Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 | Max Hastings | Here is another 5 star vote of confidence     books:     Retribution: The B...   Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 Max Hastings Knopf, 2008 - 656 pages average customer review:based on 52 reviews view larger image  for more information click here        highly recommended Comprehensive picture of the Pacific war This excellent book provides an education on the war in the Pacific. The British in Burma, miseries of jungle warfare; Japan's Chinese conquests; warships in the Pacific, battleships, aircraft carriers, submarines; the battle of Leyte Gulf; the national image of MacArthur through efforts of his public relations operations (for a more splendid account of this read David Halberstam's "The Coldest Winter"; return to the Philippines; Iwo Jima; Allied POW's: 27% died in Japanese prison camps as opposed to 4% in German camps; Okinawa; Mao and Chiang Kai-shek and the fruits of our great investment in supporting Chiang; loss of European empires; Curtis LeMay and the Air Force bombing Japan: dropping incendiaries on Tokyo, events leading to the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; Russian invasion of Manchuria; and most significantly during the last year of the war, the Japanese bushido attitude of suicidal annihilation, and the agonies of surrender, particularly bringing the war to its conclusion. POW slave labor; the human cost of victory. Japanese denial of guilt. You will think twice before buying a Honda, Toyota and especially a Mitsubishi automobile. This is a worthwhile effort by Hastings to provide a comprehensive overview of the Pacific war in a writing style that is sometimes uneven, but always lively and interesting.  for more information click here Here is another 5 star vote of confidence No need to waste time repeating what the other 5 star reviews say, but here is my vote. It took me a couple of chapters to get used to Mr. Hastings' writing style, but after that, couldn't put the book down. I now have a more comprehensive understanding of the Pacific War, the sacrifices, the politics, the strategies, the culture clashes, and the Bombs. I very much appreciate that Mr. Hastings is not shy with his criticism of the legends described in this book like Gen McArthur, Adm Halsey and others. Retribution: The final year of World War II Combat against Japan is destined to be a classic work Max Hastings is one of Britain's finest historian/journalist. A few years ago he published "Armageddon" dealing with the final year of warfare waged against Nazi German. Now he has produced "Retribution" (called "Nemesis" in England). Over 2.5 Japanese military personnel and civilians died in this brutal war. Japan was ruled by a militaristic government noted for their cruelty. In 1937 they invaded China raping, murdering and mutilating their way across that vast nation. The rape of Nanking led to thousands of innocent civilians being brutally murdered and raped. The Japanese set up a puppet government in Manchuria. This government would fall to the Russian onslaught in the late summer of 1945. Their regime was always brutal beyond Western understanding. Among the countless crimes of Japan were: a. launching the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the Philippines, Java and Singapore in 1941. b. Starvation treatment of POWS of Asian and Western powers in which death was all too often a routine event. Countless beheadings, beatings and executions have been reported by eyewitnesses. c. The kamikaze pilots led to untold death on the ships they attacked in a futile effort to "save face" and postpone the Rising Sun's Empire. d. Captured people were treated as slave labor being beaten, brutalized and murdered in the millions. In a massive war no nation's hands are clean but Japan, as Hastings makes crystal clear, were given carte blanche by the Imperial government to terrorize enemies with no considerations of humanity getting in the way. Hastings asserts that despite the massive B-29 raids on Japan led by General Curtis LeMay the Japanese would never have surrendered. Only the unleashing of the atomic bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to the war's end. Hastings defends the bombs as being part of the general strategy to defeat Japan in unconditional warfare. If the bombs had not fallen there would have been countless more deaths in a last ditch defense of the Japanese homeland. One person's death is a tragedy but in warfare the best policy is to end the war as soon as possible. The atomic bombs did that beginning the Cold War. Hastings gives the outlines of the strategy and implementation of war plans at such hellholes as Leyte Gulf, the Philippines, Burma, China, Manchuria and Iwo Jima. What makes these battle narratives so poignant is the eyewitness accounts from survivors and their families. Suffering in warfare is endemic and attacks those of both sides. Japan was dead wrong in their belief that America would cave in to their demands following the Pearl Harbor attack. They were also wrong in believing the Nazis would win the European war and Russia would not declare war on their nation. The oil and food embargo strangled Japan making their victory over the Allies and their rulership over Asia a dream that was unfulfilled.Japan has never apologized for their wartime atrocities. Along with hundreds of these reports and anecdotes of the battles, Hastings draws short personality profiles of such leaders as MacArthur, Nimitz, Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin and their Japanese counterparts. Emperor Hirohito was a weak ruler who allowed the war to continue at the behest of the military government led by the odious Tojo. This book will allow the reader to vicariously experience the hell of war at sea from submarines on prowl to battleship and airship combat. We see death in all of its grisly incarnations. Man's inhumanity to man is on lurid and graphic display in these densely written 550 pages. The book is well illustrated with good maps. Hasting's bibliography is strong on first person accounts as well as standard secondary sources from throughout the world. We well fell Americans have no idea what living through this terrible time was like unless we were there. Long ago General William T. Sherman pronounced that "War is Hell." May all who read this book work for peace among men and women in our world that is still dealing with the events of World War II. I find Max Hastings to be a brilliant historian who keeps you turning the pages. He is a man of deep understanding and insight.  for more information click here An unusually well written history of the end of WWII in Japan Well written, told through the eyes of the many soldiers, sailors, airmen, and commanders of all the armies involved. The author has a strong point of view about the strategic decisions taken to end the war, and whether you agree with him or not, it is worth reading if you are interested in the war or in Japanese or American or British military history and culture. reviews: 1, 2, 3, page 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 products you might be interested in search for books the battle, 1944, 1944-45, battle, japan, retribution      toavi.com    web randomly chosen DVD: Pride & Prejudice