Reddit reviews The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 (Modern Library War)

Japan did not try to surrender before the nukes dropped. Some third party proxies had gone out for some peace feeling but conditions were confusing for instance.

The Rising Sun talks about this, how even after the first atomic bomb was dropped, the Japanese Cabinet was divided on what conditions the surrender would happen under. The Soviet invasion of Manchuria (some cabinet ministers were hoping for a negotiation led by Stalin) and the second atomic bomb forced the Emperor to no longer stay above fray and he ordered the cabinet to surrender.

Some diehard Japanese war hawks actually attempted a palace coup afterwards but it was quashed. They were also attempting to find the Emperor's surrender broadcast but it was smuggled out by attendants if I remember correctly.

I'm not saying the US was innocent. Many civilians died in firebombings. I'm just saying your info is wrong on this bit.

The only reason this is a dilemma to some people is because of the myth that the Japanese wouldn't have surrendered. They were on the brink of doing just that, trying to negotiate through Russia, when it all went down. Read Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire, 1936-1945 for more.

But seriously, this book is really good.

You need to read up on your history a little better. I recommend this book, but this is a really good book on Leyte itself.

If you had to pick one campaign that probably did the most damage to the Japanese it was the submarine campaign against their merchant shipping. But when you realize that the Japanese Empire had attacked both Alaska and Australia and everything in between, one campaign wasn't going to do it. There were numerous important fights and saying it all came down to Nimitz's central campaign (Nimitz was in Hawaii the whole time, how come Spruance and Halsey never get the credit?) is overly simplifying things to a ridiculous degree.

Dividing the Pacific into two theaters actually prevented the Japanese from regaining the initiative and some of the most significant battles were fought in the South Pacific theater. Coral Sea, Guadalcanal, Hollandia? Remember that the oil and rubber and metals the Japanese needed were all in the South Pacific.

Also I think you have Roosevelt confused with Truman. MacArthur and Roosevelt, by all accounts, had a decent relationship, strained at times, but certainly guided by a mutual respect. Roosevelt, by all accounts, never considered dismissing MacArthur, who was a diva, but also an incredibly brilliant general who managed to conquer more territory with fewer losses than any military commander in history short of Genghis Kahn. Remember that only a few months after Leyte, Roosevelt placed MacArthur as theater commander over the entire Pacific. Roosevelt didn't lack balls and he certainly didn't lack the political power.

And the Philippines was certainly necessary to the defeat of Japan because it was US territory. The US needed fighter bases and the decision came down to the Philippines or Formosa. As strong resistance was expected on Formosa, Roosevelt, Nimitz and MacArthur all agreed at their Hawaiian conference to make the Philippines the next strategic goal. Of course the battle was necessary because the Japanese showed up with two huge fleets including Ozawa's and Kurita's forces. Our goal was to put those ships on the bottom of the ocean and you kind of need a battle to do that.

I don't have a complete answer, but there was one very notable example of an american stuck in Japan at the outbreak of war: Iva Toguri, better known as "Tokyo Rose."

Poor woman was visiting family in Japan when war broke out. After refusing to renounce her American citizenship, she was essentially forced to perform as a proganda broadcaster. Throughout the war, she refused to read any script that she considered anti-american, and after the war, the DoJ declared her radio work "innocuous." Nevertheless, she was tried for treason and served several years in prison after the war.

Source: Rising Sun: the Decline and fall of the Japanese empire.

Unfortunately I can't seem to find that, however it did lead me to The Rising Sun: The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire. Does anyone know if this is a good book on the topic?

In my opinion, the best book you can read about the Pacific War from the Japanese perspective is John Toland's Rising Sun. It is marvelous.

Two books on this: I'm currently going through the opening chapters of This book but it's one of those histories that assume you know something about the overall culture at the time, and IMO isn't very well written Toland, the author, tries very hard to be nonjudgemental, and this I think weakens his narrative, particularly on the events that catapulted Japan into committing to Manchuria. He describes very well some of the attempted coups and assassinations, along with a bit of the ideology, but he doesn't really get at the 'why' of these, beyond what the muntineers themselves said. Paul Johnson had several chapters on the rise of militarism in Japan in his book Modern Times which was much more accessible because he isn't afraid to state his overall opinion of the forces that were contributing to the ultimate path Japan took.