Description

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The fascinating details of the week surrounding the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor—seven days that would change the world forever.

December 7, 1941: One of those rare days in world history that people remember exactly where they were, what they were doing, and how they felt when they heard the news.

Marlene Dietrich, Clark Gable, and James Cagney were in Hollywood. Kurt Vonnegut was in the bath, and Dwight D. Eisenhower was napping. Kirk Douglas was a waiter in New York, getting nowhere with Lauren Bacall. Ed Murrow was preparing for a round of golf in Washington. In Seven Days of Infamy, historian Nicholas Best uses fascinating individual perspectives to relate the story of Japan’s momentous attack on Pearl Harbor and its global repercussions in tense, dramatic style. But he doesn’t stop there.

Instead, Best takes readers on an unprecedented journey through the days surrounding the attack, providing a snapshot of figures around the world—from Ernest Hemingway on the road in Texas to Jack Kennedy playing touch football in Washington; Mao Tse-tung training his forces in Yun’an and the Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe cheering as the United States entered the war.

Offering a human look at an event that would forever alter the global landscape, Seven Days of Infamy chronicles one of the most extraordinary weeks in world history.

About the Author

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Nicholas Best grew up in Kenya, served in the Grenadier Guards, and worked as a journalist before becoming a full-time author. His many other books include Five Days That Shocked the World, Happy Valley: the Story of the English in Kenya, Tennis and the Masai, and The Greatest Day in History. For ten years he was a fiction critic for the Financial Times and has written for countless other publications. He currently lives in Cambridge, England.

Praise For…

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"Excellent.... [F]rom Ronald Reagan to a young Jack Kennedy to Ernest Hemingway and Mao Tse-tung, Best finds dozens of these fascinating reactions... [W]hat makes it in many ways the most interesting... lies in its taut sense of the wider impact the Japanese attacks had internationally, from Ottawa to Canberra." —The Christian Science Monitor

"A brisk, suspenseful World War II narrative from a proven storyteller." —Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Five Days that Shocked the World

"Accenting personal experiences of the famous-to-be, Best draws the audience interested in WWII’s apocalyptic climax." —Booklist

"Outstanding." —Midwest Book Review

"Utterly absorbing." —Maclean's

"Riveting." —Daily Mail (UK)

"Fascinating." —The Times (UK)