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95 reviews for:
Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan
Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
4.07 AVERAGE
95 reviews for:
Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan
Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
4.07 AVERAGE
This is an easy to read history which has fiction in parts of it as what people were thinking but
very understandable. Clearly researched and fact checked. Information clearly brought areas of WWII back in mind. The ruthlessness of the Russians.
very understandable. Clearly researched and fact checked. Information clearly brought areas of WWII back in mind. The ruthlessness of the Russians.
Great book for what it is, an overview of the Pacific side of WWII. I appreciate the authors' use of footnotes to relay additional information, a lost art. Nobody looks for those in end notes where they are now commonly found, if at all.
I liked this book but it took me an extremely long time to get through which is unusual for me, so only 3 stars because it read slower for me than some of the others in the "Killing" series. Probably not the fault of the authors though. I have probably read at least 25 books on WWII and our fight with the Nazis in Germany and I know hardly anything about our war with Japan so this was helpful to learn more.
I didn't like Bill O'Reilly before I found out he was a sexual predator but I decided to give this book a shot so I could talk about it with a relative. My primary concern was that O'Reilly might have projected his own right-wing views onto history, but aside from one possible shot at former President Obama there wasn't anything partisan in this book. I say possible shot because the anecdote concerns a pastor that Obama knew personally who openly condemned the use of the Atomic Bombs on Japan as monstrous and unnecessary. Following these statements Obama distanced himself from this pastor and it is at this point that O'Reilly lays out his thesis, "The Atomic Bombing of Japan was monstrous but absolutely necessary." The book hops around discussing various important figures and their respective parts in the war including President Roosevelt, President Truman, General MacArthur, Emperor Hirohito, J. Robert Oppenheimer & Hideki Tojo. The sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the exploits of conscientious objector Desmond T. Doss are touched upon but the meat of the book lays out evidence for O'Reilly's thesis that the atomic bombings were absolutely necessary. O'Reilly points out a couple important things:
*MacArthur estimated up to 1 Million people would die by the end of the proposed Operation Downfall.
*The Japanese committed atrocities before the war (The Rape of Nanking) and during the war (torturing of POWs, Mass Killings in the Philippines, use of "comfort women", the horrific human experiments of Unit 731, etc.). The Japanese weren't the innocent victims revisionist history has painted them as.
*The Japanese were hoping to broker a peace deal through the Soviets and would have fanatically fought until that happened. They had no plans to surrender.
The book lays out a good case and caps itself off with a "Where are they Now?" Epilogue of the historical figures we've followed throughout the book. I had low expectations of this one and came away surprised. I would definitely recommend this one and I look forward to reading the other entries in O'Reilly's Killing series.
*MacArthur estimated up to 1 Million people would die by the end of the proposed Operation Downfall.
*The Japanese committed atrocities before the war (The Rape of Nanking) and during the war (torturing of POWs, Mass Killings in the Philippines, use of "comfort women", the horrific human experiments of Unit 731, etc.). The Japanese weren't the innocent victims revisionist history has painted them as.
*The Japanese were hoping to broker a peace deal through the Soviets and would have fanatically fought until that happened. They had no plans to surrender.
The book lays out a good case and caps itself off with a "Where are they Now?" Epilogue of the historical figures we've followed throughout the book. I had low expectations of this one and came away surprised. I would definitely recommend this one and I look forward to reading the other entries in O'Reilly's Killing series.
I thought the book was very well done and researched. Presenting the end of WWII, told the way they have done it sheds light on the decisions facing President Truman and the nation. Mr. O' Reilly and myself have in common the fact that our fathers were part of the Americans fighting in the Pacific Theater and agree that had not Truman gave the order to use the A Bombs, they would not have survived an invasion and we would not be here today. Unfortunately this war did not end all war but ushered in a new wave of the kind of war we now are involved in.
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Not as good as Killing the SS. Incredibly mistitled. Should have been something like, Why We Dropped the A-Bombs. The actual punishments for Japanese officials happens quickly in the final chapters. The footnotes were unnecessary. They read just like the text, so I'm not sure why they were added as footnotes and weren't just part of the story. Still good though. I hadn't really ever specifically looked into Japanese atrocities during the war.
Nice overview of WWII in the Pacific Theater. Doesn't go too indepth, but good for someone who is looking to become more knowledgeable about that time period.
There were a lot of things i learned from reading this book. It's amazing how little I knew about the war in the Pacific from history classes in high school and college. I knew a lot about the cotton gin and the roaring 20's but scarcely little about our war with Japan and how it ended. What I liked the most about this was reading the short sections describing individual soldiers and their valor. A particular bright light was reading of Desmond Doss, a true hero. Really fantastic to hear of how brave these men were and how valiantly they fought.