Planes of Fame Publications, 1999 175 pgs

Sometimes you buy a book because of who wrote it. Most of the time you will get another winner. Sometimes, but not often, you end up with a wiener. Unfortunately this is such a book.

Don Thorpe is a recognized aviation expert with a very good pedigree for Japanese aviation subjects. In fact Roy Grinnell, one of the very best aviation artists did the cover art work. Someone forgot to then invest in some quality printing.

This book has many of the things in it to make it a good reference. The inclusion of the force structure was a nice touch, as was the inclusion of many profiles of attacking and defending aircraft. My trouble with the profiles is that they are amateurish at best, and even if they are correct, there are a few that have glaring inconsistencies with the historical record.

The photographs are another of the areas in which I personally have great difficulty. Some are entirely illegible, and it can't be said that they are proprietary, since I have seen most of these photos before. There have been on or two occasions I have actually found use of this book, however it really looks like about halfway through the process of either printing or writing, that it became a rush job to finish it. Most of the information is second hand, and the research is not up to the usual standards I would expect from an historian of Mr. Thorpe's caliber. One has to wonder if he regrets his name being associated with this work.

The Book has many of the tools to be better than it is, but the final result is poor. Like a championship team that fails to deliver on the championship day, so it is with Tora! Tora! Pearl Harbor. Perhaps someone will take this work, retool it, and republish it to a much higher standard worthy of these esteemed men.