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

The dramatic account of one of Americaxs most celebratedxand controversialxmilitary campaigns the Doolittle RaidIn December as American forces tallied the dead at Pearl Harbor President Franklin Roosevelt gathered with his senior military counselors to plan an ambitious counterstrike against the heart of the Japanese Empire Tokyo Four months later on April sixteen US 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 the enemyxs factories refineries and dockyards and then escape to Free China For Roosevelt the raid was a propaganda victory a potent salve to heal a wounded nation In Japan outraged over the deaths of innocent civiliansxincluding childrenxmilitary leaders launched an ill-fated attempt to seize Midway that would turn the tide of the war But it was the Chinese who suffered the worst victims of a retaliatory campaign by the Japanese Army that claimed an estimated lives and saw families drowned in wells entire towns burned and communities devastated by bacteriological warfareAt the center of this incredible story is Doolittle the son of an Alaskan gold prospector a former boxer and brilliant engineer who earned his doctorate from MIT Other fascinating characters populate this gripping narrative including Chiang Kai-shek Lieutenant General Joseph xCVinegar JoexD Stilwell and the feisty Vice Admiral William xCBullxD Halsey Jr Here too are indelible portraits of the young pilots navigators and bombardiers many of them little more than teenagers who raised their hands to volunteer for a mission from which few expected to return Most of the bombers ran out of fuel and crashed Captured raiders suffered torture and starvation in Japanxs notorious POW camps Others faced a harrowing escape across Chinaxvia boat rickshaw and footxwith the Japanese Army in pursuitBased on scores of never-before-published records drawn from archives across four continents as well as new interviews with survivors Target Tokyo is World War II history of the highest order a harrowing adventure story that also serves as a pivotal reexamination of one of Americaxs most daring military operations pages of illustrations.