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

by Ian W. Toll

FDR accused individual reporters of printing “lies”—or if that wasn’t clear enough, “plain lies” or “deliberate lies.”3 The term “lie” characterized the motive of the perpetrator, leaving no room for the possibility that an honest mistake had been made, but that was precisely his point. Deploring the trend toward “interpretive journalism,” he dogmatically insisted

Very relevant today!

convinced that most of the American press—85 percent was the proportion he often cited—was functioning as a mouthpiece for the embattled oligarchy. The “Tory press,” said Roosevelt, was shrewd, malevolent, and unscrupulous. It was owned and controlled by a cabal of rich conservatives who hated him personally and served up a daily diet of vitriol aimed at him,

Sounds like Trump

Force 58, the main carrier striking force of the Pacific Fleet. Nothing like it had ever been seen on the high seas, nothing like it has existed since 1945, and it is unlikely that a fighting fleet will ever again be built on such a scale. The mighty armada typically comprised twelve to sixteen aircraft carriers with a screen of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers.

Traditional bushido extolled humility, and the virtues of knowing and respecting one’s enemy.

MANILA WAS A CONTRAST of old and new, rich and poor, grand and humble, Asian and European. Many rated it as the most beautiful city in Asia. It was a college town, with more than a dozen secular and Catholic universities. Its many modern hospitals provided the best medical care in Asia. Before the Japanese invasion, it had been a banking and commercial hub, where leading international firms had maintained major offices.