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Liked It “The last year of the WWII in Asia is vividly told in this long but never tedious account. Hastings keeps the story personal by alternating accounts of battles, strategy and statistics with first-hand accounts of leaders, soldiers and civilians. This is not an overview - the accounts of the...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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0 of 65535 members found this review helpful“War is hell.”
MOF wrote this review 3 weeks ago. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“The last year of the WWII in Asia is vividly told in this long but never tedious account. Hastings keeps the story personal by alternating accounts of battles, strategy and statistics with first-hand accounts of leaders, soldiers and civilians. This is not an overview - the accounts of the horrors of Okinawa, Burma, Iwo Jima, the Japanese occupation of China are extensively and graphically described. Hastings is opinionated - he begins the book by saying that although the war in Europe has gotten more attention, the war in the Far East caused at least as much if not more suffering among combatants and civilians. American losses were 31/2 times what they were in the European theater. He writes about the mistrust between the British and the American commanders. Few of the generals and politicians, Allied or Japanese, gets a high score. His judgments are balanced, however. While he gives Macarthur a scathing review as a military leader, he says he was an intelligent administrator of postwar occupied Japan. He disagrees with historians who conclude that the Japanese were on the verge of surrendering before the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
Suzanne F wrote this review Tuesday, September 29 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Excellent history of the war in the Pacific up to VJ day. Covers the US, British and Australian operations in the Pacific. Very thorough job by Hastings.”
Jim W wrote this review Tuesday, April 7 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Excellent!”
Judy S wrote this review Saturday, January 31 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“A vital account of the last year of the war in the Pacific. Of particular interest are Hasting's examination of the American decision to use atomic weapons and the Japanese reponse, original material drawn from his interviews with Japanese military veterans and civilian survivors, and the internal wrangling surrounding Japan's decision to surrender.”
justcorbly . wrote this review Friday, January 9 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
0 of 1 members found this review helpful“This book is basically an overview of all the events that happened along the timeline of the War of Japan. It doesn't just cover Japan it covers what was happening with British and what was happening in Germany. Within the book it tells a persons story, what they are thinking and quotes they used during the war. If I had to pick an age group appropriate for this book I would say 6th grade and up due to the fact that in the book it's talking about how gruesome deaths could be when in the enemy hands. I am really liking this book.”
Mr.Soccer wrote this review Tuesday, May 20 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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