Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor by James M. Scott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Target Tokyo tells the story of the Doolittle Raid on Japan in April 1942. There have been many books on this subject, but this one is different in that it does not focus solely on the raid and the 80 men who flew the B-25s. The story begins with Pearl Harbor, and the beginning of the idea of the raid as a way to strike back at Japan. We also learn about the fears of some of the high ranking Japanese generals and admirals that Japan was not well protected against an air attack. And from here the story unfolds with the selection of the aircraft and the training of the flight crews to be able to take off from an aircraft carrier and fly their bombers to Japan and then on to the unoccupied regions of China.

One of the very interesting things to me, was that during the narrative of the actual bombing mission, we learned not only what the flight crews did, but also where their bombs landed and what damage was caused by the raid, including civilian deaths and injuries.

There is much more to the book: the aftermath of the raid for the 15 crews that made it to China and the one the landed in the Soviet Union, the public relations battle between Tokyo and Washington over the raid, which was complicated by the American authorities not getting prompt notification of the success of the raid, even though all of the planes were lost. And there are stories of the raiders who died in China and those who were captured by the Japanese, some of whom were liberated at the end of the war. But the most heartbreaking part of the book is the story of the Japanese offensive into those areas of China were the raiders landed. The Chinese civilian casualties were enormous.

It is a compelling story, and the author has made the most of some new primary sources of information and so is able to paint a more complete picture of the raid and the aftermath. I recommend this book very highly; if you are interested in the complete story of the Doolittle Raid, this is the book for you.