Book review: ‘Sealing Their Fate’ in World War II focuses on pivotal three weeks in late 1941

“Sealing Their Fate: The Twenty-Two Days That Decided World War II” (De Capo Press, 400 pages, $27), by David Downing: Judging by its title, a reader might assume that this book focuses on a period in early 1945 with Germany on the verge of surrender and Japan coming to realize that it, too, was doomed to defeat. Not the case, however.