Building for War

The story of the Americans who came under attack five hours after Pearl Harbor was hit: “I ntriguing, informative, gripping, and at times very moving” ( Naval Historical Foundation ). This intimately researched work tells the story of the thousand-plus Depression-era civilian contractors who came to Wake Island, a remote Pacific atoll, in 1941 to build an air station for the US Navy—charting the contractors’ hard-won progress as they scramble to build the naval base, as well as runways for US Ar