Books by John W Dower
Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II
by John W Dower
🏆 Winner of the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
This is a key study in the effects on the Japanese of the defeat of Japan by the United States in World War II. Japan would be occupied by the United States until 1952, its government overseen by the American general Douglas MacArthur. The Americans had dropped two atomic bombs on Japan, as well as firebombing Tokyo and yet, surprisingly, the occupation laid the groundwork for democracy, peace and, in the end, lasting prosperity for Japan.
“I’m very interested in that period of the occupation by largely American troops just after World War II. It’s one of the most extraordinary episodes in modern history. It was the first time that Japan was occupied in its own history, and the world that was created at that time shaped post-war Japan. I think the author, John Dower, has caught that period – with all its complexity and its absurdity and its benevolence and its dark sides – better than anyone else, even, as far as I know, in Japanese. It’s not only a great work of history, but it’s beautifully written. I think history writing at its best should be, and can be, a form of literature and this would be a good example.” Read more...
Ian Buruma, Journalist
Interviews where books by John W Dower were recommended
The best books on Japan, recommended by Ian Buruma
Which are the best books to read about Japan? Author and journalist Ian Buruma picks some beautifully written works by scholars—and one novelist—that give a feel for its culture and civilization.
The best books on War and Foreign Policy, recommended by John David Lewis
Wars begin when human beings choose to fight, and, consequently, a war must be directed at the enemy’s will to fight, says John David Lewis (1955-2012), a political scientist at Duke. He chooses five books on war and foreign policy—from ancient Rome to America's neoconservatives.
