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The Pearl Harbor Myth: Rethinking the Unthinkable by George Victor Potomac Books * 2007 * 365 pages * $27.50 hardcover; $18.95 paperback
Reviewed by Robert Higgs
Almost from the moment the Japanese bombs began falling on the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, the prime question has been, "What did President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his subordinates know about the impending attack, and when did they know it?" A series of official investigations during and immediately after the war failed to silence the president's critics or to satisfy those who were skeptical about the official explanations. Even now, the debate continues. George Victor's Pearl Harbor Myth is the latest substantial contribution to this controversy.
Although Victor, a retired psychologist, might seem an unlikely candidate to make an important contribution, and presents no new evidence, he adeptly exploits the relevant official reports and historical literature. He expresses his account in clear, fact-filled prose, highlighting the inconsistencies in various testimonies.
He finds that the Roosevelt administration deliberately provoked the attack, knew it was coming, and did not attempt to stop it. Yet Victor describes himself as an admirer of Roosevelt and declares that "moral and legal judgments are outside the purpose here." If the president and his lieutenants conspired to bring the United States...