The book Thirty Seconds over Tokyo by Captain Ted Lawson has many strengths and weaknesses. The strengths of the book made the book appealing, and a pleasure to read. However, the weaknesses made it dull and confusing.
First, the story is written by one of the participants in the Doolittle Raid. Captain Ted Lawson gives us a personal narrative of the Doolittle Raid. This was a strength because the story provides a more accurate view of the raid. Due to the fact that Lawson participated in the raid, he could give us more information that we would otherwise not know. He told us things that only the participants of the raid knew which made the book appealing. Next, Lawson’s presentation and writing style was also a strength. The way he wrote the book made the book clearer and easy to understand. The best part about Lawson style was that he did not use big words. Normally authors used words that confuse the reader which was the complete opposite of Lawson’s writing. I understood all the words without using a dictionary which was great. I would surely read more of these types of books if written in the same style as this one.
Next, Lawson did not show any bias. He simply told the story of the raid. I expected Lawson to be bias because he was a member of the raid but he did not. He just simply told what happened whether good or bad during the raid. I enjoyed this book, and learned a great deal from it.
I believe that the major weakness of this book is that it is too short. The book provides great details but not a lot. The book only discusses one group during their raid but they had fifteen other group participating in the raid. One would think that it would tell us about all sixteen groups and what happened during their raid but the book does not give us that information. I think the worst part was when at the end it just gave us a brief summary of the other groups during their raid. I think the book would have been better if they would have gone into detail about the other groups. I was really upset because they did not just have one group participating in the raid there were sixteen and the book simply followed one group. The major weakness is that the book is too short and did not go into detail about all the raids.
In conclusion, I think that Ted Lawson was a brave man. He never once complained, he just simply done what was asks of him. I remain incredibly impressed by the heroism of the World War II veterans and particularly these crew members who were pretty much on a suicide mission. These brave men were willing to defend their country and their way of life, even if it meant making a great personal sacrifice.
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