American Shogun: A Tale of Two Cultures [Hardcover]

Robert Harvey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 16, 2006

The author of A Few Bloody Noses confronts the engima of MacArthur's struggle against--and rebuilding of--twentieth-century Japan.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

September 27, 1945, was a remarkable day. A vanquished emperor—one said to be directly descended from the sun goddess and possessing a blood line 2,000 years old—paid humble fealty to a middle-class, pipe-smoking American who hadn't bothered wearing a jacket or tie for the occasion. According to former British MP Harvey (Liberators: Latin America's Struggle for Independence), when a nervous Hirohito met the "American shogun," Gen. Douglas MacArthur—Japan's liberator and first foreign ruler and dictator—it was clear that Japanese-American relations would not be conducted between equals. MacArthur's task, as he saw it, was to forge Japan into a democracy without upsetting its ultratraditional society and institutions. He accomplished many, but not all, of his aims: Japan arose to become the world's second-greatest economy and a technological superpower, but remains a bastion of stiff social hierarchies and consensus-building that refuses to submit to a painful postwar self-examination. Harvey dissects the long, complicated, fascinating relationship between Japan and America through a dual biography of the shogun and the emperor—and the rival systems they represented. Harvey is well aware of the book's timeliness. MacArthur's efforts to export democracy to an alien culture, he says, contain "immense lessons for the American occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan." 16 pages of b&w photos. (Feb.)
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From Booklist

Refracted through the lives of General Douglas MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito, Harvey's history of the defeat and occupation of Japan has antecedents. Biographies abound about the two men, and the definitive word on the occupation is Embracing Defeat, by John Dower (1999). Harvey's efforts result in a wide-ranging but accessible synthesis for popular-history readers. Chronologically, he tracks Japan's politics between the Meiji restoration and the end of the Allied occupation in 1952, and becomes increasingly biographical as MacArthur and Hirohito come onto the scene in the 1920s, wield degrees of national influence in the 1930s, and lead militaries in World War II. Harvey directly addresses the controversy surrounding Hirohito's responsibility for sanctioning Japanese aggression, speculating that while he is recorded as having opposed war, he hesitated to act for fear of assassination. Informative about Hirohito's retiring personality and MacArthur's aloof hauteur, Harvey strings their activities through the occupation years and scores wins and losses in the Allied administration, with an accent on the lives that personalizes the clash of their countries. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Hardcover; 1St Edition edition (March 16, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585676829
• ISBN-13: 978-1585676828
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #729,155 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting insights, but lacks focus, October 1, 2006

By 

Arthur P. Skurka (San Ramon, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Shogun: A Tale of Two Cultures (Hardcover)

I found this book worthwhile reading for the author's interesting and, at times, startling insights into the events and characters he describes. But, the coverage of the events leading up to and during the war in the Pacific are often at odds with the facts and the logical conclusions of anyone familiar with the details of the actual events.

Also, the book's editors know absolutely nothing about WWII and performed poorly in correcting obvious errors. For example, B-52 airplanes are mentioned twice within the text, but these eight engine jet bombers wouldn't make an appearance until the late 1950's. Possibly the author meant B-25's, although in one instance I doubt that MacArthur had any B-25's and certainly never employed B-52's. In another instance, the author has MacArthur starting his invasion of Leyte after his successful invasion of Luzon. In reality, it was just the reverse. In defending the controversial Philipine campaign in 1942, the author has MacArthur's forces outnumbered when in fact the Japanese were initially outnumbered when they invaded Luzon after Pearl Harbor. The editing and factual errors that went uncorrected were amatuerish and make the reader lose confidence in the author's research and/or honesty of presentation.

However, despite the poor scholarship and atrocious editing, the author almost redeems himself with very interesting insights into the Japanese character. For example, the author's description of how it was impossible for the Japanese to understand the Americans and their incredibly unique 2,000 year old culture was masterful. His explanation of how the Japanese viewed the August,1945 bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a very sophisticated piece of psychological analysis, if true.

The book over-reached in trying to develop three separate themes: biographies of Hirohito and MacArthur, the Pacific war and the occupation of Japan after the war. I had hoped the book would focus more on the occupation years and what MacArthur and the Americans did and how Japan reacted. He does this for a third of the book, but he often fails to give a coherent picture of the events and his conclusions alternate dizzyingly between praise and condemnation of American actions.

His description of WWII is the weakest section of the book. I'd recommend the reader disregard the author's treatment of events and motives and consult other, more reputable histories of these years. For example, MacArthur's initial defense of the Philipines was considered poor generalship, despite the author's effusive praise. MacArthur made the mistake of organizing a beach front defense agaist the Japanese landing and the Japanese simply landed elsewhere without opposition. A majority of Japanese casualties weren't caused by MacArthur's forces, but rather by malaria, dengue fever and malnutrition. MacArthur treated our Australian allies with contempt and misused their fighting qualities. In his inter-sevice rivalry with the Navy, he advocated ambitious but logistically impossible plans such as the 1942 invasion of New Britain and capture of Rabaul.

The author obviously likes MacArthur, although he tried hard to perform an even-handed analysis of MacArthur's character. Where this plan failed was the author's propensity to skip over or understate some of MacArthur's outrageous and egotistical actions. For example, he dismisses in one sentence MacArthur's acceptance of the Medal of Honor after his escape from Correigidor. Awarding America's highest medal to someone for a successful escape was an insult to those left behind to die and suffer starvation and torture by the Japanese. The author isn't an American and perhaps failed to grasp this important nuance. To shine a praiseworthy light on MacArthur's WWII military campaign, the author is forced to understate or leave unmentioned several blunders and emotional judgments on MacArthur's part. The author never mentions MacArthur's mistake in trying to repel the Japanese on the beach when so many landing sites were available within the Philipines - how this can be considered brilliant military strategy is difficult to understand. And, he neglects to mention that the MacArthur publicity machine portrayed this non-existent beach defense as a furious battle was a complete lie.

In summary, the author excels in insights into motives and psychological analysis. While his insights and analysis may not be true, he did a workman like job and there is no way to factually determine if such nebulous things as motives can be accurately determined. Still, the author tries hard and I liked and admired his reasoning. Buy this book for these qualities, but if you want a conventional history, I'd recommend something else.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars History for the casual reader, December 26, 2006

By 

R. DelParto "Rose2" (Virginia Beach, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: American Shogun: A Tale of Two Cultures (Hardcover)

The first thing that comes to mind, where are the footnotes? Robert Harvey's American Shogun: General MacArthur, Emperor Hirohito and the Drama of Modern Japan examines the lives of General Douglas MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito, and how these two men were significant to American and Japan history. Robert Harvey does not explore unknown territory. Most of the material in this book has already been studied and examined by other writers and historians. What is unique about this book?

Harvey attempts to intertwine the stories of MacArthur and Hirohito as two monumental actors of World War II history. However, the book oversimplifies and overemphasizes certain aspects of each of the men's histories, and their roles in shaping or creating a particular historical event in which they were the participants. As an observation, the events and their intricate details tend to take over the narrative, which were posed in the discussions of the atrocities in Nanking, Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, post-war Japan, and the Korean War. What did MacArthur and Hirohito think about at the time these events occurred? MacArthur's story surpasses Hirohito's, and throughout the book one wonders, what happened to Hirohito and what did he do during World War II? His name disappears amongst the mass information. In addition, at times, the bulk of the book reiterates what has been mentioned before in other books, such as William Manchester's American Caesar and Herbert Bix's Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan as well as John Dower's Embracing Defeat, which provides an overall assessment of post-war Japan; Harvey specifically states the these books were the inspiration to his research.

American Shogun may interest history readers who may want general insight about MacArthur and Hirohito. Possibly to compensate for the lack of notes, Harvey provides a good bibliographical list where readers may further inform themselves. Little do we read about the activities that occurred before and after the Pacific War, but Harvey offers a little insight for those who want to understand this part of history.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars not recommended., February 27, 2007

By 

S. wang "book worm" (SF, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: American Shogun: A Tale of Two Cultures (Hardcover)

This book is a just another run-of-the-mill book to gather some quick $ and 5 mins fame. Besides lacking genuine insight on the subject, Robert Harvey hasn't done a better research in getting some of the facts mentioned in the book straight. For example, after the ending of Korean war for over 50 years, anyone who is adequately read on that piece of history knows that the commander of the Chinese force is actually Marshal Peng DeHuai, not Marshal Lin Piao, as it was presented in Harvey's book.
For a better narrative on the relationship and interation between Gen. McArthur and Hirohito and the making of modern Japan, read the books: 1) Hirohito, and the making of modern Japan. written by Harvard scholar Herbert P. BIX. and 2) Emperor Hirohito and Showa Japan by Stephen S. Large. At least they have notes attached to the book for scholarly research and presentation.