“[The Rising Sun] is quite possibly the most readable, yet informative account of the Pacific war.”—Chicago Sun-TimesThis Pulitzer Prize–winning history of World War II chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of the Japanese empire, from the invasion of Manchuria and China to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Told from the Japanese perspective, The Rising Sun is, in the author’s … Rising Sun is, in the author’s words, “a factual saga of people caught up in the flood of the most overwhelming war of mankind, told as it happened—muddled, ennobling, disgraceful, frustrating, full of paradox.”
In weaving together the historical facts and human drama leading up to and culminating in the war in the Pacific, Toland crafts a riveting and unbiased narrative history. In his Foreword, Toland says that if we are to draw any conclusion from The Rising Sun, it is “that there are no simple lessons in history, that it is human nature that repeats itself, not history.”
“Unbelievably rich . . . readable and exciting . . .The best parts of [Toland’s] book are not the battle scenes but the intimate view he gives of the highest reaches of Tokyo politics.”—Newsweek
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very interesting—–I usually read books on WW I & II by authors who were actually in the war ( a more personal account) and not based on historical facts. This opened up a completely new view of reading—–I now include German, Poland, Russia authors and their viewpoint—–I have discovered that sometimes it takes reading both sides before you found the truth
Toland is not as good a history writer as Barbara Tuchman or Stephen Ambrose, but makes up for it with a very detailed account of the Pacific war against Japan. This book contains a lot of factual information that isn’t well known even by history buffs. Toland’s emphasis is primarily on the Japanese perspective in the war. That’s understandable since his wife is Japanese and helped him with the book. However, in my opinion, he tends to downplay the Japanese deceit and brutality in the war.
A blurb that I read about the book said that it would explain how the Japanese were able to run roughshod over the allies in the early months of the war. It doesn’t really do that. One has to figure that out from the narrative. The Japanese had no innate superiority. They spent years preparing for a Pacific war; they had a battle-hardened military from years of war in China and Manchuria: they used deceit and phony diplomacy to lull the allies into complacency; they relied heavily on stab-in-the-back, sneak attack strategy; and, the allied troops that they faced in the early months of the war were poorly trained, under-equipped and badly led garrison troops who had never been in battle. When the Japanese began fighting well-trained, better equipped, better led soldiers like the U.S. Marines, their tactics were reduced hiding in, and defending, caves and engaging in suicidal banzai attacks which, as we know, were less than effective.
It answers the question of why it took a second bomb to end the war.
Also reveals that the Japanese army was in rebellion, especially in China
A great history of Japan leading up to WWII and the war itself. The book sheds a lot of light on the Japanese war machine and the politics behind their moves. It is quite a lot to take in actually as it goes deeply into the domestic politics and behind the scenes of the army and navy as they tried to win a war that quickly got away from them after Midway. The book deftly pivots back to the war itself throughout and keeps the momentum moving for the general reader. The chapters dealing with the atomic bombs and their effect on the Japanese victims as well as the way the war machine finally stopped are excellent and illuminating and heart-breaking. Highly recommended.
Good rounded view of the subject.
Gave a lot of space to the Japanese point of view which helped my perspective.
It is a good read which gives you the entire history of the Japanese war with us. He gives you why the Japanese did certain things, and our response. Note, when you realize that this was unlike us against Germany in WWll. The Japanese had a different code of honor, which wouldn’t allow them to surrender. Just that fact, caused hundreds of thousands of additional casualties throughout the war. There are many other particulars you need to read in this tome. Jerry Weber
Interesting book detailing how the war in the pacific started and how each side made errors in judgement and the mistakes each side made. Prejudice on both sides and grave misjudgment each each side show how this occurred.
This book is the best I have read on the Pacific theatre of World War II from the Japanese perspective.
Just used this to rewrite my lecture notes on the war in the Pacific. Informative, full of great detail, and interesting, the story gave my students a richer learning experience
Truly excellent work
The Rising Son is one of the “must read” books of WW2. I’d rank it as on par with The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.
This is one of the best written discussions of the Japanese political and military complexities during the Second World War. It is meticulously researched and it provides useful perspectives on how and why the Japanese acted as they did.