December 1941: The Month That Changed America And Saved The World

December 1941: The Month That Changed America And Saved The World

3.44 of 5 stars 3.44  ·  rating details  ·  154 ratings  ·  50 reviews
December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World traces, day-by-day, the most important 31 days in the history of America's participation in WWII, which snuffed out the lives of millions and changed history forever.
From December 1, 1941, until the morning of December 7, 1941, America was at peace and-with the exception of the stubborn and persistent high un...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published November 22nd 2011 by Nelson, Thomas, Inc.
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Reuben H.
Though I couldn't spend as much time with Craig Shirley's book as I would have liked, December 1941 is a very interesting, day-by-day summary of all that went on in one of the most important months of all of World War II. Each chapter is an account of one day, and overall it makes for a very interesting book.

The amount of research put into this book is outstanding. You can understand that just from reading any part of the 544-page book. And then, once you get to the end, you find 94 pages of sma...more
John Ausmus
Though I couldn’t spend as much time with Craig Shirley’s book as I would have liked, December 1941 is a very interesting, day-by-day summary of all that went on in one of the most important months of all of World War II. Each chapter is an account of one day, and overall it makes for a very interesting book.

The amount of research put into this book is outstanding and the book itself was quite interesting. I admit I wasn’t able to get through all of it without any skipping around a lot, but it’s...more
Stan Takemoto

Stay away!

Mr. Shirley writes a bit like a sports columnist - multiple unrelating thoughts jumbled together with only the flimsiest form.

December 1941 is a day by day of the fateful first month of the United State's entry to WWII.

Shirley injects the prices of common grocery and other necessary items families use. While it's interesting to know how much a jar of mayonnaise was in the 2nd week of December 1941, I didn't think it added too much to the book.

Turns out the filler was there to keep the...more
Heidi
I quite enjoyed reading this book. I appreciated the incredible amount of detail that the author included. I can only imagine the weeks, months, and even years he must have spent working on this. I would have to read the book a dozen times to even begin to appreciate everything that happened during that brief month. It was fascinating to read about what it was like experiencing the profound events of December 1941. Ironically, it reminded me somewhat of the things that happened after 9/11. The p...more
Linda
Craig Shirley’s book, December 1941, based on his introduction, is the only book based solely on the 31 days of December, 1941. Craig’s research went beyond just books about WWII; he went through multiple newspaper clippings, magazines and other publications from that time frame. His goal was to give his readers the feel of ‘being there’ in his writing.

Since I wasn’t a history buff in high school, I was flabbergasted to learn that three days before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin...more
David C
This is a very detailed account of Pearl Harbor and the amazing response of people during the rest of that month to this horrible tragedy. The United States was fundamentally transformed during this critical month as we geared up for a world-wide war against Japan, Germany, and Italy. The book is based on many newspaper & magazine accounts that came out during that month. FDR and the US government revealed only partially the true dimensions of the tragedy - the true scale of the death toll a...more
Christopher
This is easily one of the worst books I've ever read. Look at reviews on Amazon. Search Google. You will find ample examples of boneheaded mistakes and sloppy editing throughout the book. There are placeholders forgotten and left in the book. Yes, placeholders. As in "____" where there is supposed to be a calculation for the number of days that the Japanese derpy derp blah blah. The only way this would be acceptable is if the author wanted us to do Madlibs. Like "This book is ______craptastic___...more
Carol
I'll add a half star to this book simply because I did finish it. The premise is interesting: a study of that month taken from newspaper items, magazine articles, Congressional records, Hollywood activities, and even ads placed in the media. A look at the daily culture of that pivotal month is not only interesting, but important. However, The author deviates from the daily journal concept and roves forward and backward with "back story" information and then discussion of what will happen in the...more
Victor Gentile
Craig Shirley in his new book, “December 1941″ published by Thomas Nelson gives us insight into the 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World.

From the inside jacket sleeve: The month that changed America and the world.

In the days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, eyes in America were focused on the war in Europe or distracted by the elevated mood sweeping the country in the final days of the Great Depression. But when planes dropped out of a clear blue sky and bombed the American naval b...more
Gdrag
Mar 13, 2012 Gdrag added it
As with other reviewers, I find this book to have many interesting historical tidbits, but am having a hard slog getting past the many grammatical errors, typos, and jaw-dropping mistakes.

A few examples:
On page 394: "Washington was encouraging all Americans to display the stars and bars." Really?? The Confederate flag?

On page 381: "Because skilled labor was needed, some of the new vocation and academic teaching programs for the blind came as a direct result of the war effort, because skilled lab...more
Paul Papa
I wanted to like this book. I really did! It had a great premise. Follow the events of the bombing of Pearl Harbor as they were reported in the newspapers around the United States. It started out so good, but I soon found myself embroiled in a mass of typos and mistakes that were so prominent it made the writing hard to get through.

As any writer knows, every book ever published has typos and misspellings. For example, in one place the name of the Solicitor General was spelled "Charles Fahy" and...more
Donna
December, 1941 - a month that would see extreme change in the United States as peacetime changed to wartime in an instant. The days before the attack on Pearl Harbor were ones of relative calm in homes all over the nation. There were things going on in the world, but the impact wasn't personal. Then, December 7th happened and every American home was touched. In his new book, Craig Shirley gives his readers a picture of life before and after Pearl Harbor. How did war change homes, families, the c...more
Vera Godley
Asia and Europe were engaged in war. Japan had invaded china and was amassing a large army in Indochina, and Hitler held Europe and England in the throes of his climb to control the World. America was gradually climbing out of the Great Depression and there was a general up beat mood throughout the country.

The wars in which Asia and Europe were engaged had not escaped the attention of the American on the streets of large cities or of the mid-American farmer and average Joe. There were basically...more
Cheryl Hart
December 1941, (31 Days That Changed America And Saved the World) is an incredible book.

Craig Shirley gives a unique (and thorough) description of the days leading up to, and following that dreadful afternoon when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. The U.S. and its people were forever changed. With newspaper accounts, social opinions, political events, and more, this book walks you through each day of December, 1941.

I bought this book for my husband, who loves history. I knew he would enjoy it...more
Dixie Swanson
The author seems to have researched contemporary newspapers and magazines for each day in December, 1941. The result is a diary of what happened each day, including period detail about the price of a cup of coffee, or the huge numbers of people who were hitchhiking because there weren't enough civilian busses and trains. I was very interested to see how far along we were in the path to war on December 1. I knew that at the time WWII broke out, we had the 18th largest standing army in the world....more
Nikole Hahn
1941: 31 Days That Changed America and Saved The World by Craig Shirley takes us on a tour of December, 1941 before and after the Pearl Harbor Attack. Shirley uses newspaper accounts, confidential government documents, and other sources to give us a tour of that era. He also used small, humorous side stories to give us an idea of life following the attack.

Like any history book, there is a bias. Shirley does write FDR in a good light. According to other sources, FDR was practically worshiped in t...more
Scilla
Actually, this is almost a 4! I thought I had read enough books about Pearl Harbor, but this one is different. It is more of a social history than military history. It gives excerpts from the papers of the day with lots of little tidbits about what was going on, cultural and social as well as politically. One reads about what movies and movie stars are popular, a number of men at Pearl harbor who were reported dead, and then found to be alive, the costs of various things, as well as what went on...more
Al
Mar 10, 2012 Al is currently reading it
This book takes the reader thru every day of December 1941. The state of America hangs in the balance as negotiations with the empire of Japan merely give the Japanese military time to get ready to attack. I like particularly the way the author covers ordinary Americans as they go about their daily lives, then in one swift terrible moment are sucked into a war that will cost many millions of lives world wide. I have not completed the book. I have it as my first book on my Barnes and Noble Nook C...more
Craig Toerpe
What a fascinating read! Shirley's approach to this book is far different from others he has written. My gravitation and appreciation for this book stems from his relational writing style. This book is far above the December 7 bombing of Pearl Harbor...it is a wonderful description of what life was like before Dec 7 and the days immediately following that day forever marked in history. The American people sacrificed much to enter and finish what the Axis powers started. I am still in awe.
As I c...more
Danielle
This book is full of so many details that there is no way to remember them all. It was fascinating to read this day by day account of a month that led to many changes affecting the way we live today. It is amazing how much life has changed in less than 100 years. There was no tv or Internet, women still spent most of their time in the home, and blacks were still lynched and segregated. However, there were still different political factions that couldn't help but jump all over each other pointing...more
John Nevola
This book contains a tremendous amount of period information. However, some of it is either redundant or not entirely relevant. There are many quotes from newspaper sources, which were later found to be incorrect or exaggerated but no correction was offered in this book at the same time the author related the bogus information. The reader is left unsatisfied as to the true details of many incorrect incidents reported in this book through contemporary accounts. For example, it was reported that C...more
Dachokie
Interesting Perspective of a Terrible Month …

This book was reviewed as part of Amazon's Vine Program.

While it appears the market is saturated with books detailing every facet of World War II, DECEMBER 1941 proves that there is still plenty of room for new books on the subject matter. Presented as a day-by-day narrative from December 1, 1941 to December 31, 1941, Craig Shirley provides a fascinating picture of what life was like for the average American before, during and after the Japanese attac...more
Jim
This is an AMAZING book about the beginning of the United States involvement in WWII and the circumstances that led up to the attack on Pearl Harbor.

This lengthy book reads like a suspense novel (even though we know the ending). I try to read all "new" books on WWII history because new information is constantly being released and researched.

You won't be disappointed when you read this book.
Robert Morganbesser
Brilliant. This book takes every day of December 1941, from America's innocence before December 6th to after the Pearl Harbor attack when the government and citizens started making the decision that would put the allies on the track to winning WW2 and dissects them, letting the reader knowing exactly what happened on each day. An excellent read that should resound with any history buff.
Craig
Worth my time in that this book uncovers much about the immediate aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack and the toll it took on American society. But the day-by-day (sometimes hour-by-hour) storytelling format was tedious and the grammatical errors and sloppy editing were so annoying as detract from my overall enjoyment.
Holly
Jan 11, 2013 Holly added it
Just happened to read this book during the month of December. Provides a day by day overview of the days just before and after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Still a question in my mind as to who knew what prior to the attack. Very information and well worth the read.
Nichole Davis
I actually put this one aside for a while - never completely finished it. For some reason, Goodreads thinks that there are at least 100 less pages in this book than there actually are.

I love history, don't get me wrong. I picked up this book in thinking that I would really enjoy the fact that it was put together mostly via tidbits of newspapers and newsreels and radio reports. Those are all things I enjoy. But not only was it dry, it was poorly edited (grammar and spelling errors on every page b...more
Carol
I thought this was a well written book about Pearl Harbor and America's mentality at the time. The author did a great job of describing the military situation as well as explaining what was going on in America. He covered consumerism, Hollywood, rationing, patriotism, enlisting and much more. Well worth the read.
Brian
I enjoy reading history books. This one provides an excellent "snapshot" of what life was like in the U.S. before and after Pearl Harbor. Shirley is a great writer with a knack for gathering interesting details.
Brad Bartelmay
Not bad, it certainly covers the details and gives a feel for this moment in time. It lacks in connecting the pieces together - how does this pivotal month fit into the overarching history of the era.
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December 1941: The Month That Changed America And Saved The World (Kindle Edition)
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December 1941: The Month That Changed America and Saved The World (Audio CD)

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