| 140 Days to Hiroshima: The Story of Japan's Last Chance to Avert Armageddon Contributor(s): Dean Barrett, David (Author) |
|
 |
ISBN: 1635765811 ISBN-13: 9781635765816 Publisher: Diversion Books OUR PRICE: $25.19 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: April 2020 * Not available - Not in print at this time * |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - History | Military - World War Ii - History | Asia - Japan - History | United States - 20th Century |
| Dewey: 940.542 |
| Physical Information: 1.2" H x 6.2" W x 9.2" (1.50 lbs) 352 pages |
| Themes: - Chronological Period - 1940's - Cultural Region - Japanese - Chronological Period - 20th Century |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: On the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki comes this heart-pounding account of the war-room drama inside the cabinets of the United States and Japan that led to Armageddon on August 6, 1945. Here are the secret strategy sessions, fierce debates, looming assassinations, and planned invasions that resulted in history's first use of nuclear weapons in combat, and the ensuing chaotic days as the Japanese government struggled to respond to the reality of nuclear war. During the closing months of World War II, as America's strategic bombing campaign incinerated Japan's cities, two military giants locked in a death embrace of cultural differences and diplomatic intransigence. The leaders of the United States called for the "unconditional surrender" of the Japanese Empire while developing history's deadliest weapon and weighing an invasion, Downfall, that would have dwarfed D-Day. Their enemy responded with a last-ditch plan termed Ketsu-Go, which called for the suicidal resistance of every able-bodied man and woman in "The Decisive Battle" for the homeland. But had Emperor Hirohito's generals miscalculated how far the Americans had come in developing the atomic bomb? How close did President Harry Truman come to ordering the invasion of Japan? Within the Japanese Supreme Council at the Direction of War, a.k.a. "The Big Six," Foreign Minister Shigenori Tōgō risked assassination in his crusade to convince his dysfunctional government, dominated by militarist fanatics, to save his country from annihilation. Despite Allied warnings of Japan's "prompt and utter destruction" and that the Allies would "brook no delay," the Big Six remained defiant. They refused to surrender even after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. How did Japanese leaders come to this impasse? The answers lie in this nearly day-by-day account of the struggle to end the most destructive conflict in history. |
Contributor Bio(s): Dean Barrett, David: - David Dean Barrett is a military historian who has published work in WWII Quarterly Magazine, U.S. Military History Review, and Global War Studies. A member and contributor to H-War, an interdisciplinary forum for scholars of military history, he has been a guest speaker for more than a decade on the topics of the atomic bomb, the end of the Pacific War, weapons of mass destruction, and more. He lives in Littleton, Colorado. |