Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II 0th Edition

by John W. Dower (Author)

116 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0393320275

ISBN-10: 0393320278

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Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the 1999 National Book Award for Nonfiction, finalist for the Lionel Gelber Prize and the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize, Embracing Defeat is John W. Dower's brilliant examination of Japan in the immediate, shattering aftermath of World War II.

Drawing on a vast range of Japanese sources and illustrated with dozens of astonishing documentary photographs, Embracing Defeat is the fullest and most important history of the more than six years of American occupation, which affected every level of Japanese society, often in ways neither side could anticipate. Dower, whom Stephen E. Ambrose has called "America's foremost historian of the Second World War in the Pacific," gives us the rich and turbulent interplay between West and East, the victor and the vanquished, in a way never before attempted, from top-level manipulations concerning the fate of Emperor Hirohito to the hopes and fears of men and women in every walk of life. Already regarded as the benchmark in its field, Embracing Defeat is a work of colossal scholarship and history of the very first order. John W. Dower is the Elting E. Morison Professor of History at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is a winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for War Without Mercy. 75 illustrations and map

Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II

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Product Details

Paperback: 688 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (June 17, 2000)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393320278
ISBN-13: 978-0393320275
Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.2 x 9.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (116 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #51,566 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #15 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > History > Asia
- #57 in Books > History > Asia > Japan
- #67 in Books > Textbooks > Humanities > History > Military

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Top Customer Reviews

A bold and authoritative view of the U.S. occupation.

By mark selden ms44@cornell.edu on August 29, 1999

Format: Hardcover

Embracing Defeat is an authoritatively researched and beautifully written account of the U.S. occupation of Japan by a leading specialist on World War II, Japan and the U.S.-Japan relationship. This is a work that pulls no punches. Like no earlier study, it brings to the fore the ironies and contradictions of the era and casts fresh light on several of the great political issues of the era: the making of Japan's postwar constitution, U.S.-Japan relations, the reconstruction of economy and society, the role of Japan in the making of the U.S. order in Asia, and the role of MacArthur. It also offers the first cultural history of the occupation.It is particularly valuable in bringing out Japanese contributions to shaping occupation outcomes. Embracing Defeat is a pleasure to read.Dower takes the reader on a tour that reveals ambiguity, irony, fallibility, vitality, dynamism, messianic fervor, theatre of the absurd, the world turned upside down, fall and redemption, flotsam and jetsam on a sea of self-indugence, cynical opportunism, top-to-bottom corruption, delicacy and degeneration, despondency and dreams, tragedy and farce, boggling fatuity, and carnival, to mention a few of the polarities that run through this beautifully written and astute volume.

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Solid treatment of a critical historical period

By Buckeye on April 26, 2000

Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase

This book is essential reading for those interested in the history of Japan as well as for those with an interest in how Japanese society came to be what it is today. While I am not qualified to comment on its historical scholarship, it certainly seemed very solid to me - the author's documentation is thorough and impressive and his treatment is painstaking and precise. It certainly rings true.
However, my sense was that the book started off as an excellent read and then began to drag somewhere after the first 200 pages. While I have no doubt that the latter half of the book is as accurate and important a history as the first half, it seemed to make for less compelling reading. The first third or so of the book concentrated primarily on the societal impact of the Japanese surrender and its immediate aftermath - and I found it absolutely fascinating. The latter portions of the book dealt more with political issues, including a very thorough treatment of how the occupying forces (i.e. the US under MacArthur) drafted and pushed through the new Japanese Constitution. Very interesting, but in my opinion not as compelling as the early material in the book.
In summary, if you are interested in the history of Japan and/or World War II this book has to be on your reading list. A very impressive piece of work.

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Better to say it is excellent coverage of Tokyo & Occupatio

By HARL KOCH on June 20, 1999

Format: Hardcover

As a company commander in far SW Honshu and Kyushu I would say Prof. Dower's scholarly work widely missed the mark when he attempted to discuss the life of the Army man in Japan. Occupation life in Tokyo and the rest of Japan were entirely different. Dower makes it sound very cushy. He has a photo of a Chief Petty Officer in Tokyo sitting down with his wife and children at family dinner. The Chief has on his full uniform, the children are scrubbed and brushed, the boys wear neckties and behind them are two Japanese maids in kimono and obi. As an officer commanding 200 men, I had no maid, our messhall had no maids, meals were served cafeteria style. Our enlisted men were pampered by Japanese who served as KPs. Instead of peeling potatoes, my men and officers were entirely free to perform training and reconnaissance missions. In that part of Japan I never saw homeless people squatted on the sidewalks, I never saw people who looked starved or in rags, I never saw the labor unions demonstrating. My company lived in the country 40 miles from division headquarters. There were no bowling alleys, there were no movies. We did have an E.M. club with slot machines and on occasion we used those profits to hire a Japanese show, a magician, a very unsophisticated musical with dancers. In a small nearby town in Shimane Ken there was as best described, a Japanese beer joint; this place had no girls but it did have a Wurlitzer juke box and served very cold, excellent Japanese beer that we paid for. After I was in Japan almost a year I was allowed a vacation to Tokyo and to see friends in Sendai. Tokyo was like a different world.Read more ›

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Democracy from Above and other histories

By Omer Belsky on June 6, 2003

Format: Paperback

'Embracing Defeat' is a Pulitzer prize winning portrait of Japanese society after the defeat in WW2. It is a wide ranging survey, which, despite some guiding themes, often feels more like a collection of essays than a unified work.

There are, I think, several questions of great interest to the contemporary reader about Japan. One would probably be most interested in learning about how Japan dealt with the devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki; how Japan turned from a racist, imperialist country into a democratic and pacifistic one; and how Japan not only recovered from the economic devastation of the war, but finally became one of the world's leading powers.

Strangely, Professor Dower seem to give peripheral attention at best to the first and third question, and pays most attention to the second, as well as to minuet study of the interactions between the US occupation force and the Japanese population. He also focuses mostly on the early years of the occupation, up to 1949 or so, as if a chapter or two on the outbreak of the cold war were planned but later discarded.

Much of the book is 'social history' - a depiction not so much of the leading characters and figures, but of sociological and economic trends. All too often, Dower fall into the trap of this kind of writing - describing things that, for any observer with the slightest knowledge of the society, would be patently obvious. Who could fail to anticipate poverty and corruption in a country devastated by war? Given the existence of rationing, every one who ever took any economic course can predict the appearance of a black market. And obviously, a country that lost millions of its young population in war would pay more attention to its own casualties than to those of the former enemies.Read more ›

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Four Stars

Everything was fine.

Published 3 hours ago by Larry

Beautifully written account of tragedy and resilience in a country ...

Beautifully written account of tragedy and resilience in a country destroyed by militarism. This book helped prepare me for a study abroad in Japan by giving me context of Japan's... Read more

Published 22 days ago by Wade Long

I am a big reader of history but found this somewhat tedious.

Not quite sure how this book won the Pulitzer. I am a big reader of history but found this somewhat tedious.

Published 1 month ago by Phoenix Resident

I find this one of the best books available for teaching my graduate...

I find this one of the best books available for teaching my graduate students about the culture and social dynamics of post-war Japan.

Published 2 months ago by david

Four Stars

Good

Published 3 months ago by Wilma36

Good history of what it was like to occupy Japan

Good history of what it was like to occupy Japan, and the ambivilence of the U.S. in keeping the emperor, who certainly could have been charged with war crimes. Read more

Published 4 months ago by portsun

Great Opening - Middle Chapters Drone

The first several chapters of Embracing Defeat is engaging covering the social history of Japan following WWII discussing groups, such as returning troops, lives of women, lack of... Read more

Published 5 months ago by MDCRABGUY

Five Stars

excellent book and helps explain how post war japan till now was formed

Published 5 months ago by duffing71

Very highly recommended to anyone interested in post-war recovery

Engrossing, revelatory, detailed... I knew very little indeed about the post-war situation in Japan, and this book was a fountain of new information and documentation. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Nathaniel R. Brown

Five Stars

Superior book that covers the time frame immediately after WWII. Really interesting and well written.

Published 6 months ago by couchalot

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