| Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 (Vintage) |  | Author: Max Hastings
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $17.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  48 reviews
Sales Rank: 286594
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 688
ISBN: 0307275361
Dewey Decimal Number: 940
EAN: 9780307275363
ASIN: 0307275361
Publication Date: March 10, 2009 (In 193 Days)
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| Customer Reviews: Read 43 more reviews...
 Overall themes excellent; some details a bit weak August 25, 2008
This book is a companion volume to Max Hastings' earlier book Armageddon, which chronicled the end of Nazi Germany. Retribution is about equivalent to Armageddon in scope, magnitude, and length, and it's about comparable also in terms of the author's intent in writing the book, at least apparently. While the author does attempt some original research, he's rather open that a lot of what he's written here is from other published sources, and he doesn't try to dress up what he writes as universally original scholarship.
The war with Japan in 1945 was especially violent. To modern sensibilities, it's one of the most senseless conflicts in the history of mankind. It should have been obvious to Japan's rulers that they couldn't win the war. This should have led them inevitably to the conclusion that they needed to find a way to surrender in order to stop the killing of civilians, both in Japan and abroad. Instead, Japan's leadership insisted on continuing the fighting, and factions within the leadership actually wanted to continue after the second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. Hastings does a good job of illuminating all of this, and the result is an interesting discussion of the end of World War II in the Pacific.
Hastings recounts the last battles of the war reasonably well, though as documented in another of the reviews he somewhat garbles the surface battles that were part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf. The one thing I noticed that was pretty egregious was also rather odd: he reproduces, in the illustration section of the book, a photograph of USS Gambier Bay, bracketed by shell splashes, and neglects to point out that you can see a Japanese heavy cruiser on the horizon in the photograph. It's odd to see this photo without the proper caption explaining what's going on in it.
One side note: the review above by Kai Bird should be approached with considerable caution. Bird has almost nothing to say about Retribution itself, concentrating on Hastings' view of Truman's decision to drop the atomic bombs and the Japanese intentions (were they going to surrender, or fight on?) before and after Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What gets left out of Bird's review, and what is probably unknown to many non-scholars (I certainly didn't know, and I pay some attention to this sort of thing) is that Bird is the co-author of a book on the subject of Japan's surrender. Bird's book takes the point of view that the Japanese were intending to surrender anyway, and Truman destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki in order to intimidate the Soviets. This has been discredited repeatedly by more objective scholars: the premise rests on a very selective reading of some documents, while ignoring mountains of others which contradict it, and is therefore restricted to the liberal fringe of American scholarship. Too bad Amazon had to reprint the guy's article as if it was definitive.
All in all this is a good book. Hastings is a reliable, intelligent writer, and this is one of his better efforts. I enjoyed it a great deal, and would recommend it.
 Everything you ever wanted to know about the Pacific war, but were afraid to ask. August 24, 2008
The ETO has gotten a lot more ink than the Pacific, and frankly, I didn't know that much about it, that's why I got the book. The author gives a balanced view of the war in the Pacific that is refreshing. MacArthur wasn't the paragon of American military heritage that accounts have had us believe. Halsey was kind of a loose cannon, and the Japanese were real people, instead of the RKO/MGM images of war movies.
Truly a Downfall August 18, 2008
I would defnitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the historical truth about the end of WW II in the Pacific Theater. Mr. Hastings does an excellent job of covering the entirety of the Japanese conflict with the Allied forces. Further, his concentration on the 1944/45 time frame allows one to gain real perspective on the immense stupidity and fantasies the Japanese leaders held about their opponents, their own capabilities, and their hopeless position compared with their opponents.
It is notable that the author includes description from all of the battlefronts, and treats the experiences of most of the peoples involved in the Pacific War: Burma, China(s), Vietnam, Manchura, the Philipines, Australia, etc. Nowhere to my knowledge has such a wide view of the conflict been available in one volume, nor have many in the West seen this material.
Certainly the Chinese experience is one that bears highlighting. Hastings recounting of their treatment under Japanese invasion and occupation is of immense value in calculating just what the impact of prolonging the Japanese War would have meant. It also provides insight into the continuing Japanese avoidance in coming to grips with their national behavior and responsibilities as a nation state in Asia from 1931 onwards.
This book also continues the burying of revisionist claptrap (some by the Washington Post reviewer) about "Unconditional Surrender", the decision to use atomic weapons, their effects on the Japanese in power, and the entry of Stalin's Soviet forces into the Pacific War. Hastings reinforces hitorians like Frank and Newman in thoroughly demolishing the Alperovitz (and Bird) pipe dreams.
No doubt something went terribly wrong in Japan after the 1920's. This excellent book provides the reader the insight into the 1945 coda to that era.
My only semi-serious quibble is with the author's comparison of the '44/'45 Japanese air defense against US air attack. He compares it to that of the English during the Battle of Britain, and I would mention that the RAF air defense system was far more integrated, technologically sound, and wonderfuly led. The RAF also had a foe with far less capability, committment, and focus than the Japanese contended with.
Fascinating - superlative effort July 25, 2008
1 out of 4 found this review helpful
This is my first Pacific Theatre (in keeping with the author's heritage) non-fiction book and I was totally taken in by Max Hastings' effort. Realizing that this is just a single year of history, the breath covered was remarkable. It was fascinating reading with very little wasted on superfluous wording. Hastings knows the material and was meticulous in his delivery; mixing history and personal sagas throughout each chapter.
I cannot say if there is anything new here for the real WWII Pacific buffs, but for anyone in my situation, this is definitely a sensational start to learning about the Far Eastern War effort. Additionally, there were a couple of chapters on China that helped me to learn about the setup for the Chinese Revolution that comes just after the war.
In reading some of the negative reviews, I wonder if those individuals read the entire book or just the chapters of their interest. Not knowing much about General MacArthur, I cannot say if Max was too harsh on him or if the General was a publicity hound, a good leader, a terrible strategist as well as an ego maniac. But it does make me want to read more about him - will read William Manchester's "American Caesar" soon after this one.
The scope of the fighting and the timelines were dealt with beautifully by Hastings. His ability to pull you into the various venues of fighting and help you to understand what it was like to be there was just superb. The maps of each battle being explained were a bonus.
What I particularly liked about Hastings was his review of the battles and warlord decisioning. He gave a balanced review of much modern day ridicule of many wartime decisions by reviewing each decision with situational facts that impinged on those decisions at the time of the decision. It seemed to me (a novice) that he was fair in his criticisms and with his praise. He raised and discussed some very touchy decision making with the Chapter on the Fire bombing of Tokyo; looking at it from various angles.
I believe that Hastings did a very credible job of superimposing today's critics onto the decisions of the atomic bombs at the time and with the knowledge that our leaders had in 1945. I was simply fascinated by Hastings telling of this year during WWII.
I am giving this book, my highest recommendation.
 Somewhat disappointing July 24, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is the product of meticulous research and sourcing. Clearly reflects a significant amount of historical data that is collected across a vareity of sources. Kudos for his scholarly efforts. But I am deeply disappointed he could not find a better - and less offensive - example of a 'foxhole question' to illustrate relations between soldiers from the north and south. Incredibly disappointng for a book of this potential and a very low reach by the author that colors his treatment of race throughout the book.
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