Rating: 
Summary: Marshall warned both Admiral Kimmel and General Short
Review: It is well known that ten days before the attack on Pearl Harbor took place that Marshall sent a message to both Kimmel and Short warning them to prepare for an attack.Unfortunately,both Kimmel and Short interpreted this to mean that a sabotage attack by potential infiltrators was eminent.Kimmel's response was to send the carriers out of Pearl Harbor while simultaneously grouping all of the battleships as close as possible so as to guard them against a sabotage attack.Short did precisely the same thing with respect to his air force.All the planes were placed wing tip to wing tip so as to guard them against a sabotage attack.I guess that both Kimmel and Short had forgotten General Billy Mitchell's prediction made back in 1931 that the Japanese would one day attack Pearl Harbor using carrier based torpedo bombers at 7:00 A M on a Sunday morning.This book is very incomplete and should never have been published with out extensive revisions.
Rating: 
Summary: Compelling evidence and very few flaws
Review: "Day of Deceit" provides compelling evidence that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt deliberately provoked Japan to attack the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor so that America could enter the war on the allied side. Stinnett, a distinguished World War II navy veteran who researched his subject for over sixteen years, provides the following evidence:1. A naval intelligence officer named Arthur McCollum developed an eight-point plan to provoke Japanese hostilities. This plan reached Roosevelt who implemented all eight points. 2. Contrary to popular belief, the Japanese navy broke radio silence on multiple occasions prior to December 7, 1941. 3. More than 94% of all secret Japanese naval messages (including some with direct reference to the impending attack on Pearl Harbor) were successfully decoded by American intelligence units prior to December 7, 1941 4. Roosevelt implemented a change of naval command that placed proponents of the eight-point-provocation plan in key positions of power. However, the newly promoted commander of Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband Kimmel was consistently denied access to vital decoded translations of Japanese naval communications. 5. Naval Intelligence and the FBI successfully monitored the communication of Japanese intelligence agents in Hawaii for months. These communications, which included a bombing grid map of Pearl Harbor, revealed Japan's intent. 6. Much of the information successfully collected and analyzed by American Intelligence organizations prior to December 7, 1941 was reinforced by information from British and Dutch intelligence. 7. A sophisticated radio tracking system spanning from Alaska to Indonesia enabled America to track Japanese commercial and military shipping patterns. These patterns, including the movement of carrier groups and recall of worldwide merchant ships pointed to an obvious prelude to hostilities several months before December 7th. 8. Most of the critical U.S. Pacific Fleet components such as heavy cruisers and aircraft carriers were not in Pearl Harbor during the bombing. In fact the only ships that were sunk were WW I relics. 9. Much of the documented information was censored or withheld from the public for decades and continues to be to this day. 10. In early 1941 Roosevelt divided the U.S. Navy into an Atlantic and Pacific command and ordered fleet construction, which included one hundred aircraft carriers to be completed by 1943. This indicates that the losses at Pearl Harbor would not interfere with America's larger war aims and with war production that supported those aims. These facts are well documented and reinforced with repeated examples. Perhaps the most compelling part of the book is that photocopies of evidence including the eight-point plan are provided in a massive appendix. Simply put, you can see the evidence for yourself. Interestingly enough, Stinnett never condemns Roosevelt or his cohorts and even agrees to some extent with their rationale that sacrificing a few men and ships at Pearl Harbor was ultimately worth preventing a complete Axis victory in World War II. This is perhaps the only part of the book that I have an issue with. Stinnett agrees with McCollum's (and Roosevelt's) assessment that if Germany defeated England, then it would gain control or influence English colonies and nations such as Canada. McCollum believed that Germany's next move would be to occupy parts of South American and to start anti-American uprisings there--and Stinnett agrees with him. What McCollum and Roosevelt could not know at the time, but which a competent historian like Stinnett should know is that ultimately Hitler's war aims consistently followed the goals he had outlined in Mein Kampf. In other words, the defeat of England would likely have been followed by an invasion of Russia instead of an occupation of South America. And in this case, it is quite likely that Japan, having already lost two major border skirmishes with the Soviet Union, might have joined the Nazis in invading the Russian landmass from the East. This judgment aside, Stinnett's work is compelling to the point of being nearly irrefutable. As to whether or not Roosevelt did the right thing in sacrificing men and material at Pearl Harbor for larger political reasons, that is something each of us must decide on our own.
Rating:
Summary: Compelling evidence and very few flaws
Review: "Day of Deceit" provides compelling evidence that President Franklin Delano Roosevelt deliberately provoked Japan to attack the American Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor so that America could enter the war on the allied side. Stinnett, a distinguished World War II navy veteran who researched his subject for over sixteen years, provides the following evidence: 1. A naval intelligence officer named Arthur McCollum developed an eight-point plan to provoke Japanese hostilities. This plan reached Roosevelt who implemented all eight points. 2. Contrary to popular belief, the Japanese navy broke radio silence on multiple occasions prior to December 7, 1941. 3. More than 94% of all secret Japanese naval messages (including some with direct reference to the impending attack on Pearl Harbor) were successfully decoded by American intelligence units prior to December 7, 1941 4. Roosevelt implemented a change of naval command that placed proponents of the eight-point-provocation plan in key positions of power. However, the newly promoted commander of Pearl Harbor, Admiral Husband Kimmel was consistently denied access to vital decoded translations of Japanese naval communications. 5. Naval Intelligence and the FBI successfully monitored the communication of Japanese intelligence agents in Hawaii for months. These communications, which included a bombing grid map of Pearl Harbor, revealed Japan's intent. 6. Much of the information successfully collected and analyzed by American Intelligence organizations prior to December 7, 1941 was reinforced by information from British and Dutch intelligence. 7. A sophisticated radio tracking system spanning from Alaska to Indonesia enabled America to track Japanese commercial and military shipping patterns. These patterns, including the movement of carrier groups and recall of worldwide merchant ships pointed to an obvious prelude to hostilities several months before December 7th. 8. Most of the critical U.S. Pacific Fleet components such as heavy cruisers and aircraft carriers were not in Pearl Harbor during the bombing. In fact the only ships that were sunk were WW I relics. 9. Much of the documented information was censored or withheld from the public for decades and continues to be to this day. 10. In early 1941 Roosevelt divided the U.S. Navy into an Atlantic and Pacific command and ordered fleet construction, which included one hundred aircraft carriers to be completed by 1943. This indicates that the losses at Pearl Harbor would not interfere with America's larger war aims and with war production that supported those aims. These facts are well documented and reinforced with repeated examples. Perhaps the most compelling part of the book is that photocopies of evidence including the eight-point plan are provided in a massive appendix. Simply put, you can see the evidence for yourself. Interestingly enough, Stinnett never condemns Roosevelt or his cohorts and even agrees to some extent with their rationale that sacrificing a few men and ships at Pearl Harbor was ultimately worth preventing a complete Axis victory in World War II. This is perhaps the only part of the book that I have an issue with. Stinnett agrees with McCollum's (and Roosevelt's) assessment that if Germany defeated England, then it would gain control or influence English colonies and nations such as Canada. McCollum believed that Germany's next move would be to occupy parts of South American and to start anti-American uprisings there--and Stinnett agrees with him. What McCollum and Roosevelt could not know at the time, but which a competent historian like Stinnett should know is that ultimately Hitler's war aims consistently followed the goals he had outlined in Mein Kampf. In other words, the defeat of England would likely have been followed by an invasion of Russia instead of an occupation of South America. And in this case, it is quite likely that Japan, having already lost two major border skirmishes with the Soviet Union, might have joined the Nazis in invading the Russian landmass from the East. This judgment aside, Stinnett's work is compelling to the point of being nearly irrefutable. As to whether or not Roosevelt did the right thing in sacrificing men and material at Pearl Harbor for larger political reasons, that is something each of us must decide on our own.
Rating:
Summary: Stinnett believes his theories; he's just simply wrong.
Review: ...In reading most of the previous reviews, I see two levels of misunderstanding by several reviewers: (1) there are those who have read little else about the Pearl Harbor attack and assume that this is an authoritative reference, and (2) there are those who give it a glowing 5-star rating, proclaiming "see, Roosevelt DID want war with Japan!"
...To the first group, I'd strongly advise you to get a much broader education on this subject. Taking Stinnett's book as a prime source of information on Pearl Harbor makes as much sense as asking your local Ford dealer for his recommendation on which brand of car to buy. If you really want to know the full story on the cryptologic aspects of the Pearl Harbor story, read "And I Was There," by Edwin Layton. Layton WAS there, and he has the facts that Stinnett doesn't want to believe.
...To the second group, you're missing the point. There's no argument that FDR expected, perhaps even wanted war with Japan. The question is, did he KNOW that an attack was coming upon Hawaii? The answer is no--he and all of his advisors expected it in the Phillipines, or perhaps Malaya. His war plans chief, Admiral Turner, even predicted an initial attack against the USSR! To be sure, hindsight provides evidence that the U.S. should have been able to predict a specific threat to Pearl Harbor, but (as Layton effectively explains), our leadership was unable to see the forest with all those trees in the way. Ineffective intelligence handling and analysis? Certainly. But a deliberate conspiracy? A resounding no.
...In October 2004, the History Channel did a one-hour special on this book, allotting about half the time to Stinnett and an associate, and the rest to a number of distinguished historians and scholars who thoroughly picked Stinnett's theories to pieces. As one of them eloquently stated at the end of the program, "it's clear that Mr. Stinnett actually believes his theories; he's just simply wrong."
Rating:
Summary: Book of Deceit
Review: Anyone considering spending time or money on this book should first read the review at the Website of the U.S. Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association <http://www.usncva.org/>, written by a veteran naval cryptologist who has thoroughly researched the archives that Stinnett claims back up his story. Will O'Neil
Rating:
Summary: Book of Deceit
Review: Anyone considering spending time or money on this book should first read the review at the Website of the U.S. Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association , written by a veteran naval cryptologist who has thoroughly researched the archives that Stinnett claims back up his story. Will O'Neil
Rating: 
Summary: Masterpiece of Scholarship
Review: Beyond question, Mr. Robert Stinnett has done the American public a service with this outstanding work. It should be taught in history class to grade school students. So much deception occupy education, it would be a panacea to the ignorance of what a scoundral FDR really was. The documentation is irrefutable. The only reason the remaining documents remain classified by our government is because enough relatives of the survivors could sustain a wrongful death claim against the government under the Federal Tort Claims Act for the treason and (dare I quote FDR himself?) "infamy" perpetrated by Roosevelt. Roosevelt sacrificed American lives in order to protect the lives of Yiddish people who should have known better than to provoke German people.
Rating: 
Summary: A Difficult Read
Review: I have no problem accepting the idea that the United States maneuvered Japan into war. Research of the diplomatic relations between the two countries clearly reveals that American actions as early as 1920 laid the groundwork for what would later become inevitable, a Japanese attack on the United States. Visit the Washington Naval Conference Treaty, for instance, to see a situation in which Japan, one of the active Allies in World War I, was treated as a third world stepchild and forced to accept severe limitations in her naval construction program, basically at the whim of American and English diplomats. The construction of two of the Pearl Harbor aircraft carriers was the direct result of that conference. The problem with this book is that it suffers from a lack of conclusion. We get evidence A & B, which doesn't lead to logical conclusion C, but on a rather far-reaching conclusion G. In other words, the facts/research as listed really don't support the conclusions that the author is intending to draw. I get the strong impression that we are supposed to conclude that the military authorities on the scene in Hawaii, Admiral Kimmel and General Short, should be exonerated for their incredibly poor performance leading up to the morning of the attack. Yet, by the author's own evidence, Admiral Kimmel had enough information about the impending Japanese conflict that he took his fleet to sea for aggessive war games just two weeks before the actual bombing raid. Did he forget about his unease in the following two weeks? By the author's own account, Kimmel received many subtle warning signs that something was up, yet he did nothing to prepare the fleet for an imminent fight. General Short didn't take his own radar precautions seriously enough to assure that they would provide fair warning in case of attack. Even if this book is supposed to move a reader to sympathy for the discredited Admiral and General, it still provides enough damning information to move the reader to the opposite conclusion. Author Stinnett provides a great deal of meticulous research. His writing style, however, doesn't support that research very well. We are treated to a theory, and then a relentless support of that theory, hammering it home repeatedly, tirelessly, and redundantly. I felt that chapter 6 was essentially the same as chapter 3, and chapter 9 a near carbon copy of chapter 6. It's a difficult book to plow through; an easy one to put down, and a hard one to pick up again. I feel in general that Mr. Stinnett has contributed a significant amount of research to the subject of the days prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, but I do wish he had hired someone else to write the book.
Rating:
Summary: Claims Long Proven PHONY. A Deceitful Book
Review: I took the advice of another reviewer and went to the web site of the Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association and read the thorough review of this book. The review, written by retired Lieutenant Commander Philip H. Jacobsen, thoroughly disproves this book and details the extensive false statements worked into the book. I think this is very disturbing that someone can write something like this. I cannot post the whole review because it is very long and thorough, but here is part of it: "Day of Deceit" argues that Roosevelt was convinced the loss at Pearl Harbor must be of sufficient magnitude to overcome the isolationist views of the general public so that he could safely declare war on both Japan and Germany. Furthermore, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt through his co-conspirators (who apparently include General Marshall, Admirals Stark, Ingersoll, Anderson, Captain Turner and Commander McCollum and by implication Admiral Noyes, Captain Redman, Commander Rochefort and many others), attempted to cover up his and his co-conspirators' dastardly deeds. However, through Stinnett's foresight, expertise and diligence, he was able to see through this monstrous conspiracy and its cover-up to reveal its details to us some 58 years later when all previous efforts by revisionist conspiracy theorists have failed and all the participants are dead and cannot defend themselves. Nevertheless, this book will sell well among rabid Roosevelt haters, many Kimmel and Short supporters, and dedicated conspiracy theorists... It is well established that the SRN series of Japanese naval messages in the National Archives were decrypted in 1945-46 and translated in 1946-47, but Stinnett incorrectly suggests they may only have been transcribed at those times and that these decrypts (or at least some of them) were available not only in radio intelligence centers in Washington, but Stations Hypo (Rochefort) in Hawaii and Cast on Corregidor... Although Stinnett obtained definite information from Captain Whitlock that no significant JN-25B decrypts were made by Station Cast on Corregidor during the period in question, he disputes this fact and misinterprets other documents and sources as proof that Whitlock is wrong. Some navy cryptologic veterans involved in this book have complained Stinnett gained their confidence by agreeing to tell their stories but ignored their version of events in favor of the monstrous conspiracy theory finalized in the book. Admiral Layton terminated his interview with the author, most likely when he learned where the book was going... The book misleads its readers by not revealing there were two distinct codes, the earlier JN-25A and its much more complicated successor JN-25B used during the period in question and refers to them collectively as "Code Book D" or "5-Num code." Thus, the final successes of JN-25A are improperly imputed to JN-25B which was not read to any significant extent until March 1942 when the first published decrypt is found... In an effort to give some credence to its allegation of a massive conspiracy, the book contradicts the plain meaning on the face of translations of these two decrypted messages, established Japanese naval communications practice, and standard decryption procedures. These messages were reported on long ago by Frederick D. Parker in "Cryptologia" Vol. 15 (4) p. 295... The glaring omission in the book of this vital "unavailability" information is instructive. ...Nevertheless, the book baldly claims, without any substantiation, that the words Hitokappu Wan were sent in plain language while the rest of the message was sent in code, an incredible absurdity... No one else has had the temerity to make such a ridiculous assertion when confronted with the JN-25B code designation on the face of the decrypt and no reference to a plain language insert in the decrypt. The second gross misinterpretation contained in the book is that Yamamoto's famous message of 2 December 1941 only referred to as "Climb Mount. Niitaka 1208" may have been sent in plain language... Captain Pelletier in the Naval Cryptologic Veterans Association History Book confirmed this message was sent in JN-25. To show the extreme lengths the book will go to conjure up his implication of conspiracy, it omits the fact in the narrative that this message labeled SRN 115376 by the National Archives had a cryptographer's reference below the heading clearly showing that it was encoded in JN-25B. Furthermore, Stinnett does not clearly point out to his readers that "Climb Mount Niitaka" was prefaced by the words, "This dispatch is Top Secret. This order is effective at 1730 on 2 December #10..." In conclusion, it is still clear that no U.S. official knew beforehand of the Japanese plans to attack Pearl Harbor or discovered that the Kido Butai was on its way to Hawaii for such an attack in spite of this latest in a series of revisionist conspiracy theory books.
Official OP-20-GYP-1 reports verify that zero decrypts of JN-25B were made prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. All the early JN-25B decrypts are listed in numerical order with Station Hypo, Pearl Harbor making the first decrypt in January 1942. See Stephen Budiansky's article, "Too Late For Pearl Harbor" in the December 1999 issue of "U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings and my article, "Foreknowledge of Pearl Harbor? No!: The Story of the U.s. Navy's Efforts on JN-25B. In addition, Commander Rudolph Fabian, the Officer-in-Charge of Station C Corregidor testified before a Congressional committee about breaking JN-25B before the war. "We were in the initial stages, sir. We had established liaison with the British unit at Singapore. We were exchanging values both code and cipher, but we had not developed either to the point where we could read enemy intercepts."
Rating:
Summary: Arguments need logic and evidence
Review: I've never read a book that so completely makes a mountain out
of a molehill of non-existent "evidence." This book requires
dozens of traitors to be involved(Marshall, Stark, etc. etc.), unless Stinnet thinks FDR
was intercepting and decoding those msgs by his fireside using a English-Japanese dictionary and a copy of the Japanese codes.
The evidence is absolutely overwhelming and incontrovertible , both from participants as well as Japanese witnesses interviewed
after the war that the author of this book is out to lunch, and trying to make a quick buck with a lurid tale. Even the logic of
allowing the US fleet to be caught unaware makes no sense whatsoever - if the Japanese bomb Pearl arbor, whether it's ready or not, that means war. FDR would have gained absolutely nothing by allowing the attack to succeed. It also could have been far worse had the attack destroyed the fuel farms, which they would have except for Nagumo's trepidation. And that would have put the Pacific Fleet back on the West Coast and immobile for a year. Nor was their any reason to believe that Hitler would declare war on the US as a result, as claimed. The Japanese didn't go to war with Russia (which Hitler strongly wished) just because Japan's partner Germany had. So how is war with Japan going to result in a war with Germany? It depended on Hitler, who had no good reason to declare war on the US. He was stupid to have done so.
| 
