Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor

by James M. Scott

Overview

Finalist for the 2016 Pulitzer Prize in History

"Like Lauren Hillebrand's Unbroken…Target Tokyo brings to life an indelible era." —Ben Cosgrove, The Daily Beast

On April 18, 1942, sixteen U.S. Army bombers under the command of daredevil pilot Jimmy Doolittle lifted off from the deck of the USS Hornet on a one-way mission to pummel Japan’s factories, refineries, and dockyards in retaliation for their attack on Pearl Harbor. The raid buoyed America’s morale, and prompted an ill-fated Japanese attempt to seize Midway that turned the tide of the war. But it came at a horrific cost: an estimated 250,000 Chinese died in retaliation by the Japanese. Deeply researched and brilliantly written, Target Tokyo has been hailed as the definitive account of one of America’s most daring military operations.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780393352276
Publisher:	Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
Publication date:	04/04/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	672
Sales rank:	131,157
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

James M. Scott is the author of Black Snow, Rampage, and Target Tokyo, a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina.

Editorial Reviews

"Filled with thrilling heroism and sacrifice, Target Tokyo is the definitive account of the amazing Doolittle raid."

Tampa Bay Times - Chris Patsilelis

"[A] brilliant tale of adventure and bravery…The telling is fresh and packs a wallop that puts it up with the best of World War II combat stories."

Buffalo News - Edward Cuddihy

"A fantastic story fantastically told."

Charleston Mercury

"Scott is an agile writer who offers strong portraits of key figures such as Doolittle. And his immense amount of research enabled him to produce a book that appeals not just to military buffs, but to a much broader audience."

Seattle Times - Hal Bernton

"In Target Tokyo, James M. Scott, an accomplished naval historian, vividly narrates the saga of Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle's audacious raid, undoubtedly one of the greatest exploits of World War II…the story has been covered many times before, but never so fully as here."

Wall Street Journal - Alexander Rose

"In Target Tokyo, James Scott has given us a superb new account of the Doolittle raid, a daring and unprecedented gambit that altered the history of the Pacific War. Scott’s narrative, which draws deeply on new archival sources, will certainly take its place as the definitive history of the Doolittle raid. That alone would be reason enough to recommend it—but Target Tokyo is also a terrific story and a cracking good read."

Ian Toll

"When I grew up in the house of a fighter pilot, it was a religious tenet with my father that the Doolittle Raiders were the bravest pilots in the history of flight. James Scott’s epic historical work, Target Tokyo, makes that opinion seem almost unassailable. Target Tokyo is one of the most incredible accounts of American military valor I’ve ever read."

Pat Conroy

"The Doolittle raid on Tokyo was one of the most impossible, daring, and consequential missions ever taken by American military men, and James Scott brings it back to the reader with you-are-there immediacy and drama. Filled with great characters, great heroism, and great suffering, Target Tokyo is at once thorough, realistic, and thrilling."

Evan Thomas

"Marvelous…undoubtedly the most comprehensive account yet…. [A] page-turner."

Los Angeles Times - Tony Perry

"Scott’s tight prose and meticulous research provide a gripping and at times heartbreaking account of the raid."

Philadelphia Inquirer - Bob Carden

"The Doolittle raid and its effects need to be remembered; Target Tokyo will make them hard to forget."

USA Today - Ray Locker

"A fantastic story, fantastically told."

The Charleston Mercury

"Historian James M. Scott uncovers fresh material to provide an extraordinarily complete account of the 1941 Doolittle US air raid on Tokyo and its aftermath. The basic story is familiar but Scott tells it in so gripping a fashion that it will have great appeal for both World War II buffs and general readers."

Christian Science Monitor - Terry Hartle

"[A] breakthrough work of popular history."

Huffington Post - Michael Giltz

02/15/2015
The story of the Doolittle Raid is well known and thoroughly documented. Shortly after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt ordered the American military to plan a retaliatory strike against Japan. In April 1942, 16 B-25 bombers and 80 airmen led by James Doolittle were launched from the carrier Hornet. The bombers reached their target cities and inflicted minimal damage on the Japanese Home Islands. Low on fuel, most of the bombers crashed in China and one landed in the Soviet Union. The results of the effort were mixed. All the planes were lost and the military damage inflicted was slight. The Japanese responded severely against China, killing as many as 250,000 Chinese citizens. The raid did boost American morale while damaging Japanese confidence, which was important as the Japanese had experienced a string of major victories since Pearl Harbor. Scott (The War Below) alternates his narrative between the larger picture of the raid and the individual stories of the five-man crews. VERDICT This popular history will appeal to fans of Laura Hillebrand's Unbroken and is comparable to other histories of the Tokyo Raid including Craig Nelson's The First Heroes and Carroll V. Glines's The Doolittle Raid.—Michael Farrell, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, FL

Library Journal

★ 2014-12-17
A new treatment of the daring Doolittle raids over Tokyo that fills in many of the gaps in the true story.In his glowing assessment of the bravery and innovation of the Doolittle raiders, historian Scott (The War Below: The Story of Three Submarines That Battled Japan, 2013, etc.) does not neglect to explore the ultimate horrendous cost of the mission in human lives. After the sneak attack by the Japanese on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt and his military commanders were desperate for a retaliatory measure that would help buoy national morale. Figuring out how to wage a bombing mission over Tokyo took the best heads of the Navy and Air Force, specifically Gen. Henry "Hap" Arnold's staff troubleshooter, the legendary racing pilot Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle. Immediately taking up the mission and demanding that he also lead it, Doolittle chose the "aerial workhorse" B-25 as the sole craft whose wingspan could clear the superstructure of an aircraft carrier. The problem was the fuel load required to fly from a Pacific carrier to Tokyo then onward to China—landing at approved airfields not in the control of the Japanese—all while keeping absolute secrecy. Spotted by the Japanese well over 800 miles from Tokyo (they were supposed to get 200 miles closer), the all-volunteer crews of the 16 bombers aboard the carrier knew when they took off on April 18, 1942, that they had little chance of reaching the Chinese coast. Of the 80 men, 61 survived the war; four died in crash landings, and four fell into the brutal hands of the Japanese. The damage to Tokyo spurred the Japanese to focus next on Midway, while the Japanese retaliatory slaughter against the Chinese as a result of the raids totaled some 250,000 deaths, a fact that Scott does not fail to note. A spirited, comprehensive and highly readable account of the tremendous wherewithal required for this extraordinary effort.

Kirkus Reviews