Fortnight of Infamy: The Collapse of Allied Airpower West of Pearl Harbor

This book offers the first comprehensive overview of the collapse of Allied air forces during the period between December 8 and 24, 1941. Written for a wide audience, it gives readers both a cockpit view of the desperate actions that took place and an understanding of why such heavy losses occurred. The narrative account includes enough detail and analysis to hold the interest of serious students of Pacific War aviation and enough exciting descriptions of air combat to attract those with little knowledge of the subject.

Explaining how and why the Japanese were able to win a quick victory, John Burton points to U.S. failures in the concepts for employment of airpower and a significant underestimation of Japanese “”air-mindedness”” and aviation capabilities, failures that resulted in the loss or surrender of more than 200,000 troops at Bataan and Singapore.