1942

To the generation of Americans who lived through it, the Second World War was the defining event of the 20th century, and the defining events of that war were played out in the year 1942. It was a time when an unexpected attack on American territory pulled an unprepared country into a terrifying new brand of warfare with a ruthless enemy. Soon after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, German U-boats were sinking hundreds of US merchant ships, some right off the American coast. In the Pacific, Japan's Army and Navy far outmatched those of the United States and was threatening the American mainland from Alaska to the Panama Canal. The beginning of 1942 was a relentless cataract of defeats. The Japanese annihilated MacArthur's 130,000-man army in the Philippines and set into motion the infamous "Death March" on Bataan. Hong Kong fell, followed by Malaya, with its vast natural resources, and then Singapore itself. By May, it appeared to many that the entire Western Pacific, including Australia would be in Japanese hands. Then, in June, the tide began to turn. In this riveting account, acclaimed novelist and historian Winston Groom relates the story of 1942 as it has never been told before,