NON-FICTION BY THE BOOK
Pearl Harbor, Takuma Melber, Polity Books, $50.95
THE Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was not always likely to happen. Although militarists controlled Japan’s government from the 1930s, in the months before December 7, 1941, there were frantic negotiations to resolve the issues that bothered the Japanese so much that they were prepared to attack a major power they knew they could not defeat. The attack was just a contingency plan to force the US to negotiate. Even up until the end of November, they were ready to call off the attack if the US had budged on trade sanctions. However, what the Japanese saw as perfectly reasonable — being allowed to continue their war with China and to occupy Indo-china — the US rightly objected to. The US were also not totally taken by surprise. The reason the navy based its fleet in Hawaii was because of fears of Japanese aggression. Melber’s fascinating book takes a detailed look at the lead-up to the attack, its execution and the aftermath primarily from the Japanese point of view.
TROY LENNON
IN October 1941, the crew of HMAS Perth adopted a black (although some sources say grey tabby) cat as a mascot. The moggy proved to be a foe to all rats and mice living on the ship. After tipping up a can of red lead paint, used as a primer paint to maintain the ship, she made paw prints across the deck. The captain, Hec Waller, insisted that some of the prints be left as a symbol of the mascot and the cat became known as Red Lead. When war came to the Pacific in December, Red Lead went into battle along with the Perth and was last seen when the Perth was sunk in 1942. Perry believes the cat made it to shore and kept some of the men company as they became prisoners of the Japanese. It is an amazing story and in this entertaining retelling, which reads like a novel, Perry invents dialogue between the real historical figures, changes some known details, but largely sticks to the history. He quickly draws the reader into this charming story that will delight readers who enjoy quirky war yarns or tales of animal bravery. TROY LENNON