Comments on: What are some good books about Japan's role in WWII?

Question: What are some good books about Japan's role in WWII?

Ekim Neems — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 14:31:33 -0800

What are some of the most important books about Japan's role in World War II? Read on...

I'm trying to avoid Reischauer-esque pro-Emperor Hirohito propaganda... just honest story-telling from Japan's entrance to war-time atrocities to individual theatres and battles, and finally the atomic bomb, surrender, and occupation. I'd much rather read several more topic-specific books than a general history overview, but one or two overall narratives of the war might be okay too.

By: meta87

meta87 — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 14:51:57 -0800

Hiroshima

Required reading when I went to high school.

By: suni

suni — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 15:30:09 -0800

search for japan studies reading lists like this one: www.smith.edu/fcceas/japan/jhist.html

this book is imo very good: hirohito and the making of modern japan by herbert p bix

(watch this movie if you have the chance: "hiroshima" (tv, 1995))

By: Espy Gillespie

Espy Gillespie — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 15:44:38 -0800

The Pacific War 1931-1945 by Saburo Ienaga is really excellent.

By: atchafalaya

atchafalaya — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 15:56:36 -0800

Combined Fleet Decoded is a great look at the cryptographic war, with a lot more to it than the usual stories about Midway.

By: armage

armage — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 16:03:37 -0800

The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 by John Toland is told from a Japanese perspective. I very much enjoyed it (I had an early edition in two volumes).

Concerning the Occupation, a good book is Embracing Defeat by John W. Dower.

By: Ekim Neems

Ekim Neems — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 16:06:46 -0800

Something I probably should've already mentioned is what I've already read: The Burma Road, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan, Embracing Defeat, Hiroshimia Diary.

I've had a hard time finding books about war-time atrocities (besides of course The Rape of Nanjing) -- I'm specifically interested in learning about "Unit 731" but haven't been able to find any in-print books.

By: mrcircles

mrcircles — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 16:20:57 -0800

If you want something about Unit 731, Factories Of Death: Japanese Biological Warfare is pretty comprehensive, albeit a little dry.

By: Captaintripps

Captaintripps — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 16:21:48 -0800

Eagle Against the Sun
The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, which armage pointed out, is perhaps the best book from Japan's perspective and in general that I've read on the Pacific theater.

By: matteo

matteo — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 17:20:05 -0800

lots of good suggestions above.

for an American perspective you might do worse than read Charles A Beard's "American Foreign Policy in the Making: 1932-1940" (1946) and "President Roosevelt and the Coming of War" (1948).

By: hototogisu

hototogisu — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 19:16:00 -0800

If you are at all interested in the analysis of Japanese and American propaganda from the war, then John W. Dower's War Without Mercy might be worth a read.

By: SPrintF

SPrintF — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 19:41:57 -0800

Japan at War: An Oral History by Haruko Taya Cook & Theodore F. Cook.

By: prentiz

prentiz — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 01:47:35 -0800

I've been wanting to read this for ages. I guess, if you have the option, go for the primary source!

By: exogenous

exogenous — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 11:49:01 -0800

I highly recommend Midway: The Battle that Doomed Japan, the Japanese Navy's Story by Mitsuo Fuchida et al.

By: Sonny Jim

Sonny Jim — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 18:33:14 -0800

There's also Laurie Barber and Ken Henshall's The Last War of Empires: Japan and the Pacific War, 1941-1945 (Auckland, NZ: David Bateman, 1999).

It's a compact little book aimed at undergrads., but good nonetheless.