Target Tokyo by James M. Scott

Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor

648 pages, Hardcover

24cm x 16cm

Genres: Nonfiction / History / World War II / Military History

The Doolittle Raid stands as one of America's most celebrated and controversial military campaigns. In December 1941, following the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt convened with his top military advisors to devise a bold counterstrike against the Japanese Empire's heart in Tokyo. Four months later, on April 18, 1942, sixteen U.S. Army bombers, led by the daring pilot Jimmy Doolittle, took off from the USS Hornet on a perilous mission to strike the enemy's factories, refineries, and dockyards before making a daring escape to Free China.

For Roosevelt, the raid served as a crucial propaganda victory, offering solace to a nation reeling from the shock of the Pearl Harbor attack. In Japan, the loss of innocent civilians, including children, incited outrage among military leaders who launched a disastrous attempt to seize Midway, ultimately shifting the course of the war. Tragically, the Chinese bore the brunt of the retaliation, enduring a brutal campaign by the Japanese Army that resulted in an estimated 250,000 deaths, with families drowned in wells, towns razed, and communities ravaged by biological warfare.

At the heart of this gripping narrative is Doolittle, a former boxer and brilliant engineer with a doctorate from MIT, who emerged as a central figure in the raid. The story also features compelling characters such as Chiang Kai-shek, Lieutenant General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, and Vice Admiral William "Bull" Halsey Jr. Additionally, the account highlights the young pilots, navigators, and bombardiers, many of whom were barely out of their teens, who volunteered for a mission with slim chances of survival.