Magic: The Untold Story of U. S. Intelligence & the Evacuation Of...

by David D. Lowman

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0960273611
• ISBN13: 9780960273614
• Release Date: July 2000
• Publisher: Athena Press (UT)
• Length: 391 Pages
• Weight: 2.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.4" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 14 years and up

Customer Reviews

Superb Book

A certain reviewer who gave this book a 1 is a liar and a bigot. This book reveals the real reason for Japanese internment and documents our miracles victory over an the unstoppable Japanese Empire.

The MAGIC of history

This book is a must read for every U.S. citizen. It is a scholarly work that was written for the average person. It tells an Orwellian story of how in the 1980s special interests falsified history for monetary gain.In MAGIC, the late Dr. Lowman presents the text of official Japanese diplomatic messages decoded by U.S. cryptanalysts documenting the espionage network operated by Japan in the United States before and after Pearl Harbor. This espionage consisted of an interlocking network of Japanese individuals and Japanese clubs, associations, societies, labor organizations, and businesses. Japanese consulates were able to report to Tokyo (1) undercover Japanese naval officers were working with local Japanese on the West Coast; (2) Japanese residents had been recruited to spy on U.S. military installations and the movement of ships, airplanes, and troops; and (3) Japanese Americans were employed in factories, airplane plants and the armed forces for subversive purposes. This intelligence was so secret knowledge of its existence was restricted to key members of the Roosevelt Administration.Only in 1977 did the Department of Defense finally release over 5,000 MAGIC messages pertaining just to the attack on Pearl Harbor in an eight volume study, "The MAGIC Background of Pearl Harbor". President Roosevelt's Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942 evacuating Japanese residents from the West Coast was issued in response to what MAGIC revealed. The January 21, 1942 report stated "Their espionage net containing Japanese aliens, first and second generation Japanese and other nationals is now thoroughly organized and working underground."The cracking of Japan's diplomatic code by U.S. cryptanalysts was dubbed MAGIC by a director of Naval Intelligence because he thought only magic could account for their success. In additon, to providing the Roosevelt Administration with intelligence on the Japanese espionage network operating on the West Coast, the intelligence MAGIC deciphered was responsible for the U.S. victories at the Coral Sea and at Midway in the Pacifc, and the success of the Normandy landing in Europe. According to General Marshall, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, MAGIC was "the finest intelligence in our history". It "guided our actions in both the Pacific and in Europe", "shortened the war", and "saved thousands of lives". Dr. Lowman takes the reader on an exciting journey of espionage and counter-espionage that surpasses the fictional exploits of James Bond. The story begins when the United States first entered the code-breaking business in 1917. From there the reader learns of subsequent successes, like the Washington Arms Conference 1921-22, and embarrassments, like the Yardley fiasco. This background enables the reader to fully appreciate the success of the Army's Signal Intelligence Service in breaking the Japanese diplomatic codes and ciphers in 1940. For sandwiched between the regular diplomatic messages between Tokyo and her emb

Magis gives a new perspective to Executive Order 9066

When President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 innocent and loyal Americans' rights were taken away along with those not so innocent and loyal. Since WWII many have vilified Roosevelt and described the Order as racist.Before reading this book I had no problem with the Japanese-Americans receiving compensation for their internment. This book has not changed my opinion-and this comes from someone who was interned for over three years by the Japanese, however I now look at the internment with new insight.The book reveals intelligence data considered by Roosevelt, heretofore not available to the general public. Roosevelt made his decision under extreme pressure, war hysteria and uncertainty. I do not agree that the decision to intern was the best choice, but after reading the book I can understand that internment was an option. The Magic intercepts revealed that some Japanese-Americans did, or were willing to aid the Japanese war effort. Historians who study this event must consider the role of Magic; this book is an excellent resource.

The Whole [Non-PC] Story

Until I found this little gem, I, as most Americans, thought the Japanese relocation had been one a great blot on our democratic tradition, and our civilian and military leaders. I accepted this premise without question. This book opened my eyes---not only on what happened in 1942, but what happened later, and who benefited and why. The author does an outstanding job of laying out the proof that has been hidden all these years. The truth the author shows very clearly that the US had ample reason to fear a fifth column in the US. A very real threat existed and this book documents, reference by reference, and day by day, describes the threat, how it was created, and why it was necessary to take action. Documentation is superb as is the accompanying explanation. A detailed analysis of an important subject and the only one that tells, for the first time, the real story behind the relocation. A definite must for any library.

Revisionist History Corrected

In recent years the history of the evacuation and relocation of persons of Japanese ancestry from West Coast war zones shortly after Pearl Harbor has been turned on its head by propagandists concerned more with political correctness than a concern with the truth. As a result, the conventional wisdom with regard to this wartime subject has been that those evacuated were all loyal American citizens deprived of their civil rights by unconstitutional means for no other reason than "racism, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership." This excellent book lays such myths to rest. The author, David D. Lowman, a career intelligence officer and recipient of numerous commendations, was a retired Special Assistant to the Director of the National Security Agency. As such during the 1970s he served as consultant to that agency in the declassification of thousands of pre-World War II Japanese diplomatic messages intercepted and decoded by U.S. intelligence forces. One of the most secret intelligence triumphs of the war, the decoding of such Japanese messages was conducted by U.S.Army and Navy Communciations Intelligence units under the cover-name "MAGIC." Lowman describes how, in the months before Pearl Harbor, such messages and other intelligence revealed the existence of espionage networks on the U.S. West Coast directed from Japanese consulates and employing resident Japanese as well as Japanese-Americans to gather military information and plan for sabotage in the event of war between Japan and the United States. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, such intelligence information led to the issuance of President Roosevelts Executive Order 9066 authorizing the evacuation of persons of Japanese descent from the West Coast as a prudent military measure. Following an enlightening Preface and Introduction, the book is divided into three parts: 1. Background of the Japanese evacuation and its later ramifications; 2. The MAGIC messages and what they revealed; and 3. Intelligence reports from the FBI, the Army Intelligence Division, and the Office of Naval Intelligence. Throughout the book and its Appendices, photocopies of original letters, memoranda and other documentation of the time support the evidence outlined in the text. Numerous photographs from the National Achives are also presented, including those showing "Banzai" demonstrations of loyalty to the Japanese government by anti-Amrican Japanese at the Tule Lake Segregation center in California, to which over 18,000 resident Japanese enemy aliens and Japanese-Americans considered the most dangerous to U.S. security had been relocated. This book has long been needed to offset the revisionist history of the wartime West Coast Japanese evacuation written and reported by those with philosophical agendas or vested interests in suppressing the historical evidence. The information contained therein is authentic, voluminous, and convincing in its support of the actions of our wartime lead