Days of Infamy series

Days of Infamy is a two-novel alternate history of the initial stages of the Pacific War by Harry Turtledove. The major difference is that the Empire of Japan not only attacks Pearl Harbor, but follows it up with the landing and occupation of Hawaii.

Days of Infamy

In Days of Infamy, the logic of how the battle could have developed in Oahu, including the destruction of U.S. Admiral William F. Halsey's fleet, is presented in detail.

As is usual in Turtledove novels, the action occurs from several points of view, including historical figures such as Minoru Genda and Mitsuo Fuchida. Besides these historical figures, viewpoint characters include a corporal in the Japanese Army, a surfer (who invents the sailboard so he can fish once Honolulu is occupied), Nisei children caught between the warring cultures, prisoners of war, and others.

The way that control of the islands along with the destruction of the American carriers USS Enterprise and Lexington in December 1941, allows Japan to dominate much of the southern Pacific Ocean is explored; with the Japanese having the ability to launch bombing raids on the US West Coast, and capturing Midway. The capture of a modern (for the time) radar system by the Japanese is also noted. There is also a reverse version of Battle of Midway, where an American force attempting to invade Oahu is defeated, and the carriers USS Yorktown and Saratoga are lost. Eventually, as was common in their other occupied territories, the Japanese create a puppet government, ruling through a member of the Hawaiian Royal Family installed as King in the Iolani Palace. A version of the Doolittle Raid is also featured, where the raid is remembered as when America struck back at Hawaii, and not Japan.

End of the Beginning

End of the Beginning carries the story forward through the rest of the occupation. By mid-1943, Japanese occupation of Hawaii has brought a toll of strict food rationing, severe martial law, and American prisoners of war suffered abuses from their occupiers. However, the occupation has also affected Japan's military presence on the island chain as the nation has to forgo their efforts in bringing supplies to the islands; their military conquests in Asia and the Pacific rim have overstretched their resources, severe reductions in supplies due to frequent American submarine raids on Japanese supply ships. As a result, the Japanese forces on the islands, commanded by Admiral Minoru Genda and General Tomoyuki Yamashita, are left without any military support. In the United States the Americans have amassed the ships and troops to retake Hawaii, and launch another, but larger, invasion attempt. The Americans quickly gain the upper hand, torpedoing the Japanese carrier Zuikaku with a submarine, and sinking the Akagi and Shōkaku in aerial attacks at the loss of only one escort carrier. The Americans, greatly aided by their new F6F Hellcat fighter, quickly gain control of the air, and gradually defeat the Japanese on Oahu. Most important Japanese officials and their collaborators escape on a submarine as Honolulu falls, but Minoru Genda and the King and Queen of Hawaii choose to commit suicide. Following the American victory, Hawaii becomes the launching pad for the American war effort in the Pacific theater, as it was in the actual war.

See also

• 1942 (novel)
• Pacific War series