Bill Sloan - Given Up for Dead: America's Heroic Stand at Wake Island

Pros: Very detailed, puts you on the ground with the troops
Cons: A couple of things that are glossed over

Everybody knows about Pearl Harbor, and the sneak attack by the Japanese that helped usher the Americans into World War II. On the other hand, not that many people know about Wake island, the heroic stand of less than 1000 U.S. Marines and the civilian ...

Pros: First-hand accounts.  Writing style. Important piece of U.S. history.
Cons: None.

There was not much to cheer about in the U.S. in December 1941. Japan had just launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, catapulting the country into World War II. Most of Europe was under a Nazi chokehold while the Italians claimed the ...