Countdown to Pearl Harbor

Download Countdown to Pearl Harbor PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1476776482
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (767 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Countdown to Pearl Harbor by : Steve Twomey

Download or read book Countdown to Pearl Harbor written by Steve Twomey and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-11-21 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter chronicles the 12 days leading up to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, examining the miscommunications, clues, missteps and racist assumptions that may have been behind America's failure to safeguard against the tragedy, "--NoveList.

Japan 1941

Download Japan 1941 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0385350511
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (853 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Japan 1941 by : Eri Hotta

Download or read book Japan 1941 written by Eri Hotta and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2013-10-29 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A groundbreaking history that considers the attack on Pearl Harbor from the Japanese perspective and is certain to revolutionize how we think of the war in the Pacific. When Japan launched hostilities against the United States in 1941, argues Eri Hotta, its leaders, in large part, understood they were entering a war they were almost certain to lose. Drawing on material little known to Western readers, and barely explored in depth in Japan itself, Hotta poses an essential question: Why did these men—military men, civilian politicians, diplomats, the emperor—put their country and its citizens so unnecessarily in harm’s way? Introducing us to the doubters, schemers, and would-be patriots who led their nation into this conflagration, Hotta brilliantly shows us a Japan rarely glimpsed—eager to avoid war but fraught with tensions with the West, blinded by reckless militarism couched in traditional notions of pride and honor, tempted by the gambler’s dream of scoring the biggest win against impossible odds and nearly escaping disaster before it finally proved inevitable. In an intimate account of the increasingly heated debates and doomed diplomatic overtures preceding Pearl Harbor, Hotta reveals just how divided Japan’s leaders were, right up to (and, in fact, beyond) their eleventh-hour decision to attack. We see a ruling cadre rich in regional ambition and hubris: many of the same leaders seeking to avoid war with the United States continued to adamantly advocate Asian expansionism, hoping to advance, or at least maintain, the occupation of China that began in 1931, unable to end the second Sino-Japanese War and unwilling to acknowledge Washington’s hardening disapproval of their continental incursions. Even as Japanese diplomats continued to negotiate with the Roosevelt administration, Matsuoka Yosuke, the egomaniacal foreign minister who relished paying court to both Stalin and Hitler, and his facile supporters cemented Japan’s place in the fascist alliance with Germany and Italy—unaware (or unconcerned) that in so doing they destroyed the nation’s bona fides with the West. We see a dysfunctional political system in which military leaders reported to both the civilian government and the emperor, creating a structure that facilitated intrigues and stoked a jingoistic rivalry between Japan’s army and navy. Roles are recast and blame reexamined as Hotta analyzes the actions and motivations of the hawks and skeptics among Japan’s elite. Emperor Hirohito and General Hideki Tojo are newly appraised as we discover how the two men fumbled for a way to avoid war before finally acceding to it. Hotta peels back seventy years of historical mythologizing—both Japanese and Western—to expose all-too-human Japanese leaders torn by doubt in the months preceding the attack, more concerned with saving face than saving lives, finally drawn into war as much by incompetence and lack of political will as by bellicosity. An essential book for any student of the Second World War, this compelling reassessment will forever change the way we remember those days of infamy.

Pearl Harbor Countdown

Download Pearl Harbor Countdown PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Pelican Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9781455610181
Total Pages : 552 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (11 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Pearl Harbor Countdown by : Steely, Skipper

Download or read book Pearl Harbor Countdown written by Steely, Skipper and published by Pelican Publishing. This book was released on with total page 552 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Pearl Harbor

Download Pearl Harbor PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1451660510
Total Pages : 560 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (516 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Pearl Harbor by : Craig Nelson

Download or read book Pearl Harbor written by Craig Nelson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 560 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A valuable reexamination” (Booklist, starred review) of the event that changed twentieth-century America—Pearl Harbor—based on years of research and new information uncovered by a New York Times bestselling author. The America we live in today was born, not on July 4, 1776, but on December 7, 1941, when an armada of 354 Japanese warplanes supported by aircraft carriers, destroyers, and midget submarines suddenly and savagely attacked the United States, killing 2,403 men—and forced America’s entry into World War II. Pearl Harbor: From Infamy to Greatness follows the sailors, soldiers, pilots, diplomats, admirals, generals, emperor, and president as they engineer, fight, and react to this stunningly dramatic moment in world history. Beginning in 1914, bestselling author Craig Nelson maps the road to war, when Franklin D. Roosevelt, then the Assistant Secretary of the Navy, attended the laying of the keel of the USS Arizona at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Writing with vivid intimacy, Nelson traces Japan’s leaders as they lurch into ultranationalist fascism, which culminates in their scheme to terrify America with one of the boldest attacks ever waged. Within seconds, the country would never be the same. Backed by a research team’s five years of work, as well as Nelson’s thorough re-examination of the original evidence assembled by federal investigators, this page-turning and definitive work “weaves archival research, interviews, and personal experiences from both sides into a blow-by-blow narrative of destruction liberally sprinkled with individual heroism, bizarre escapes, and equally bizarre tragedies” (Kirkus Reviews). Nelson delivers all the terror, chaos, violence, tragedy, and heroism of the attack in stunning detail, and offers surprising conclusions about the tragedy’s unforeseen and resonant consequences that linger even today.

At Dawn We Slept

Download At Dawn We Slept PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : McGraw-Hill Companies
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 916 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis At Dawn We Slept by : Gordon William Prange

Download or read book At Dawn We Slept written by Gordon William Prange and published by McGraw-Hill Companies. This book was released on 1981 with total page 916 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At 7:53 a.m., December 7, 1941, America's national consciousness and confidence were rocked as the first wave of Japanese warplanes took aim at the U.S. Naval fleet stationed at Pearl Harbor. As intense and absorbing as a suspense novel, At Dawn We Slept is the unparalleled and exhaustive account of the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. It is widely regarded as the definitive assessment of the events surrounding one of the most daring and brilliant naval operations of all time. Through extensive research and interviews with American and Japanese leaders, Gordon W. Prange has written a remarkable historical account of the assault that-sixty years later-America cannot forget.

December 1941

Download December 1941 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Yale University Press
ISBN 13 : 0300154461
Total Pages : 489 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (1 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis December 1941 by : Evan Mawdsley

Download or read book December 1941 written by Evan Mawdsley and published by Yale University Press. This book was released on 2011-12-01 with total page 489 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An account of the dramatic turning point in World War II that marked “the dawn of American might and the struggle for supremacy in Southeast Asia” (Times Higher Education). In far-flung locations around the globe, an unparalleled sequence of international events took place between December 1 and December 12, 1941. In this riveting book, historian Evan Mawdsley explores how the story unfolded . . . On Monday, December 1, 1941, the Japanese government made its final decision to attack Britain and America. In the following days, the Red Army launched a counterthrust in Moscow while the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and invaded Malaya. By December 12, Hitler had declared war on the United States, the collapse of British forces in Malaya had begun, and Hitler had secretly laid out his policy of genocide. Churchill was leaving London to meet Roosevelt as Anthony Eden arrived in Russia to discuss the postwar world with Stalin. Combined, these occurrences brought about a “new war,” as Churchill put it, with Japan and America deeply involved and Russia resurgent. This book, a truly international history, examines the momentous happenings of December 1941 from a variety of perspectives. It shows that their significance is clearly understood only when they are viewed together. “Marks the change from a continental war into a global war in an original and interesting way.”—The Sunday Telegraph Seven (Books of the Year) “Suspenseful . . . Mawdsley embarks on the action from the first day and never lets up in this crisp, chronological study . . . A rigorous, sharp survey of this decisive moment in the war.”—Kirkus Reviews

Pearl Harbor

Download Pearl Harbor PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Basic Books (AZ)
ISBN 13 : 0465021395
Total Pages : 250 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (65 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Pearl Harbor by : Steven M. Gillon

Download or read book Pearl Harbor written by Steven M. Gillon and published by Basic Books (AZ). This book was released on 2011-10-25 with total page 250 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Explores the anxious and emotional events surrounding the attack on Pearl Harbor, showing how the president and the American public responded in the pivotal hours that followed the attack.

A Gathering Darkness

Download A Gathering Darkness PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
ISBN 13 : 0742581268
Total Pages : 195 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (425 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A Gathering Darkness by : Haruo Tohmatsu

Download or read book A Gathering Darkness written by Haruo Tohmatsu and published by Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. This book was released on 2004-09-14 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The United States' involvement in World War II began with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. But for Japan, the conflict began at a much earlier date. This book focuses on Japan and the events in its military history leading up to and including Pearl Harbor. Unique in its perspective, A Gathering Darkness shows how historical events in the 1920s and 1930s steered the country into war with America and its allies. A Gathering Darkness looks at what happened inside Japan in the 1920s to change its outlook on the West. There was a general repudiation of western values by Japanese society, and Japan turned its back on the outside world and an international order that were making life difficult for the country. The treaties made in Washington in the 1920s left Japan with a local supremacy that no other power, including Britain and the United States, could challenge on the account of their lack of forward bases and their commitments that precluded full deployment of forces in the western Pacific. A Gathering Darkness shows why Japan became increasingly militant in the 1930s. The authors look at Japanese military involvement in Manchuria beginning in September 1931. They cover the beginning of Japan's involvement in China in 1937, a conflict in which Japan would up in a deadlock with the China theater of operations in the period 1939–1941. The book then analyzes the first five months of the Pacific War, including the Pearl Harbor strike and the synchronization of offensive operations across more than four thousand miles of ocean. It also investigates the dilemma Japan faced as it realized in early 1942 that the United States was not going to collapse. A Gathering Darkness is the first volume in SR Books' trilogy on the Pacific War. This book offers a fascinating look at the prelude to the Pacific War and the early stages of the conflict that no one interested in World War II, military history, or Japanese history will want to miss.

Pearl Harbor Declassified

Download Pearl Harbor Declassified PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : McFarland
ISBN 13 : 1476642370
Total Pages : 235 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (766 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Pearl Harbor Declassified by : James M. D’Angelo

Download or read book Pearl Harbor Declassified written by James M. D’Angelo and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2021-07-26 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Did President Roosevelt and other high-ranking U.S. government officials know about Japanese plans to attack Pearl Harbor, and fail to warn U.S. Navy leadership? Drawing on recently declassified materials and revelations from other writers, this book traces the flow of intelligence and concludes the imminent attack was allowed to happen to win the support of the American public in a war against Japan. An epilogue describes the fate of Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Pacific Fleet Admiral Husband E. Kimmel, the intelligence he received from Washington before the attack, and the intelligence he did not.

In the Cauldron

Download In the Cauldron PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1621578976
Total Pages : 454 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (215 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis In the Cauldron by : Lew Paper

Download or read book In the Cauldron written by Lew Paper and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-11-05 with total page 454 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The underbrush through which Mr. Paper cuts his way . . . would be challenging for any writer. But Mr. Paper, with an eye for character and an easy narrative style, manages to keep his subject interesting. . . . And even though we know how it’s all going to end, Mr. Paper manages to add a measure of suspense to his narrative — a tribute to his abilities as a writer.” —The Washington Times This is not just another book about Pearl Harbor. It is the story of Joseph Grew, America’s ambassador to Japan, and his frantic effort in the months before the Pearl Harbor attack to orchestrate an agreement between Japan and the United States to avoid the war he saw coming. It is a story filled with hope and heartache, with complex and fascinating characters, and with a drama befitting the momentous decisions at stake. And more than that, it is a story that has never been told. In those months before the Pearl Harbor attack, Japan and the United States were locked in a battle of wills. President Franklin D. Roosevelt's economic sanctions were crippling Japan. America's noose was tightening around Japan's neck — but the country's leaders refused to yield to American demands. In this cauldron of boiling tensions, Joseph Grew offered many recommendations to break the deadlock. Having resided and worked in Tokyo for almost ten years, Grew understood what Roosevelt and his administration back home did not: that the Japanese would rather face annihilation than endure the humiliation of surrendering to American pressure. The President and his administration saw little need to accept their ambassador’s recommendations. The administration’s policies, they believed, were sure to succeed. And so, with increasing urgency, Grew tried to explain to the President and his administration that Japan’s mindset could not be gauged by Western standards of logic and that the administration’s policies could lead Japan to embark on a suicidal war with the United States “with dangerous and dramatic suddenness.” Relying on Grew’s diaries, letters and memos, interviews with members of the families of Grew and his staff, and an abundance of other primary source materials, Lew Paper presents the gripping story of Grew’s effort to halt the downward spiral of Japan’s relations with the United States. Grew had to wrestle with an American government that would not listen to him – and simultaneously confront an increasingly hostile environment in Japan, where pervasive surveillance, arbitrary arrest, and even unspeakable torture by Japan's secret police were constant threats. In the Cauldron reads like a novel, but it is based on fact. And it is sure to raise questions whether the Pearl Harbor attack could have been avoided.

A Matter of Honor

Download A Matter of Honor PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : HarperCollins
ISBN 13 : 0062405535
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (624 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis A Matter of Honor by : Anthony Summers

Download or read book A Matter of Honor written by Anthony Summers and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2016-11-15 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the seventy-fifth anniversary, the authors of Pulitzer Prize finalist The Eleventh Day unravel the mysteries of Pearl Harbor to expose the scapegoating of the admiral who was in command the day 2,000 Americans died, report on the continuing struggle to restore his lost honor—and clear President Franklin D. Roosevelt of the charge that he knew the attack was coming. The Japanese onslaught on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 devastated Americans and precipitated entry into World War II. In the aftermath, Admiral Husband Kimmel, Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, was relieved of command, accused of negligence and dereliction of duty—publicly disgraced. But the Admiral defended his actions through eight investigations and for the rest of his long life. The evidence against him was less than solid. High military and political officials had failed to provide Kimmel and his Army counterpart with vital intelligence. Later, to hide the biggest U.S. intelligence secret of the day, they covered it up. Following the Admiral’s death, his sons—both Navy veterans—fought on to clear his name. Now that they in turn are dead, Kimmel’s grandsons continue the struggle. For them, 2016 is a pivotal year. With unprecedented access to documents, diaries and letters, and the family’s cooperation, Summers’ and Swan’s search for the truth has taken them far beyond the Kimmel story—to explore claims of duplicity and betrayal in high places in Washington. A Matter of Honor is a provocative story of politics and war, of a man willing to sacrifice himself for his country only to be sacrificed himself. Revelatory and definitive, it is an invaluable contribution to our understanding of this pivotal event. The book includes forty black-and-white photos throughout the text.

Kentuckians and Pearl Harbor

Download Kentuckians and Pearl Harbor PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
ISBN 13 : 1949669297
Total Pages : 270 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (496 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Kentuckians and Pearl Harbor by : Berry Craig

Download or read book Kentuckians and Pearl Harbor written by Berry Craig and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2020-11-01 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When the air raid alarm sounded around 7:55 a.m. on December 7, 1941, Gunner's Mate Second Class James Allard Vessels of Paducah was preparing to participate in morning colors aboard the USS Arizona. In the scramble for battle stations, Vessels quickly climbed to a machine gun platform high atop the mainmast as others descended below decks to help pass ammunition up to gunners. At 8:06, a bomb exploded and the Arizona sank. Vessels's lofty perch saved his life, but most of his shipmates were not so lucky. In Kentuckians and Pearl Harbor, Berry Craig employs an impressive array of newspapers, unpublished memoirs, oral histories, and official military records to offer a ground-up look at the day that Franklin D. Roosevelt said would "live in infamy," and its aftermath in the Bluegrass State. In a series of vignettes, Craig uncovers the untold, forgotten, or little-known stories of ordinary people—military and civilian—on the most extraordinary day of their lives. Craig concludes by exploring the home front reaction to this pivotal event in American history. Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor swept away any illusions Kentuckians had about being able to stay out of World War II. From Paducah to Pikeville, people sprang to action. Their voices emerge and come back to life in this engaging and timely history.

Day Of Deceit

Download Day Of Deceit PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 9780743201292
Total Pages : 438 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (12 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Day Of Deceit by : Robert Stinnett

Download or read book Day Of Deceit written by Robert Stinnett and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2001-05-08 with total page 438 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Using previously unreleased documents, the author reveals new evidence that FDR knew the attack on Pearl Harbor was coming and did nothing to prevent it.

Day of Infamy, 60th Anniversary

Download Day of Infamy, 60th Anniversary PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 9780805068030
Total Pages : 292 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (68 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Day of Infamy, 60th Anniversary by : Walter Lord

Download or read book Day of Infamy, 60th Anniversary written by Walter Lord and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2001-05 with total page 292 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sample Text

Dawn of Infamy

Download Dawn of Infamy PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Da Capo Press
ISBN 13 : 030682504X
Total Pages : 280 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (68 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Dawn of Infamy by : Stephen Harding

Download or read book Dawn of Infamy written by Stephen Harding and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2016-11-22 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the Pearl Harbor attack began, a U.S. cargo ship a thousand miles away in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean mysteriously vanished along with her crew. What happened, and why? On December 7, 1941, even as Japanese carrier-launched aircraft flew toward Pearl Harbor, a small American cargo ship chartered by the Army reported that it was under attack by a submarine halfway between Seattle and Honolulu. After that one cryptic message, the humble lumber carrier Cynthia Olson and her crew vanished without a trace, their disappearance all but forgotten as the mighty warships of the U.S. Pacific Fleet burned. The story of the Cynthia Olson's mid-ocean encounter with the Japanese submarine I-26 is both a classic high-seas drama and one of the most enduring mysteries of World War II. Did I-26's commander, Minoru Yokota, sink the freighter before the attack on Pearl Harbor began? Did the cargo ship's 35-man crew survive in lifeboats that drifted away into the vast Pacific, or were they machine-gunned to death? Was the Cynthia Olson the first American casualty of the Pacific War, and could her SOS have changed the course of history? Based on years of research, Dawn of Infamy explores both the military and human aspects of the Cynthia Olson story, bringing to life a complex tale of courage, tenacity, hubris, and arrogance in the opening hours of America's war in the Pacific.

Pearl Harbor

Download Pearl Harbor PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Open Road Media
ISBN 13 : 1480489492
Total Pages : 480 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (84 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Pearl Harbor by : Gordon W. Prange

Download or read book Pearl Harbor written by Gordon W. Prange and published by Open Road Media. This book was released on 2014-05-06 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times–bestselling authors of Miracle at Midway delve into the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor during WWII in “a superb work of history” (Albuquerque Journal Magazine). In the predawn hours of December 7, 1941, a Japanese carrier group sailed toward Hawaii. A few minutes before 8:00 a.m., they received the order to rain death on the American base at Pearl Harbor, sinking dozens of ships, destroying hundreds of airplanes, and taking the lives of over two thousand servicemen. The carnage lasted only two hours, but more than seventy years later, terrible questions remain unanswered. How did the Japanese slip past the American radar? Why were the Hawaiian defense forces so woefully underprepared? What, if anything, did American intelligence know before the first Japanese pilot shouted “Tora! Tora! Tora!”? In this incomparable volume, Pearl Harbor experts Gordon W. Prange, Donald M. Goldstein, and Katherine V. Dillon tackle dozens of thorny issues in an attempt to determine who was at fault for one of the most shocking military disasters in history.

Japan 1941

Download Japan 1941 PDF Online Free

Author :
Publisher : Vintage
ISBN 13 : 0307739740
Total Pages : 370 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (77 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!


Book Synopsis Japan 1941 by : Eri Hotta

Download or read book Japan 1941 written by Eri Hotta and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2014-08-12 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year A groundbreaking history that considers the attack on Pearl Harbor from the Japanese perspective and is certain to revolutionize how we think of the war in the Pacific. When Japan attacked the United States in 1941, its leaders, in large part, understood they were entering a war they were almost certain to lose. In a groundbreaking history that considers Pearl Harbor from the Japanese perspective, certain to revolutionize how we think of the war in the Pacific, Eri Hotta poses essential questions overlooked for the last seventy years: Why did these men—military men, civilian politicians, diplomats, the emperor—put their country and its citizens in harm's way? Why did they make a decision that was doomed from the start? Introducing us to the doubters, bluffers, and schemers who led their nation into this conflagration, Hotta brilliantly shows us a hidden Japan—eager to avoid war but fraught with tensions with the West, deluded by reckless militarism, tempted by the gambler’s dream of scoring the biggest win against impossible odds and nearly escaping disaster before it finally proved inevitable.