Hitler’s American Gamble: Pearl Harbor and Germany’s March to Global War

Historians Simms (Europe) and Laderman (Sharing the Burden) focus in this fine-grained if plodding chronicle on the four days between the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and Nazi Germany’s declaration of war against the U.S. They contend that America’s lend-lease program, which supplied allied countries with food, oil, and weaponry, brought the country to the edge of outright conflict, despite public sentiment in favor of isolationism, and helped provoke the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. Following the attack, the public was eager to declare war on Japan, but President Roosevelt faced an uphill battle in convincing people to enter another European war. According to the authors, Hitler, who believed that the Japanese attack would put an end to the lend-lease supplies fueling the British and Russian war efforts and weaken the American military, made a grave strategic blunder in declaring war on the U.S. on Dec. 11, 1941. In so doing, he “turn[ed] two potentially separate conflicts into a truly world war.” Though Simms and Laderman take a fresh angle on the buildup to WWII, they overstuff the story with extraneous details and deep dives into diplomatic maneuverings. This one is best suited to completists. (Nov.)