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  • Published: 24 February 2009
  • ISBN: 9780345506078
  • Imprint: Random House US Group
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $45.00

1942

A Novel




Following the success of 1945, 1901 and 1862, Robert Conroy jumps to the beginning of World War II in the alternative history novel 1942, where Japanese Admiral Nagumo completely destroys Pearl Harbor and invades and conquers the islands.

December 7 is “the date which will live in infamy.” But now Japan is hatching another, far greater plan to bring America to its knees. . . .

The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was a resounding success–except for one detail: a second bombing mission, to destroy crucial oil storage facilities, was aborted that day. Now, in this gripping and stunning work of alternate history, Robert Conroy reimagines December 7, 1941, to include the attack the Japanese didn’t launch, and what follows is a thrilling tale of war, resistance, sacrifice, and courage. For when Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto sees how badly the United States has been ravaged in a two-pronged strike, he devises another, more daring proposal: an all-out invasion of Hawaii to put a stranglehold on the American Pacific Fleet.

Yamamoto’s strategy works brilliantly–at first. But a handful of American soldiers and a determined civilian resistance fight back in the face of cruelty unknown in Western warfare. Stateside, a counterassault is planned–and the pioneering MIT-trained aviator Colonel Jimmy Doolittle is given a near-impossible mission with a fleet of seaplanes jury-rigged into bombers. From spies to ordinary heroes and those caught between two cultures at war, this is the epic saga of the Battle of Hawaii–the way it very nearly was. . . .

  • Published: 24 February 2009
  • ISBN: 9780345506078
  • Imprint: Random House US Group
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 368
  • RRP: $45.00

About the author

Robert Conroy

Robert Conroy is a semiretired business and economic history teacher living in Warren, Michigan. This is his first novel.

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Praise for 1942

Praise for 1945:

"Compelling...Conroy explores the carnage of war through numerous viewpoints with moving and thought-provoking results." ---Publisher's Weekly