Ed Layton was the intelligence officer for the US Pacific Fleet before Pearl Harbor and then through the rest of World War II. In this book he describes in detail who knew what before Pearl Harbor. He pins the blame not on Admiral Kimmel or General Short but directly on the Washington, DC military establishment. He then shows the extensive cover-up that the establishment did of their errors.
It seems that the head of the code breakers in Washington and the head of the War Plans division of the Navy were having a vigorous dispute over control of intelligence information. Admiral Turner, head of War Plans, won and required all intelligence info and warnings to come from him. This book shows that he blocked warnings for the Pacific Fleet that could have prevented much of the damage in the Pearl Harbor attack.
Layton also shows that the Soviet Union and Stalin apparently knew of the Japanese plans to attack Pearl Harbor. It seems that a Soviet freighter bound from Los Angeles to Vladavostok was due to pass through the route of the Japanese fleet in the northern Pacific. The Soviets notified the Japanese in advance of the route of this freighter. While the Japanese fleet had orders to sink neutral shipping if they sighted any, they had specific orders to spot this ship and leave it alone. The Japanese did sight the freighter but the ship made no radio transmission after spotting the fleet. And of course Stalin never told the US of the expected attack.
Layton goes on to show how after the Pearl Harbor attack, Admiral Kimmel moved aggressively to assist Wake Island. Unfortunately, Admiral Kimmel was removed before the Wake Island relief mission could be completed. The admiral who replaced Kimmel (temporarily, before Nimitz arrived) was too conservative and the Wake Island relief was too slow. Layton implies that the Wake Island relief mission might have caught two Japanese aircraft carriers by surprise and turned the tables 6 months before the battle of Midway.
This book describes in detail the process and timing of the cracking of the Japanese naval codes in WWII. It follows the use of this intelligence in later battles throughout the war including Midway.
If you are interested WWII military history then I recommend this book highly. If you are interested in Pearl Harbor, then this book is a must.
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