This book addresses though misconceptions by showing what was really happening on all sides. It wasn't long after the tragedy that the finger pointing began and one of the scapegoats became Admiral Kimmel. I must confess that I had always thought that there was so much more could have been done on the Islands to defend against such an attack, but after reading about some of the crucial information that was withheld I can't help but feel that Kimmel and Short were treated unfairly.

Japanese thinking and strategy is covered, with insight into Yamato's war plans, as well as what we really knew about their intentions. We are given background on the super secret code intercepts that were deemed so sensitive that even our front line commanders were not given the benefit of that information for fear of compromising what we knew. All in all an enlightening read that makes one wonder whether Admiral Kimmel should be exonerated.