Review on God's Samurai by Gordon W. Prange - Book Report/Review Example

9 Apr. God's Samurai by Gordon W. Prange Review: Mitsuo Fuchida assumed the role of a leader in the attack made by Japanese on the Pearl Harbor. Throughout the 2nd World War, Mitsuo Fuchida was among the most talented aviators in the Imperial Navy of Japan. In the Pacific campaigns that followed, Mitsuo Fuchida became the air operations officer. In this book, the author’s thesis revolves around narration of the biography of Mitsuo Fuchida. The biography makes account of the dazzling events of wartime in which Mitsuo Fuchida played a heroic role.

Another purpose of the novel is to convey the secretive naval air tactics used by Japanese to the audience. The author supports his thesis with interviews that started shortly after the end of the war and continued to be conducted until the death of Fuchida in 1976. The interviews were conducted by Prange. The interviewes were originally in an unprganized form and were put in order by Dillon and Goldstein that had been the students of Prange in his life. In the novel, a comprehensive and well researched account of the comedown of Mitsuo Fuchida from the war has been presented.

His transition from the war hero to the dirt farmer is very thrilling and filled with emotional churns. The novel derives its name from the comparison made between Mitsuo Fuchida and an unattached samurai by the author. After converting into a Christian, Mitsuo Fuchida becomes successful in his search of a banner for the sword he owns. Then, he takes charge as a nondenominational evangelist. In this position, Mitsuo Fuchida runs any campaigns in Europe, America and also in Japan. The author sufficiently makes the audience understand the thesis.

The prose of the book is quite well presented in clear in the tone, despite the fact that it has been written by multiple authors. The book can fundamentally be divided into two halves. The first one provides the audience with a quick yet thorough insight to the military career of Mitsuo Fuchida with a detailed emphasis on his proceedings in the World War II. At the end of the war, Mitsuo Fuchida was not left with any money. Therefore, in order to manage his expenses, he adopted the profession of farming.

One day, he found Jacob De Shazar’s pamphlet, in which he found out how the American POW found Christianity. This serves as the interval in the story. The second half of the book narrates the account of Mitsuo Fuchida’s travel towards the new religion. It is very interesting to find out how Mitsuo Fuchida made many fund raising visits to America for the missionary groups. Overall, the novel is a great, thrilling and adventuresome account of the various events including the military career, conversion into Christianity, working as a preacher, and outstanding international evangelism of Mitsuo Fuchida.

The story is quite rewarding spiritually and inspirational. Owing to the detailed insight it provides into the life of Mitsuo Fuchida, the book qualifies as an excellent source of information about the World War II. Works Cited: Prange, Gordon W., Goldstein, Donald M., and Dillon, Katherine V. God’s Samurei. Brassey’s Inc, 2003. Print.