Pearl Harbor: Hinge of War provides a vivid behind-the-scenes look at the battle that brought America into World War II. Richard Freeman seamlessly meshes together political and military histories from both sides of the conflict, along with survivors' accounts, to create a genuinely readable and personal narrative account. The heroism of the individual sailors and airmen comes to life from the page, sure to captivate military history buffs and layman readers alike. Why did the Japanese decide to attack America, and where did they get their information about the Pearl Harbor base? Could American leaders have foreseen the attacks? What crucial mistake did the Japanese command make that proved deadly later in the war? All of these questions and more are addressed in detail in Pearl Harbor: Hinge of War. The one glaring flaw in this book is the author's failure to adequately document his sources; Freeman states in his final notes that the survivors' accounts are "mostly taken from a vast range of veteran and newspaper websites," but he does not give the names or web addresses of any of these sites so that interested readers could look for more materials about the heroic veterans of Pearl Harbor. ( )