Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 (The Pacific War Trilogy Book 3)

by Ian W. Toll

In 1945, the oldest Japanese could still summon early childhood memories of life in the Tokugawa Shogunate, when the nation was ruled by samurai who wore suits of lacquered armor and fought with swords and spears. During that span of time the Japanese people had experienced a wrenching acceleration of historical change. They had modernized and industrialized at a headlong pace, rising to become one of the most formidable naval and military powers in the world, and inflicted humiliating defeats on several of the leading nations of the West. Falling under the sway of fanatical militarists, they had poured their armies and fleets out across Asia and the Pacific, spreading misery across the region and making themselves infamous in the eyes of their neighbors. That misadventure had ended in total defeat. What would the future bring? How would Japan fare, while tucked under the eagle’s wing? No one could know in 1945, and perhaps the answers would not come into focus until another ninety-two years had elapsed.