Donald M. Goldstein

I was oddly disappointed with this book. The preface to the book by the authors really piqued my interest but the actual book, despite the subject matter, came across quite flat in many parts. There is something missing here. I think that the lack of some backstory for most of the major participants resulted in name after name after name, which documents who was involved but gave little or no context. I had to turn to the internet for information about some of the people involved. The show more internet barely existed when this was first published in 1995. Paul Tibbets, the pilot of the B-29 Enola Gay that dropped the Hiroshima bomb, lived to 92 years of age and died on November 1, 2007.

For me the main value of this book was the photographs of Hiroshima and Nagasaki which are primarily in the middle two (of eight) chapters of the book. show less

insight into the perspective of WWII from the Japanese military view…This is the story of Mitsuo Fuchida, the career naval aviator - and, later, internationally known Christian evangelist - who not only led the air attack on Pearl Harbour, but participated in most of the fiercest battles of the Pacific. As well as a record of historical events, it is the personal story of a man swept along by his times.
God's Samurai is the unusual story of Mitsuo Fuchida, the career aviator who led the show more attack on Pearl Harbor and participated in most of the fiercest battles of the Pacific war. A valuable record of major events, it is also the personal story of a man swept along by his times. Reared in the vanished culture of early twentieth-century Japan, war hero Fuchida returned home to become a simple farmer. After a scandalous love affair came his remarkable conversion to Christianity and years of touring the world as an evangelist (the last half of the book). His tale is an informative, personal look at the war "from the other side." show less

If the book had been just about his WW2 service it’d be a bit higher. I found myself completely disinterested in his “saved by Grace” arc.

Light coverage of a very complex topic. The writing level seems to be middle-school level while the photographic content is very good. Based on this book, I wouldn't want to read the books on D-Day and The Battle of the Bulge by the same author.