" war warning message was sent to Kimmel by Washington, and on the Day of the attack, Marshall was out horseback riding and did not arrive in his office until approximately an hour before the attack began. A warning was sent when he arrived, but it was delayed by atmospheric problems and could only be transmitted as a telegram. Kimmel received this message about an hour after the attack began. In retrospect, Washington must shoulder some of the blame for failing to keep its Hawaiian commanders informed, but Kimmel and his subordinates must share some of the blame as well. For example, the author tells of the story of the Japanese submarine that was spotted and sunk off the harbor entrance. Why was there no alert after this sinking? Also, two army privates spotted the Japanese attack planes on radar while they were still over 100 miles from Pearl Harbor. Still, no alert was issued. This book also has excellent excerpts from the Congressional Hearings held in 1945-46. Overall, I think this book is a excellent, although short, examination of Kimmel and Washington.

"Pearl Harbor Ghosts", by Thurston Clarke, sub-titled: "The Legacy Of December 7, 1941." Ballantine Books, New York, 1999 & 2001.
The extensive research by the author, Thurston Clarke, is marred, in my opinion, by a tendency towards sensationalism. Clarke's agenda is not really clear, but when a choice can be made, his writing tended towards the more popular and more sensational. For example, on page 22, Clarke writes that the Japanese spy, Ensign Yoshikawa, was not on either list of suspects to be detained in case of war. The implication, of course, being that the FBI and military intelligence were sort of incompetent in pre-war Hawaii. A very casual check on my part found in John Toland's book, " Infamy. Pearl Harbor And Its Aftermath", that secret agent Takeo Yoshikawa was burning code books during the Pearl Harbor attack, but within ten minutes of the bombs beginning to fall, "...someone shouted, 'Open the door!' The door caved in and Lieutant Yoshio Hasegawa of the Honolulu police burst in with several men. They began stamping on the smoldering code books". It would seem that Yoshikawa was on someone's list, and to imply otherwise is tending towards sensationalism.

On pages 133-134, the author, T. Clarke, presents a case for calling the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the A-bomb drop on Hiroshima as "sneak attacks". The sneak attack on Pearl Harbor is obvious, but making the use of a nuclear weapon on Hiroshima "sneaky" is illogical and sensational.

Clarke let his book follow the popular movie plots, so that he tells you, on page 192, that the name of the black mess attendant (recall the movie) on the "West Virginia" was Doris Miller and that he earned the Navy Cross. For some reason, however, he does not mention that fifteen (15) Medals of Honor were awarded for the action at Pearl Harbor. For example, when the "Oklahoma" turned turtle and capsized, Ensign Francis Flaherty pushed the last sailor out of the turret, thereby trapping himself in the sinking battle ship. I wonder if Clarke missed a grand opportunity to develop more "ghosts" by interviewing the sailors who had been saved by this officer's bravery. What did those men accomplish in the remainder of the war? Did they survive? Where are they now?

Take a look at the picture of the USS Arizona's band at Bloch Arena (following page 204). On page 84, Mr. Clarke comments and sees them as ghosts already, "...sitting ... in dress whites and already a ghostly presence". Unfortunately for Mr. Clarke's comments, in the late 1930s, the U. S. Navy did away with "dress white" uniforms for enlisted men. The picture in his book clearly shows the Arizona's band in undress whites with neckerchiefs.

Finally, the group that called the Opana Radar Site as an "electrical engineering milestone" (page 99) was NOT the Institute of Electrical Engineers, which is British, but rather was the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), an American organization, which at 300,000 member engineers is usually considered the world's largest professional group.
Sincerely, John Peter Rooney, Senior Member IEEE.

This book is not like other books about Pearl Harbor. Most of the others deal mainly with the events leading up to the attack and the attack itself. Mr. Clarke has chosen a different path with Pearl Harbor Ghosts. He has concentrated on the evolution of Hawaii and Honolulu from the time of the attack to the present day and inserted lessons that may be learned from the attack. Before December 7, 1941, Honolulu and the Hawaiian islands were nothing like they are today. Life consisted of working shortened days so that one could go to the docks to see an ocean liner off. Lazy sugarcane fields and pineapple plantations covered the soil. Life was much simpler. But December 7 changed Hawaii from a tropical paradise into a modernized military outpost. Gone were the lazy drives up winding roads to the beach. The rule of the day now was working long hours to repair the damage done by the Japanese. Americans and Hawaiians, as explained by the author, had developed a sense of arrogance. No one in their right mind thought that a bunch of inferior people could attack the United States by surprise. We were, unfortunately, proven wrong. One partiular aspect of this book which I especially enjoyed was the discussion of the Japanese islanders and thier treatment after the attack. Many of the Japanese were rounded up and put in internment camps on the mainland. Large numbers of the nisei (second generation Japanese) had joined the American armed forces, and now faced the horrible task of fighting an enemy that looked just like themselves. Others simply left the islands altogether. Some of the nisei were simply discharged from their units after the attack and given no explanations. After time, a full nisei Regiment was developed, fought in the European theater, and became the most decorated group in the war. Still, even 60 years after that disasterous day, many American survivors still harbor ill feelings toward the Japanese. Will these feelings ever go away for these men? That is a difficult question to ask. Meanwhile, Honolulu has developed like most other American cities. Gone are many of the plantations and palm trees, having been replaced by shopping malls and skyscraper office buildings. The dirt roads have been mostly replaced by interstates. And the Pearl Harbor ghosts still linger for some of the survivors. Will they ever be completely forgotten?

This book is a great in-depth look at Pearl Harbor and its impact from 1941 to today.

It gives the best sense of what it was like to be on Oahu from the days leading to the attack to the days following the attack, and then it compares them to the present day.

I had a better sense of what Pearl harbor was like after reading this book than after all the other Pearl Harbor books I've read (and it's been quite a few) combined.

If you're at all interested in Pearl Harbor, read this book.