According to the generally accepted version, the US was attacked without provocation by the Japanese at Pearl Harbor. In fact, according to Miller, a retired chief financial officer of a major US corporation, newly unclassified materials indicate the US had denied the Japanese access to a hidden but huge cache of dollars needed to buy oil and other resources for economic survival. President Roosevelt, well knowing of the sequence of events that seemed to be leading to war, planned to use the cache to influence the Japanese rather than punish them, but bureaucrats manipulated the situation to drive Japan into deprivation. His analysis of masses of documents not seen for decades is impressive, as is his ability to link the economic situation to the attack. In addition, his impressive understanding of how international finance works smoothes the way for readers without expertise. The maps, photographs, facsimiles and graphics are exceptional. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)