In this well-researched account, a naval historian counters the conventional wisdom that the attack on Pearl Harbor rendered surface warfare obsolete. In historical context, he details the under-recognized decisive role played primarily in ship-to-shop action by major American warships--both well- and lesser-known ones. The account, which serves as a cautionary lesson to maintain Navy preparedness today, includes battle maps, statistics, and illustrations. O'Hara is the author of German Fleet at War, 1939-1945 (Naval Institute Press, 2004). Annotation ©2007 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)