Japan Archives

A Continent Erupts: Decolonization, Civil War, and Massacre in Postwar Asia, 1945-1955

The end of World War II led to the United States’ emergence as a global superpower. For war-ravaged Western Europe it marked the beginning of decades of unprecedented cooperation and prosperity that one historian has labeled “the long peace.” Yet half a world away, in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, and Malaya—the fighting never really stopped, as these regions sought to completely sever the yoke of imperialism and colonialism with all-too-violent consequences. […Learn More]

To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945

The dawn of 1945 finds a US Army at its peak in the Pacific. Allied victory over Japan is all but assured. The only question is how many more months—or years—of fight does the enemy have left. John C. McManus, winner of the Gilder Lehrman Prize for Military History, concludes his magisterial series, described by the Wall Street Journal as being “as vast and splendid as Rick Atkinson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Liberation Trilogy,” with this brilliant final volume. […Learn More]

The Collaborators: Three Stories of Deception and Survival in World War II

Ian Buruma’s spellbinding account of three near-mythic figures—a Dutch fixer, a Manchu princess, and Himmler’s masseur—who may have been con artists and collaborators under Japanese and German rule, or true heroes, or something in between. […Learn More]

Fallout: The Hiroshima Cover-up and the Reporter Who Revealed It to the World

New York Times bestselling author Lesley M.M. Blume reveals how one courageous American reporter uncovered one of the deadliest cover-ups of the 20th century—the true effects of the atom bomb—potentially saving millions of lives.

Just days after the United States decimated Hiroshima and Nagasaki with nuclear bombs, the Japanese surrendered unconditionally. But even before the surrender, the US government and military had begun a secret propaganda and information suppression campaign to hide the devastating nature of these experimental weapons. […Learn More]

Book cover of War of Empires, A: Japan, India, Burma & Britain: 1941–45 by Robert Lyman

A War of Empires: Japan, India, Burma & Britain: 1941–45

In 1941 and 1942 the British and Indian Armies were brutally defeated and Japan reigned supreme in its newly conquered territories throughout Asia. But change was coming. New commanders were appointed, significant training together with restructuring took place, and new tactics were developed. A War of Empires by acclaimed historian Robert Lyman expertly retells these coordinated efforts and describes how a new volunteer Indian Army, rising from the ashes of defeat, would ferociously fight to turn the tide of war. […Learn More]

Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the Raid That Avenged Pearl Harbor

On April 18, 1942, sixteen U.S. Army bombers under the command of daredevil pilot Jimmy Doolittle lifted off from the deck of the USS Hornet on a one-way mission to pummel Japan’s factories, refineries, and dockyards in retaliation for their attack on Pearl Harbor. The raid buoyed America’s morale, and prompted an ill-fated Japanese attempt to seize Midway that turned the tide of the war. But it came at a horrific cost: an estimated 250,000 Chinese died in retaliation by the Japanese. Deeply researched and brilliantly written, Target Tokyo has been hailed as the definitive account of one of America’s most daring military operations. […Learn More]

Implacable Foes: War in the Pacific, 1944 – 1945

May 8, 1945, Victory in Europe Day—shortened to “V.E. Day”—brought with it the demise of Nazi Germany. But for the Allies, the war was only half-won. Exhausted but exuberant American soldiers, ready to return home, were sent to join the fighting in the Pacific, which by the spring and summer of 1945 had turned into a grueling campaign of bloody attrition against an enemy determined to fight to the last man. Germany had surrendered unconditionally. The Japanese would clearly make the conditions of victory extraordinarily high. […Learn More]

Book Cover of a History of Modern Japan: In Search of a Nation: 1850 to Present by Christopher Harding

A History of Modern Japan: In Search of a Nation: 1850 to the Present

In A History of Modern Japan, cultural historian Christopher Harding delves into the untold stories of Japan’s recent history—from a pop star’s nuclear power protest song in 2011, to Japanese feminists who fought for an equal political voice in the 1890s.

Though highly successful, and typically portrayed as a unified effort, Japan’s rebuilding throughout the 20th century faced a lot of domestic criticism. This story-led account gives a voice to those who felt they didn’t fit in with what Japan was becoming. It’s that push and pull that made the country what it is today. […Learn More]

Crucible of Hell: The Heroism and Tragedy of Okinawa, 1945

From the award-winning historian, Saul David, the riveting narrative of the heroic US troops, bonded by the brotherhood and sacrifice of war, who overcame enormous casualties to pull off the toughest invasion of WWII’s Pacific Theater — and the Japanese forces who fought with tragic desperation to stop them. […Learn More]

Last Mission to Tokyo: The Extraordinary Story of the Doolittle Raiders and Their Final Fight for Justice

A thrilling narrative that reveals a key but untold story from World War II: The Doolittle Raids and the international war crimes trial that changed history.

In 1942, freshly humiliated from the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt demanded a show of strength against the Japanese. Jimmy Doolittle, a stunt pilot with a doctorate from MIT, came forward and led eighty young men on a seemingly impossible mission across the Pacific. […Learn More]