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lumbra's review
challenging
informative
slow-paced
4.5
As comprehensive a case about the emperor's involvement in WW2 as you are likely to read.
mrpolitepenguin's review
informative
slow-paced
3.5
This book is really informative. Specifically, with Hirohito and WWII. I gave it 3.5 stars because of that. 3 because it was well written and the 0.5 because it really does have a lot of information there.
I was slightly disappointed because I thought it would cover more post WWII Japan and the politics. I thought he got bogged down in WWII for too long so it made the book a slower read than it needed to be. Its almost like the book would have been better as three: 1. Can cover preWWII Japan the movements etc. 2. Can deal with WWII and the immediate aftermath. 3. Could deal with modern Japan and the implications of WWII and how to move forward.
In short, good book, but I felt like it booged down with WWII (I felt like I was re-reading the same information). I would recommend if you have an interest in Japanese history, just know the middle slows down.
I was slightly disappointed because I thought it would cover more post WWII Japan and the politics. I thought he got bogged down in WWII for too long so it made the book a slower read than it needed to be. Its almost like the book would have been better as three: 1. Can cover preWWII Japan the movements etc. 2. Can deal with WWII and the immediate aftermath. 3. Could deal with modern Japan and the implications of WWII and how to move forward.
In short, good book, but I felt like it booged down with WWII (I felt like I was re-reading the same information). I would recommend if you have an interest in Japanese history, just know the middle slows down.
willia4's review against another edition
3.0
It's horribly embarrassing for me to say it, but the only thing that I can think of to say about this book is that it is very, very, very dense.
I don't use that word as a pejorative (though, of course, I also don't mean it for a compliment). I'm not a high school student terrified of a thick book. Similarly, I'm also not an intellectual who can devour rich works of non-fiction in an afternoon. Instead, I use the word in a purely descriptive sense. This book is dense: it's filled with meticulously researched facts written in a dry and scholarly style. Dates, names, events, and quotations fill every page. It's a lot to absorb, and many (if not most) paragraphs required me to read them a few times to really get a feel for what was happening. Which is to say that it took me far longer to read than I would have expected from a book that's under 700 pages. Again, I don't consider this a negative: it's purely an observation. And given how much work I had to put into reading it (keeping the Japanese names straight in my head required far more mental effort than I'm proud to admit), it tends to stand out in my mind when I think about this book.
That said, the book is very good and I'm glad that I put in that work. As a traditionally-educated American*, I don't know much about Japanese history. After reading this book, I still don't know much about Japanese history; but I do know a little bit more about the narrow time period of the Shōwa reign. Among other things, I've never really had a good handle on why Japan chose to enter the second World War. I've never thought to ask how Asian nations (with histories far longer than the American one I'm so used to) relate to each other. And after the War, what were US-Japanese relations like from the Japanese side? While I certainly don't have all the answers for this (I've only read one book on it!), I think I have a bit more context for these ideas. Why, just today, I was able to have an intelligent conversation about what it means for modern-day Americans to honor the patriotism of Zero pilots and how Japan's constitutional monarchy developed (and differs from the British system I'm more familiar with).
Sure, I haven't devoted my life to studying these topics. And sure, I'm probably more wrong than I'm right about a lot of it. But, I think I have a broader context for understanding these things now than I did before. And, considering how one of "these things" is a war that completely redefined global politics into our current times, having a bit more context isn't a bad thing at all.
The book itself is well-written (though dry in a scholarly way). It's not a particularly easy read, but I think it rewards the effort one spends to read it. I have read at least one paper critiquing Bix's methods and conclusions. So I don't know that this work will definitely stand the test of time as historical consensus develops on the issues that Bix tackles. But it won the Pulitzer. That has to stand for something, right?
In the end, this isn't a "must-read" book like some others that I've reviewed here. It's hard work and it covers a narrow slice of history that may not be interesting to everyone. But if you are interested in Japan or a small slice of Eastern history meeting Western (or if you just want to read a good non-fiction book), I'd definitely recommend it. At the very least, I enjoyed it.
*Read: poorly-educated American
I don't use that word as a pejorative (though, of course, I also don't mean it for a compliment). I'm not a high school student terrified of a thick book. Similarly, I'm also not an intellectual who can devour rich works of non-fiction in an afternoon. Instead, I use the word in a purely descriptive sense. This book is dense: it's filled with meticulously researched facts written in a dry and scholarly style. Dates, names, events, and quotations fill every page. It's a lot to absorb, and many (if not most) paragraphs required me to read them a few times to really get a feel for what was happening. Which is to say that it took me far longer to read than I would have expected from a book that's under 700 pages. Again, I don't consider this a negative: it's purely an observation. And given how much work I had to put into reading it (keeping the Japanese names straight in my head required far more mental effort than I'm proud to admit), it tends to stand out in my mind when I think about this book.
That said, the book is very good and I'm glad that I put in that work. As a traditionally-educated American*, I don't know much about Japanese history. After reading this book, I still don't know much about Japanese history; but I do know a little bit more about the narrow time period of the Shōwa reign. Among other things, I've never really had a good handle on why Japan chose to enter the second World War. I've never thought to ask how Asian nations (with histories far longer than the American one I'm so used to) relate to each other. And after the War, what were US-Japanese relations like from the Japanese side? While I certainly don't have all the answers for this (I've only read one book on it!), I think I have a bit more context for these ideas. Why, just today, I was able to have an intelligent conversation about what it means for modern-day Americans to honor the patriotism of Zero pilots and how Japan's constitutional monarchy developed (and differs from the British system I'm more familiar with).
Sure, I haven't devoted my life to studying these topics. And sure, I'm probably more wrong than I'm right about a lot of it. But, I think I have a broader context for understanding these things now than I did before. And, considering how one of "these things" is a war that completely redefined global politics into our current times, having a bit more context isn't a bad thing at all.
The book itself is well-written (though dry in a scholarly way). It's not a particularly easy read, but I think it rewards the effort one spends to read it. I have read at least one paper critiquing Bix's methods and conclusions. So I don't know that this work will definitely stand the test of time as historical consensus develops on the issues that Bix tackles. But it won the Pulitzer. That has to stand for something, right?
In the end, this isn't a "must-read" book like some others that I've reviewed here. It's hard work and it covers a narrow slice of history that may not be interesting to everyone. But if you are interested in Japan or a small slice of Eastern history meeting Western (or if you just want to read a good non-fiction book), I'd definitely recommend it. At the very least, I enjoyed it.
*Read: poorly-educated American
lukeibaldwin's review against another edition
5.0
“Meanwhile in Tokyo, during the crucial interval between the Potsdam Declaration and the August 6 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Hirohito himself said and did nothing about accepting the Potsdam terms. Twice, however, on July 25 and 31, he had made clear to (Lord of the Privy Seal) Kido that the imperial regalia had to be defended at all costs.”
benrogerswpg's review against another edition
3.0
This was just an okay read honestly.
I found it very long and not too interesting (fairly dry).
3.1/5
I found it very long and not too interesting (fairly dry).
3.1/5
statman's review against another edition
3.0
I read most of this on a recent trip to Japan and it helped me understand a little bit about how Japanese culture became the way it did. The main premise of the book is that Hirohito knew a lot more than he ever let on and he was responsible for many of the things that caused Japan to join in WWII. But his ability to remain emperor after WWII created this interesting situation where there was an emperor but the governmental power did not reside in him. It is a well-written book with a large focus on the WWII era and less about the 40+ years he lived after the war.