December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World

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NEW YORK TIMESBESTSELLER

In the days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, America was largely focused on the war in Europe, but when planes dropped out of a clear blue sky and bombed the American naval base and aerial targets in Hawaii, everything changed in an instant. December 1941 takes you into the moment-by-moment ordeal of a nation waking to war.

In December 1941, bestselling author Craig Shirley celebrates the American spirit while reconstructing the events that called it to shine with rare and piercing light. Shirley puts readers on the ground and the thick of the action.

Relying on daily news reports from around the country and recently declassified government papers, Shirley sheds light on the crucial diplomatic exchanges leading up to the attack, the policies on the internment of Japanese people living in the U.S. after the assault, and the near-total overhaul of the U.S. economy to prepare for war.

Shirley paints a compelling portrait of pre-war American culture--from the fashion and the celebrities to common pastimes. His portrait of America at war is just as vivid, highlighting:

• The surge in heroism, self-sacrifice, mass military enlistments, and national unity
• The prodigious talents of Hollywood and Tin Pan Alley
• Troubling price-controls and rationing, federal economic takeover, and censorship

Featuring colorful personalities including Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull, and General Douglas MacArthur, December 1941 highlights a period of profound change in American government, foreign and domestic policy, law, economics, and business, chronicling the developments day by day through that singular and momentous month.

December 1941 features surprising revelations, amusing anecdotes, and heart-wrenching stories, and also explores the unique religious and spiritual dimension of a culture under assault on the eve of Christmas. Before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the closest thing to war for the Americans was uncoordinated, mediocre war games in South Carolina.

Less than thirty days later, by the end of December 1941, the nation was involved in a battle for the preservation of its very way of life--a battle that would forever change the nation and the world.

Author Bio

Craig Shirley is the author of three critically praised bestsellers about Ronald Reagan, Rendezvous with Destiny, Reagan's Revolution, and Last Act. His book December 1941 appeared multiple times on the New York Times bestseller list. Shirley is chairman of Shirley & Banister Public Affairs and is a widely sought-after speaker and commentator. The Visiting Reagan Scholar at Eureka College, Shirley is on the Board of Governors of the Reagan Ranch and lectures frequently at the Reagan Library, and he has written extensively for the Washington Post, the Washington Examiner, the Washington Times, the Los Angeles Times, Townhall, Newsmax, Breitbart, National Review, LifeZette, CNS, and many other publications. Considered one of the foremost public intellectuals on the history of conservatism in America, Shirley is writing a fourth book on Reagan and a book on George Washington's family.