Keep the reasons for and against withdrawal visible
Arrange short assessments of the same person or proposal in a close sequence so that their specific incompatibilities remain visible, while identifying the setting and limits of the selection.
At Dawn We Slept
Gordon W. Prange & Donald M. Goldstein & Katherine V. Dillon · 19 weeksKeep the reasons for and against withdrawal visible
SHORT SOURCE EXCERPT“Their mission may have been wrong,”
The discussion distinguishes pilots who wanted another strike from those prioritizing intact carriers and the next operation. Later it places Kusaka's defense, Genda's criticism and several American admirals' judgments beside the original mission.
The same decision changes appearance under different criteria: exploit the opening, avoid counterattack, preserve the force, or fulfill assigned targets. The authors retain those alternatives before making their own critical conclusion.
The source in context.
Reports of the strike lead to Nagumo's decision to withdraw. Opposing judgments from Japanese participants and American admirals remain visible before the authors give their own assessment.
Open this chapterWhat this example supports
The same decision changes appearance under different criteria: exploit the opening, avoid counterattack, preserve the force, or fulfill assigned targets. The authors retain those alternatives before making their own critical conclusion.
Its limit
The passage combines contemporary action with retrospective assessments and ends with a strong authorial verdict. It does not establish which hypothetical additional strike would have succeeded.
Source & edition
Gordon W. Prange, in collaboration with Donald M. Goldstein and Katherine V. Dillon, At Dawn We Slept, supplied Penguin text with 1991 afterword.
Supplied text, lines 7686–7754. The short quotation is checked against the source.
Read the existing whole-source synthesis and all 24 ordered segment summaries, section maps, qualifications and gap reports. Checked all 81 numbered body headings against the contents, their source ranges, opening orientation and closing text, distinguishing photograph-caption inserts from narrative endings; checked the main ending and the separate afterword and source-apparatus boundaries. Read the complete retained example passages and their surrounding arguments, plus title-page, imprint and editorial-role disclosures. Verified all 24 consecutive segment source-input hashes and successful receipts. This is a source-checked editorial review using the prior machine reading, not a new second full-book reading, an independent model review or a historical fact audit.
Supplied Penguin text of the 1981 work, with the 1991 afterword; ISBN 9781101664216. The digital file's publication date is not independently established.