According to the history account we learned in school, World War II ended after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The unprecedented destruction prompted Japan’s surrender; it then signed the surrender document in Tokyo Bay two weeks later on September 2, 1945 (almost exactly 6 years after the conflict began). This book gives the details of those events, showing that the “real-time” situation was very complicated and could have ended quite differently. It also covers the weeks and months leading up to the defeat, including a narration of the ferocious Battle of Okinawa (the last battle of the war), the firebombing of Japanese cities and the development and dropping of the atomic bombs. Craig shows that surrender was what you might call a “process” for the proud Japanese. Even after the Japanese government had officially given up, some Japanese soldiers refused to do so, instigating rebellions and an attempted coup to keep Japan in the war. The Pacific war was a very bloody and cruel business and its end was also gory and brutal, as this book shows. We see especially the agony of atomic bombing victims, the terrible privations of American POWs at the hands of the Japanese and the tragic suicides of many Japanese officers to avoid dishonor and somehow atone for Japan’s defeat. But there is also hope, as some Japanese leaders come to terms with their defeat and the Americans show magnanimity toward their formerly bitter enemies. If you can handle the descriptions of slaughter and suffering, this is a very informative book for better understanding the end of the war and the beginning of the friendly relationship America and Japan enjoy today.
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