The Doolittle Raid

On the heels of Carroll Glines's The Doolittle Raid: America's Daring First Strike Against Japan (Forecasts, Sept. 23), this version covers much the same ground with heavier emphasis on the conception of the raid and the training of the crews, the failed attempts to arrange reception of the bombers in China after they had unloaded their munitions on Japanese cities and the reactions of individuals in the target zone. There is also more about Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle, the mission leader: his prewar career, for instance, and his gnawing sense afterward that the raid was a failure since all 18 bombers were lost. (Doolittle practically had to be dragged to the White House for the Medal of Honor ceremony.) Schultz ( The Maverick War ) discusses the controversy over Admiral Halsey's decision to launch the B-25s from the carrier Hornet earlier than planned after the Japanese discovered the approach of the task force. The strategic upshot of the raid on April 18, 1942, was that Admiral Yamamoto decided to extend Japan's outer defensive perimeter, which led to Japan's first major defeat, the air-naval battle of Midway in June 1942. Photos, maps. (Nov.)