Customer Reviews

The Fall of Japan: The Last Blazing Weeks of World War II

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

William Craig is an excellent and in my view underappreciated military historian. His book "Enemy at the Gates," is an appalling account of the battle of Stalingrad that captures the abject horror of that campaign. In "The Fall of Japan," he gives us the end of World War Two from the perspective of both the Japanese and American belligerants. The writing is crisp and he brings the story alive through the eyes of those who lived it. Particularly well described is effect of the Atomic bombs and the decision by the Japanese emperor to overrule custom and insist that the war be ended. With this book, Craig deserves a place alongside such excellent military historians as John Toland and Stephen Ambrose.

Insightful, in depth look of the Japanese government during it's last days of WW11. Not only does it give you an inside look of it's leadership, it also uncovers for the reader the psychological make-up of it's people and it's old world traditions, especially it's view of life and sucide. I first read this book 33 years ago, when I was in my early twentys. Today, the journey through it's pages are just as exciting.

In this reprint of his acclaimed 1967 work, Craig work shines as an exemplar of lucid history writing. The drama of the defeat of a proud empire is portrayed, with its heroes, villains, and victims, in admirable clarity, even making interesting the political machinations of the Japanese heirarchy as it struggled to stave off the inevitable.
With photos, sources, bibliography, and excellent index, this remarkable work shows how close the world was to a monumental tragedy, and sheds light on the decision to use the atomic bomb.
(The numerical rating above is a default setting within Amazon's format. This reviewer does not employ numerical ratings).

This book chronicles, in great detail, the last month of the War. The first few chapters are about the fire bombing of Tokyo and the Atomic bombs.

The majority of the book about the officers coup, that attempted to prevent a surrender. It also details the treatment of prisoners by Japan.

I liked it enough that I will probably read his book on Stalingrad.

One small problem: the book has many print errors.

It must be remembered that this book was written in 1967. Since then however, the death of Hirohito has revealed many primary sources which indicate that the emperor and his family were much more implicated in the conduct of the war than the view promoted by Mac Arthur's propaganda.

Some authors like Yoshiaki Yoshimi even discovered that Hirohito personally authorized the use of chemical weapons against civilians.

For a much more updated study, you should read «Hirohito and War: Imperial Tradition and Military Decision Making in Prewar Japan» by Peter Wetzler, «The Showa emperor 15 years war» by Akira Fujiwara, «The Showa emperor as commander in chief» by Akira Yamada or «Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan» by Herbert Bix

This is a very good read. It is exhaustively researched. I found it to be personally authentic in the final chapters, based on my experience on Luzon Island in 1945.

You can't tell a book by its cover nor its prologue. I almost did not read this book due to the poor prologue. Pages, or at least paragraphs, were missing between xi and xii, xiii and xix, and paragraps were repeated on xii and xiii. That said, Mr. Craig did a masterful job of describing the end of the Japanese war machine. Having spent four years in Japan and touring many of the cities discussed, including the Nagasaki peace park, I beleive Craig captured the the true complexity of the Jananese.