|
| Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 | 
 enlarge | Author: Max Hastings
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy Used: $12.96
You Save: $22.04 (63%)
New (40) Used (18) Collectible (2) from $12.96
Avg. Customer Rating:  57 reviews
Sales Rank: 1946
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 656
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.8
ISBN: 0307263517
Dewey Decimal Number: 940.5425
EAN: 9780307263513
ASIN: 0307263517
Publication Date: March 18, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: 100% GUARANTEED! Fast shipping on more than 1,000,000 Book, Video, Video Game & Music titles all in one location! Discover Your Entertainment at goHastings.
|
| Customer Reviews:
 Leftist revisionism May 27, 2008
16 out of 55 found this review helpful
In contrast to many of the reviews, I found that this book Retribution by Max Hastings totally unbelievably sucked. The author is obviously a British liberal of the quite leftist variety. He goes to great lengths to most unfairly excoriate and malign General MacArthur and he also does a great disservice to the American fighting man in general. If one accepts the views of this author, it is a wonder how Americans managed to kill any of the enemy, much less conquer Iwo Jima. According to Hastings, the fighting caliber of the American fighting man left much to be desired. He also concludes that the aerial bombing campaign, in Europe, was a virtual waste of precious resources. Perhaps he and Albert Speer could have a lively debate.
However in fairness to Hastings' liberal views he is even handed in one regard. Lord Louis Mountbatten is similarly as slandered as General MacArthur. Consistent with the author's leftward slant, the British minority fighting men came in with great praise. One wonders how the British could have done so well on the Asian mainland without their Indian and other minority troops. That point could well be taken up with many other British writers and veterans. Ironically, the British minority troops that are universally revered, the Gurkas, get no where near the attention that they deserve. Oh yes, the author, ever true to his quaint political beliefs, unabashedly concludes that the ultimate surrender of the Japanese was brought about not by the US Naval blockade which portended total starvation, or the atomic bombs. This author, a throwback to the 60's-the 80's, attributes the capulation to the declaration of war by the Russians. This despite the well documented chronology of the debates of the Japanese hierarchy immediately after the atomic bombing, where the emperor personally waded in on the futility of further hostilities. Personally, this book so sickened me that I just could not finish it. It was a complete waste of money.
 Great Introduction to WW II and Last Year in Pacific April 1, 2008
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
World War II history books were the first serious books I began reading as a kid. I've probably read over 100 titles ranging from autobiographies (like William Manchester's "Goodbye Darkness" or Saburo Sakai's "Samurai") to "big" history (like Shirer's "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich") and everything in between (especially a lot of those great Ballantine Books from the 1960s and 1970s). The value I see with Max Hastings effort, "Retribution," is that while it supplies well written history, it also reminds us of the past. The book clearly demonstrates that war is brutal, ugly, and vicious and even this "Good War" from the "Greatest Generation" still proves there's no nice way to do it.
I would quibble with Hastings' recurring need to snipe at various historical figures like Douglas MacArthur, William Halsey, Patrick Hurley, and others. He frequently finds fault with decisions that appeared to make a battle worse and that the decision makers should have known better at the time, but because they were vain, arrogant, or incompetent, more people suffered as a result.
For example, Admiral William Halsey has been second guessed for his pursuit of what turned out to be a Japanese decoy force at Leyte Gulf. Halsey directed his naval forces after that decoy, leaving vulnerable other American forces in the area. Those remaining American forces had one helluva fight on their hands when the main Japanese naval force attacked, but they managed to more than hold their own and drive off the Japanese assault. Every history book I've read going back to very early titles published shortly after the war, commented that Halsey at the very least got fooled by the decoy and should have provided better communication to other American commanders in the area. Hastings comments that Halsey should have been relieved of command, but since things turned out okay and it was so close to the end of the war, Halsey's superiors let it go.
My take on this is simple: You're always the smartest guy in the room when it's not your job. Hastings often acts like that annoying backseat driver, Monday morning quarterback, . . . (insert your favorite cliche here) throughout the book, offering these tidy, smart smacks on the wrist of the historical reputation of men who are dead now. Most of the older history books I've read didn't go that far. They noted as descriptively as possible what happened and what people thought they knew at the time and left it at that. Hastings frequently has to weigh in with his wisdom. My concern here is that if this is the only book you'll ever read about this area, you'll come away with a negative opinion of a lot of folks and I don't think that's warranted or fair. Hastings cannot accept the "fog of war" as a legitimate explanation and instead prefers to make attributions to perceived character defects.
This weakness noted, I find "Retribution" to be an accurate, detailed, interesting and complete examination of the last year in the Pacific theater of World War II. You will both understand the "big picture" and you will also have a great deal of emotional connection to all the people, whether Allies or Axis. In particular his chapters on British, Australian, and Chinese actions offer excellent summaries of these nations contributions in what is typically seen as an American-Japanese conflict. Finally, his careful narrative of the American atomic bombing decision is one of the most thoughtful and balanced perspectives I've read. This is a strong book.
Spectacular... Powerful... Extraordinary March 23, 2008
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
By mid 1944, it was becoming obvious that Japan would be defeated, but the path to victory led straight through a minefield of destruction and suffering.
Master historian Max Hastings' "Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944- 45" dramatically chronicles the final year of the war against Japan.
Mr. Hastings takes the reader to the scenes of bloody, epic struggles -- wading through jungle mud in Burma and MacArthur's beloved Philippines --burning out snipers embedded in the volcanic fortress of Iwo Jima -- raining thousands of incendiaries on tender box Japanese cities from LeMay's B-29 Superfortresses -- and swarming through Manchuria on board Stalin's countless T-34 tanks.
Mr. Hastings has skillfully woven interviews, letters, diaries and memoirs into the story of Japan's part in World War II.
Masterfully moving between the vast saga of the war against Japan to individual snippet's, Mr. Hastings sprinkles in the interesting tales of the ordinary soldiers, sailors, airmen, and civilians caught in this epic conflict.
But not everyone is praised for their efforts; the author is especially critical of key political leaders such as Churchill, Roosevelt, Stalin and Chiang Kai-shek. Towering military figures -- especially General MacArthur, and Lord Mountbatten -- are scrutinized and exposed.
The author portrays Lord Mountbatten, "as a poseur with a streak of vulgarity, promoted far beyond his talents on the strength of fluency, film-star good looks, and his relationship to the royal family."
All students of World War II are familiar with the legendary ego of General MacArthur. Hastings writes, "It was MacArthur's good fortune that, after presiding over the initial disaster in the Philippines, he served in a theater when American material dominance became so overwhelming that his misjudgments and follies were redeemable."
The author describes Generalissimo Chaing Kai shek's, "absolute ruthlessness, vividly exemplified by his destruction of the Yellow River dikes in the path of a Japanese advance, exposing six million people to flooding and starvation. He was indifferent to his own armies' casualties, save where these threatened his power base." Though his regime was infested with corruption, Chiang should be credited with the ouster of the warlords. He knew no Chinese army could defeat the Japanese, and chose to surrender territory while waiting for better odds. Chiang was conserving his army for the battle with the Chinese communists that was coming after the war.
However, the author offers praise and recognition for Admiral Nimitz. Hastings glowingly writes, "Nimitz, a supremely professional naval officer, neither sought nor received a due share of fame for his stellar performance in the Pacific ... "a natural diplomat, sober and controlled."
Moving to the campaigns, Mr. Hastings argues that the island- hopping race between MacArthur and Nimitz was too wasteful. The author suspects The Philippines campaign was a personal goal of MacArthur and militarily was not necessary.
In "Burning A Nation: LeMay", he explores the debate on how to execute the campaign against the Japanese home islands. Truman offered, "The best psychological warfare to use on these barbarians [is] bombs." The author quotes General LeMay's summation, "Bomb and Burn `em till they quit."
Concerning the lack of remorse over Japanese civilian casualties, Mr. Hastings speculates that there was little compassion for Japanese suffering during the wholesale fire- bombing of cities, in part because of -- Japanese treachery committed at Pearl Harbor -- cruelty shown to allied prisoners -- Japanese insistence of dying to the last man.
With the surrender of Nazi Germany, there was a mad scramble on both sides for the final battle -- Operation Olympic, the invasion of Japan.
Vice-Admiral Abe "begged that the surviving German fleet, and especially its U-boats, should be sent to Japan."
The Japanese frantically assembled defensive forces consisting of 450,000 servicemen, 10,000 largely obsolete kamikaze aircraft, rocket planes, human torpedoes, suicide boats, and 4000 teenage 'dragon divers' (all vigorously denied by MacArthur).
On August 9. 1945, very late in the war, Stalin saw his chance to snatch Manchuria away from the crumbling Japanese. Tank armies numbering 1.5 million men, poured across the border from three directions, on a 2,730 mile wide front.
Progress was excellent because the best Japanese formations had already been stripped away for other campaigns. As the T-34 tanks struck deep into Manchuria, isolated Japanese units fought hard -- suicide squads and kamikaze aircraft stormed the tanks, but were shrugged off after furious fighting.
Curiously, this was almost a replay of the Russo-Japanese War of 1905 -- only in reverse. Japanese troops for the first time began to surrender.
The last battle of World War II was fought over the Japanese fortress at Hutou, Manchuria -- "the most elaborate defensive system in Asia." On top of tall river bluffs, Japan had constructed five "Verdun-like" fortresses with walls and ceilings nine feet thick. "The whole system was almost five miles wide and four deep, supported by some of the heaviest artillery in Asia, including 240mm Krupp guns and a 410mm howitzer." states Mr. Hastings.
A bitter Chinese civilian summed up the invasion, "The Russians were supposed to be our liberators, our brothers, but we quickly learned to regard them as enemies. They masqueraded as revolutionaries, but in truth they were no more than wolves."
"Retribution" contains 11 very good maps and 74 interesting photographs.
When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today March 25, 2008
11 out of 16 found this review helpful
"When you go home, tell them of us and say, for your tomorrow, we gave our today," is inscribed on the War Memorial at Kohima. It commemorates a forgotten battle fought by forgotten soldiers of a forgotten army of a forgotten empire for a forgotten cause against a forgotten foe - I exaggerate only slightly, for what school child in any of the great democracies (assisted only at its denouement by the dreadful Soviet dictatorship of 'Uncle' Joe Stalin) that eventually triumphed over a monstrous and militarist enemy can tell today of Kohima, of Imphal, of Leyte Gulf, of Iwo Jima, of Okinawa? Not many, I guess. I am deeply regretful that so few of our young know anything of the above. Max Hastings has performed a first-class service for those who know little or nothing of what happened then or of the need to destroy that 'monstrous and militarist enemy,' the Japan of Hirohito. Those of us who know of the need must never forget, nor permit others so to do. Read this book (published as "Nemesis" in England) in order to know why!
A masterpiece that should be widely read May 2, 2008
10 out of 10 found this review helpful
Relatively few people are alive today who experienced any aspect of WWII as a teenager or older. Fewer still live in countries where the WWII experience can be freely discussed, as in the United States and UK. The Soviet Union considered the war to be a people's war and only recently have stories of individual experiences been forthcoming. In Germany, less and less attention is paid to the horrendous crimes of the German people. France dramatizes its miniscule, if even existent, role. And in Japan, as Hastings points, out widespread denial is still the norm. As a result, accurate knowledge of WWII and its horrors and few glories is rapidly fading from human consciousness - and with that forgetfulness comes the danager of new and even more horrible wars.
Max Hastings writes highly readable military histories. He eschews footnotes and the minutia of academic writing in favor of a friendly narrative style. There is considerable depth, however. In its 550 pages, Hastings covers a war that spanned the years 1931 - 1945 and a bit beyond. It covered a larger geographic area than any other conflict in history, though most of the area was the Pacific Ocean.
The book opens on the saddest possible note: the dedication is to Max Hasting's son who apparently died at age 27 in 2000. And on that sad note, the deaths of millions and unspeakable cruelties at the hands of the Japanese are chronicled in the following pages.
In twenty-two chapters, Hastings treats every major aspect of the war against the Japanese by the primary combatants: the United States, Britain, China and late in the game, the Soviet Union.
Hastings begins with a look at the motivation and goals of the United States. President Roosevelt had announced the goal was unconditional surrender. In recent years, revisionist historians have claimed that this policy prolonged the war. Throughout the book, Hastings demolishes these arguments over and over again. It is quite something to see: Hastings has a clear mastery of the subject.
He then goes on to describe the various battlefronts and he is equally at home here. He uses dozens, if not hundreds, of interviews and memoirs to create his descriptions of battles like the British Burma campaign, the Battle of Leyte Gulf and so on, all the time weaving in the machinations of the main players in the Japanese, US, British and other governments. It is a very effective approach. His descriptions of the battles on Iwo Jima, Okinawa, the sea war at the Battle of Leyte Gulf and the kamikazee campaign leave no room for doubt as to why the Americans feared the blood cost of an invasion of Japan.
This is a critical history and Hastings heaps it on. The vastly overrated Douglas MacArthur is cut appropriately down to size, though Hastings does laud his post-war stewardship of Japan. Hastings criticizes the revisionists, apologists and anti-Americans who condemn the United States for its actions, such as the use of nuclear weapons. He spares nothing in his criticism and outright condemnation of Japanese leaders, past and present for the widespread atrocities.
I devour history and there are few well-written histories, so I found myself dealing with "Retribution" as if it were a great thriller and couldn't wait to get from one page to another. I truly wish that books like this were require reading in America's schools so chilren would grow up with an understanding of why they enjoy such lavish freedom. It did not come free and Hastings gives new life to the tens of thousands of Americans who died in the Pacific and Asian campaigns. It is a sobering book and one that I hope will be widely read.
Jerry
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
