HIST 4000

Dr. Morrill

26 June 2008

Annotated Bibliography

Byrnes, James F. Speaking Frankly. Tennessee: Kingsport Publishers Inc., 1947.

James Byrnes writes about his experiences through World War II, covering a wide variety of subjects.  His experiences are portrayed first had in an informative manner. He presents his own ideas when it came to situations as well as overall information about events leading up to and after the bomb. Mr. Byrnes can describe a situation such as the Potsdam declaration and still give his own input as to what was going through his thoughts at the time. This provides the reader with a firsthand account of how pivotal decisions were made regarding U.S. policy during the War.

 Craig, William. The Fall of Japan. New York: The Dial Press, 1967.

The Fall of Japan is a very descriptive and graphic book which recounts the final days of the Pacific War. Craig provides a look at the last days of the war from both American and Japanese points of view. He gives descriptions of turbulence faced with in the Japanese government, as internal conflict arose with the thought of surrender. His writing is rather gruesome as he depicts the firebombing of Tokyo, as well as an attempted suicide of a Japanese officer. Overall his depictions are a rather suspenseful description of events that lead up to the surrender of Japan and its post-war reactions to surrender.

  Fruhstuck, Sabine (rv.). “Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms: The Militarization of Aesthetics in Japanese History." The Journal of Asian Studies 62 (2003) 958-960.

This review of Ohnuki-Tierney’s captivating book investigates the perils of emperor ideology and its effect of the kamikaze pilot’s during World War II.  She investigates why young men fell into the grasp of flying to one’s death. What were the motives behind taking a kamikaze mission? It also examines the formation of state nationalism developed and how it lead to a strong emperor ideology.

   Hall, Robert King, Ed. Kokutai No Hongi: Cardinal Principles of the National Entity of Japan. Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1949.

Kokutai No Hongi, was an actual document produced by the Japanese government in 1937 stating national policy. It was set up to establish thinking norms, standard thought process, of the social and political Japanese. This work was to be distributed in all of the schools from private to public; all people were to practice the values and morals expressed in this statement. It expresses that all Japanese people are to worship the divine entity, the emperor. All actions were to be held in the up most responsibility to the emperor and the nation. It was a key element in establishing Japanese emperor ideology which played a pivotal part of the war.

    Hasegawa, Tsuyoshi. Racing the enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the surrender of Japan. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. 2005.

This book is an informative essay concentrating on how World War II began, through how and why it ended. It received the 2006 Robert H. Ferrell Book Prize, Sponsored by the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations. It contains many useful maps and pictures conveying the importance and reality of what the author focuses on. Hasegawa’s perspective examines options from all players in the conflict. His research focuses on the war coming to an end and constant struggle by Truman and Stalin to gain the upper hand.

      Hellegers, Dale M. We the Japanese People: World War II and the Origins of the Japanese Constitution. California: Stanford University Press, 2001.

The research provided in this book is arranged to present how the United States handled the Japanese surrender at the end of the war. Drafting a new constitution and handling the topic of “unconditional surrender,” were a couple of the issues addressed by Hellegers. Bringing democracy to a defeated nation is an important topic reiterated by the author, through various examples. Due to the range of evidence presented in this piece, it will be useful to a wide range of researchers on the topic.

   Hurst III, G. Cameron. “Death, Honor, and Loyalty: The Bushido Ideal.” Philosophy East and West  40 (1990): 511-527.

Hurst presents compelling research on the topic of bushido, and its effects on the soldier through this article. He states that he is amazed to see the ways in which the term has been conceptualized in both east and west. In this article he wishes to address the issue of the term and why it has been brutalized and associated with moral values of demonic nature. He also examines the linked concepts of loyalty, death, and honor in medieval and modern Japan. This article researches many useful points in the ways of bushido and why certain events happened leading to what came to be known as an awful term.  

  Kuwahara, Yasuo, and Gordon T. Aldred. Kamikaze: A Japanese pilot’s own spectacular story of the famous suicide squadrons. New York: Ballantine, 1957.

This monograph takes a humbling look at the world of the kamikaze. This story depicts the life of Yasuo Kuwahara from the age of fifteen and recounts his story through countless tribulations. He depicts the atomic bomb being dropped over Hiroshima, and what was meant by dying for the emperor. He also gives a detailed look at the harsh training that Japanese soldiers had to endure while gaining military status. This insightful monograph provides a firsthand account of what it was like to fight for the Japanese during World War II.

   Takaki, Ronald. Hiroshima: why America dropped the atomic bomb. New York: Little, Brown, and Company, 1995.

Ronald Takaki provides many interesting facts and opinions why the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. He takes an introspective look at President Truman, examining his psychological make up for reason behind the bomb. His research continually seems to take the stand that dropping the bomb was unnecessary. Although he provides factual information most of it is arranged in a way to infer upon the reader his opinions. This book is a valuable collection of facts while opinions may be left up to the reader.

  Tanaka, Yuki. Hidden Horrors: Japanese War Crimes in World War II. Colorado: Westview press, 1998.

Tanaka contends that the atrocities committed by the Japanese before and during World War II were not customary; they were derived from deep seated cultural beliefs and facilitated by the development of Japan’s emperor ideology. He gives descriptive accounts of what took place to give evidence for these brutal acts committed by the Japanese. Tanaka also researches the morals of the victimizers throughout the China incident and World War II. His idea behind the book is to “master history,” and determine why events took place the way they did. The work is well written and provides many maps and sketches which enable his words to evoke the horrifying realties of war.

  Walker, J Samuel. Prompt and utter destruction: Truman and the use of atomic bombs against Japan: Revised Edition. The University of North Carolina Press: 2004.

Walker’s book is a compilation of events which aided in determining the decision to drop the atomic bombs. The topic of unconditional surrender by the Japanese was examined as a major point when talking about casualties, as to the means of ending the war. The book offers insight from President Truman’s diary and his journey to the Potsdam conference. Walker’s monograph researches the factors which led to the decision to deploy nuclear weapons, including Japan’s unwillingness to surrender unconditionally.

  Wodnik, Bob. Captured Honor: POW Survival in the Philippines and Japan. Washington State University Press, 2003.

In this work the author describes the atrocities faced by Japanese prisoners of war. Wodnik recalls more than just what it was like to be in a POW camp, offering readers insight into several aspects of World War II. The effect of fire bombing over Japan is described in detail along with difficulties faced by veterans of the war. He describes vivid descriptions of journeys faced by prisoners and captures depicting “hell on earth.” Captured Honor is a very descriptive book offering insight into the life of a prisoner of war.