Racing the Enemy

by Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi

• ISBN13: 9780674022416
• ISBN10: 0674022416
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-09-30
• Publisher: Belknap Pr

Summary

With startling revelations, Tsuyoshi Hasegawa rewrites the standard history of the end of World War II in the Pacific. By fully integrating the three key actors in the story--the United States, the Soviet Union, and Japan--Hasegawa for the first time puts the last months of the war into international perspective. From April 1945, when Stalin broke the Soviet-Japanese Neutrality Pact and Harry Truman assumed the presidency, to the final Soviet military actions against Japan, Hasegawa brings to light the real reasons Japan surrendered. From Washington to Moscow to Tokyo and back again, he shows us a high-stakes diplomatic game as Truman and Stalin sought to outmaneuver each other in forcing Japan's surrender; as Stalin dangled mediation offers to Japan while secretly preparing to fight in the Pacific; as Tokyo peace advocates desperately tried to stave off a war party determined to mount a last-ditch defense; and as the Americans struggled to balance their competing interests of ending the war with Japan and preventing the Soviets from expanding into the Pacific. Authoritative and engrossing, Racing the Enemy puts the final days of World War II into a whole new light.

Author Biography

Tsuyoshi Hasegawa is Professor of History and Director of the Center for Cold War Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara

Table of Contents

Maps	viii
Note on Transliteration and Spelling	ix
Introduction: Race to the Finish	1	(6)
1. Triangular Relations and the Pacific War	7	(38)
2. Stalin, Truman, and Hirohito Face New Challenges	45	(44)
3. Decisions for War and Peace	89	(41)
4. Potsdam: The Turning Point	130	(47)
5. The Atomic Bombs and Soviet Entry into the War	177	(38)
6. Japan Accepts Unconditional Surrender	215	(37)
7. August Storm: The Soviet-Japanese War and the United States	252	(38)
Conclusion: Assessing the Roads Not Taken	290	(17)
Abbreviations	307	(2)
Notes	309	(54)
Acknowledgments	363	(4)
Index	367