“Operation
Vengeance is colorful, intimate, eye-popping history, delivered at a
breakneck pace. I loved it.” —Lynn Vincent

An electrifying, definitive
account of the top-secret U.S. mission to kill the Japanese mastermind of Pearl
Harbor—written by Dan Hampton, New York Times bestselling author and
“one of the most decorated pilots in Air Force history” (New York Post)

In 1943, the United States
military began to plan one of the most dramatic secret missions of World War
II. Its code name was Operation VENGEANCE. Naval Intelligence had intercepted
the itinerary of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese
Combined Fleet, whose stealth attack on Pearl Harbor precipitated America’s
entry into the war. Harvard-educated, Yamamoto was a close confidant of Emperor
Hirohito and a brilliant tactician who epitomized Japanese military might. On
April 18th, the U.S. discovered, he would travel to Rabaul in the South Pacific
to visit Japanese troops, then fly to the Japanese airfield at Balalale, 400
miles to the southeast.Set into motion, the
Americans’ plan was one of the most tactically difficult operations of the war.
To avoid detection, U.S. pilots had to embark on a circuitous, 1,000-mile
odyssey that would test not only their skills but the physical integrity of
their planes. The timing was also crucial: the slightest miscalculation, even
by a few minutes?or a delay on the famously punctual Yamamoto’s end?meant the
entire plan would collapse, endangering American lives. But if these remarkable
pilots succeeded, they could help turn the tide of the war.

During his 20 years as a
fighter pilot in the US Air Force, Lieutenant Colonel Dan Hampton flew more
than 150 combat missions. Operation Vengeance draws upon Hampton’s vast
personal experience, as well as deep research and all-new interviews with
survivors of the pilots who were on the mission, to paint a thrilling,
in-the-cockpit portrait. Hampton recreates the moment-by-moment drama they
experienced in the air, and conclusively answers the long-standing mystery of
which pilot shot down Yamamoto’s plane, and what exactly transpired that day.