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Today we remember a day that - like September 11 - changed everything. The attack on Pearl Harbor by the Imperial Japanese Navy brought the U.S. into the Second World War, reversed the currents of isolationism prevalent in the United States and was the impetus for a massive buildup of industrial might that made this country a world power and arsenal of WWII. There is a wealth of good books for the Kindle reader about events surrounding that day, including several just published and classics you may want to re-read:

Non-Fiction:

December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World, by Craig Shirley. Thomas Nelson, 2011. Print Length: 664 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (22 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"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 unemployment of the Great Depression - was a relatively happy country. By the afternoon of the December 7 attack on Pearl Harbor, America was a radically changed country, forever. Its isolationist impulses evaporated, and both major political parties became more or less internationalist. The month also introduced food and gas rationing, Victory Gardens, scrap drives, a military draft, and the conversion of Detroit into an 'arsenal of democracy.' From the moment of America's entry into World War II, people of all kinds, but mostly women looking for work, flooded into the city. Instant apartment buildings sprang up, as did eating and drinking salons, all to the advantage of the massive increase in spending generated by the federal government. December 1941 is a fascinating and meticulously researched look at the American home front - her people, faith, economy, government, and culture." - Publisher.

Pearl Harbor: FDR Leads the Nation Into War, by Steven M. Gillon. Basic Books, 2011. Print Length: 250 p. Amazon customer rating: none yet. Kindle edition $11.69. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Franklin D. Roosevelt famously called December 7, 1941, 'a date which will live in infamy.' History would prove him correct; the events of that day - when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor - ended the Great Depression, changed the course of FDR’s presidency, and swept America into World War II. In Pearl Harbor, acclaimed historian Steven M. Gillon provides a vivid, minute-by-minute account of Roosevelt’s skillful leadership in the wake of the most devastating military assault in American history. FDR proved both decisive and deceptive, inspiring the nation while keeping the real facts of the attack a secret from congressional leaders and the public. Pearl Harbor explores the anxious and emotional events surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor, showing how the president and the American public responded in the pivotal twenty-four hours that followed, a period in which America burst from precarious peace into total war." - Publisher.

Pearl Harbor Christmas: A World at War, December 1941, by Stanley Weintraub. Da Capo Press, 2011. Print Length: 227 p. Amazon customer rating: 5 stars (4 reviews). Kindle edition $9.89. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"Christmas 1941 came little more than two weeks after the attack on Pearl Harbor. The shock - in some cases overseas, elation - was worldwide. While Americans attempted to go about celebrating as usual, the reality of the just-declared war was on everybody’s mind. United States troops on Wake Island were battling a Japanese landing force and, in the Philippines, losing the fight to save Luzon. In Japan, the Pearl Harbor strike force returned to Hiroshima Bay and toasted its sweeping success. Across the Atlantic, much of Europe was frozen in grim Nazi occupation. Just three days before Christmas, Churchill surprised Roosevelt with an unprecedented trip to Washington, where they jointly lit the White House Christmas tree. As the two Allied leaders met to map out a winning wartime strategy, the most remarkable Christmas of the century played out across the globe." - Publisher.

Radioman: An Eyewitness Account of Pearl Harbor and World War II in the Pacific, by Carol Edgemon Hipperson. Thomas Dunne Books, 2008. Print Length: 304 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (22 reviews). Kindle edition $12.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"...the biography of Ray Daves, a noncommissioned officer in the U.S. Navy and an eyewitness to World War II. It is based on the author’s handwritten notes from a series of interviews that began on the eighty-second birthday of the combat veteran and gives a first-person account of the world’s first battles between aircraft carriers. Ray Daves grew up on a small farm near Little Rock, Arkansas. Impatient with school and the prospect of becoming a farmer like his father, he joined the CCC and went from there to the navy, where he learned to use the radio to send messages, and soon found himself in the momentary peacefulness of Pearl Harbor. Most of America’s World War II veterans were not in uniform when the war began. Daves is one of the few who was. He could also tell what was happening on the bridge of the famous carrier Yorktown before it went down and of the secretive relationship between the Russian and American forces in Alaska at the time. A must-read for those looking for a personal, intimate account of the events of this tumultuous time in American history." - Publisher.

Attack on Pearl Harbor: Strategy, Combat, Myths, Deceptions, by Alan D. Zimm. Casemate Publishing, 2011. Print Length: 480 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (16 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The December 7th, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor has been portrayed by historians as a dazzling success, 'brilliantly conceived and meticulously planned.' With most American historians concentrating on command errors and the story of participants’ experiences, the Japanese attack operation has never been subjected to a comprehensive critical analysis of the military side of the operation. This book presents a detailed evaluation of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on the operational and tactical level [and] also addresses the body of folklore about the attack, supporting or challenging many contentious issues such as the skill level of the Japanese aircrew, whether midget submarines torpedoed Oklahoma and Arizona, as has been recently claimed, whether the Japanese ever really considered launching a third wave attack, and the consequences of a '3rd wave' attack against the Naval Shipyard and the fuel storage tanks if it had been executed." - Publisher.

Fiction:

Pearl Harbor: A Novel of December 8th, by William R. Forstchen and Newt Gingrich. Thomas Dunne Books, 2007. Print Length: 399 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (102 reviews). Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"...bestselling authors Newt Gingrich and William R. Forstchen launch a new epic adventure by applying their imaginations and knowledge to the 'Date of Infamy ' - the attack on Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbor covers the full spectrum of characters and events from that historic moment, from national leaders and admirals to the views of ordinary citizens caught in the chaos of war. From the chambers of the Emperor of Japan to the American White House, from the decks of aircraft carriers to the playing fields of the Japanese Naval Academy, this powerful story stretches from the nightmare slaughter of China in the 1930s to the lonely office of Commander James Watson, an American cryptographer, who suspects the impending catastrophic attack. Gingrich and Forstchen's now critically acclaimed approach, which they term 'active history,' examines how a change in but one decision might have profoundly altered American history. ...they pose the question of how the presence of but one more man within the Japanese attacking force could have transfigured the war..." - Publisher.

The Winds of War, by Herman Wouk. Back Bay Books, 2008. Print Length: 898 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (127 reviews). Kindle edition $9.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled.

"The story revolves around a mixture of real and fictional characters, all connected in some way to the extended family of Victor 'Pug' Henry, a middle-aged Naval Officer and confidant of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. The story begins six months before Germany's invasion of Poland, which launched the European portion of the war, and ends shortly after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when the United States and, by extension, the Henry family, enters the war as well." - Wikipedia.

December 6, by Martin Cruz Smith. Simon & Schuster, 2002. Print Length: 400 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 stars (87 reviews). Kindle edition $7.99. Text-to-Speech: Disabled.

"Set in the crazed, nationalistic Tokyo of late 1941, December 6 explores the coming world war through the other end of history's prism - a prism held here by an unforgettable rogue and lover, Harry Niles. In many ways, Niles should be as American as apple pie: raised by missionary parents, taught to respect his elders and be an honorable and upright Christian citizen dreaming of the good life on the sun-blessed shores of California. But Niles is also Japanese: reared in the aesthetics of Shinto and educated in the dance halls and backroom poker gatherings of Tokyo's shady underworld to steal, trick and run for his life. As a gaijin, a foreigner - especially one with a gift for the artful scam - he draws suspicion and disfavor from Japanese police. This potent mixture of stiff tradition and intrigue - not to mention his brazen love affair with a Japanese mistress who would rather kill Harry than lose him - fills Harry's final days in Tokyo with suspense and fear. Who is he really working for? Is he a spy? For America? For the emperor? Now, on the eve of Pearl Harbor, Harry himself must decide where his true allegiances lie..." - Pubisher.

From Here to Eternity, by James Jones. Open Road, 2011. Print Length: 866 p. Amazon customer rating: 4 1/2 stars (68 reviews). Kindle edition $8.99. Text-to-Speech: Enabled. Originally published in 1951.

"Diamond Head, Hawaii, 1941. Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt is a champion welterweight and a fine bugler. But when he refuses to join the company's boxing team, he gets 'the treatment' that may break him or kill him. First Sgt. Milton Anthony Warden knows how to soldier better than almost anyone, yet he's risking his career to have an affair with the commanding officer's wife. Both Warden and Prewitt are bound by a common bond: the Army is their heart and blood . . .and, possibly, their death." - Publisher.

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Note to readers: The book prices quoted here are the Amazon.com prices in effect at the time of the blog posting. Please follow the links to the individual book to check the current price.