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Title details for Retribution by Max Hastings - Available

Retribution

The Battle for Japan, 1944-45

by Max Hastings
Simon Vance
Audiobook
3 of 3 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
3 of 3 copies available
In his critically acclaimed Armageddon, Hastings detailed the last twelve months of the struggle for Germany. Here, in what can be considered a companion volume, he covers the horrific story of the war against Japan.
By the summer of 1944 it was clear that Japan’s defeat was inevitable, but how the drive to victory would be achieved remained to be seen. The ensuing drama–that ended in Japan’s utter devastation–was acted out across the vast stage of Asia. In recounting the saga of this time and place, Max Hastings gives us incisive portraits of the theater’s key figures–MacArthur, Nimitz, Mountbatten, Chiang Kai-shek, Mao, Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. But he is equally adept in his portrayals of the ordinary soldiers and sailors–American, British, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese–caught in some of the war’s bloodiest campaigns.
With unprecedented insight, Hastings discusses Japan’s war against China, now all but forgotten in the West, MacArthur’s follies in the Philippines, the Marines at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and the Soviet blitzkrieg in Manchuria. He analyzes the decision-making process that led to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki–which, he convincingly argues, ultimately saved lives. Finally, he delves into the Japanese wartime mind-set, which caused an otherwise civilized society to carry out atrocities that haunt the nation to this day. RETRIBUTION is a brilliant telling of an epic conflict from a master military historian at the height of his powers.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    March 18, 2008

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781415948422
      • File size: 797501 KB
      • Duration: 27:41:27

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Simon Vance brings unusual range and unerring precision to Max Hastings's saga of the last days of WWII. This vivid history draws from letters, memoirs, and interviews; the details Hastings highlights are exquisite. In Japan at the end of the war, "women were forbidden to style their hair or wear smart clothes." Malnutrition was common as the diet dropped to 1,680 calories. By comparison, the English never ate less than 2,800 calories, and U.S. Marines in the Pacific were getting 4,678. MacArthur insisted on calling Admiral Nimitz, "Neemitz," and thought FDR was a glory hound. All of this is presented in a voice that might belong to an inspired Oxford don. You feel privileged to be sitting in. B.H.C. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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