Nemesis: The Battle for Japan, 1944–45 - Hardcover

Hastings, Max

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0007219822 ISBN 13: 9780007219827

Publisher: HarperPress, 2007

A masterly narrative history of the climactic battles of the Second World War, and companion volume to his bestselling ‘Armageddon’, by the pre-eminent military historian Max Hastings.

The battle for Japan that ended many months after the battle for Europe involved enormous naval, military and air operations from the borders of India to the most distant regions of China. There is no finer chronicler of these events than the great military historian Max Hastings, whose gripping account explores not just the global strategic objectives of the USA, Japan and Britain but also the first-hand experiences of the airmen, sailors and soldiers of all the countries who participated in the Far East and the war in the Pacific.

The big moments in the story are chosen to reflect a wide variety of human experience: the great naval battle of Leyte Gulf; the under-reported war in China; the re-conquest of Burma by the British Army under General Slim; MacArthur’s follies in the Philippines; the Marines on Iwo Jima and Okinawa; LeMay’s fire-raising Super-fortress assaults on Japan; the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the kamikaze pilots of Japan; the almost unknown Soviet blitzkrieg in Manchuria in the last days of the war, as Stalin hastened to gather the spoils; and the terrible final acts across Japanese-occupied Asia.

This is classic, epic history – both in the content and the manner of telling.

Review:

‘“Nemesis is a triumph...provocative, insightful... impressive...Put all these elements together – the ambition, insight, sureness of touch – and you have a book of real quality’. Sunday Times

‘Solid scholarship, a supreme understanding of strategy, stirring evocations of battles and trenchant opinion...Hastings proves himself once again to be the master of his material.’ Sunday Times ‘Books of the Year’

‘Magisterial...it is truly cathartic to reach the end of the Second World War in Hastings's company.’ Times ‘Books of the Year’

‘Brilliantly organised, compassionate but unsparing in its judgements...a monumental achievement.’ George Steiner, Sunday Times ‘Books of the Year’

'Hastings has covered a vast canvas with superbly realised detail, and has provided an excellent companion to Armageddon'. Daily Telegraph

‘Absolutely excellent.’ John Simpson, Observer

‘Remarkably impressive.’ Guardian

'Hastings is...a master of the sort of detail that illuminates the human cost. It is the way he leaps so adeptly to and fro between the vast panorama and the tiny snapshot pictures that makes him such a readable historian.' Mail on Sunday

‘A delight to read...its originality lies...in the meticulousness of the author's research...an absorbing read...”Nemesis” is an engrossing book.’ Evening Standard

“Brilliantly though Hastings lays out the strategic context, his real talent lies in his account of the 'terrible human experience' that it involved...This is a book not only for military history buffs but for anyone who wants to understand what happened in half the world during one of the bloodiest periods of the blood-soaked 20th century.’ The Spectator

‘An outstandingly gripping and authoritative account of the battle for Japan, and a monument to human bravery and savagery.’ Daily Telegraph

Book Description:

Max Hastings’ account of the battle for Japan is a masterful military history.

• Publisher: HarperPress
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0007219822
• ISBN 13: 9780007219827
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 704