Never Look Back
History of World War II in the Pacific
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- £174.99
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- £174.99
Publisher Description
50 years ago, Japan attacked Pearl Harbour and brought a reluctant America into World War II. Armed with fresh materials, which have become available only in the last decade, Renzi and Roehrs take a critical look at the decisive Japanese-American episodes in "The Great Pacific War". Unlike standard histories of World War II, "Never Look Back" includes the Japanese perspective, bringing to light challenging facts: in "Operation Flying Elephant" the Japanese attempted to cause forest fires in the American West by releasing hydrogen-filled balloons. When Americans of Japanese ancestry were interned during the conflict, word reached Japan of their plight and resulted in even greater mistreatment of American POWs in Japan. It is argued that Japan did not surrender because of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki or because of the conventional firebombing or because of the US submarine campaign, but because the USSR entered the war.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This compact, workmanlike history of the 1941-45 war in the Pacific provides the Japanese and the American viewpoints toward its origins and conduct. Tracing the relationship between the two countries from the turn of the century, the authors describe the planning and execution of the attack on Pearl Harbor and give succinct accounts of the major military campaigns that followed, showing how the advent of new weapons (particularly the carrier) led to new strategy and tactics. The book highlights the importance of U.S. military intelligence in contributing to victory, including the influence on the turning-point battle of Midway of Admiral Chester Nimitz's chief intelligence officer, Joseph Rochefort. The authors argue that Emperor Hirohito's August 1945 decision to surrender to the Americans was not so much due to the atomic-bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as to his fear of Soviet occupation (``We must act now,'' his chief counselor advised, ``while our main adversary is still the United States''). The late Renzi taught history at the University of Wisconsin; Roehrs is a doctoral candidate in history at Louisiana State University. Photos.
