The Fall of Japan

By: William Craig

Narrated by: Mark Ashby

Told from both Japanese and American perspectives, this thrilling account of the final weeks of World War II in the Pacific has been heralded by the New York Times Book Review as "virtually faultless".

By midsummer 1945, Japan had long since lost the war in the Pacific. The people were not told the truth, and neither was the emperor. Japanese generals, admirals, and statesmen knew, but only a handful of leaders were willing to accept defeat. Most were bent on fighting the Allies until the last Japanese soldier died and the last city burned to the ground.

Exhaustively researched and vividly told, The Fall of Japan masterfully chronicles the dramatic events that brought an end to the Pacific War and forced a once-mighty military nation to surrender unconditionally. From the ferocious fighting on Okinawa to the all-but-impossible mission to drop the second atom bomb, and from Franklin D. Roosevelt's White House to the Tokyo bunker where tearful Japanese leaders first told the emperor the truth, William Craig captures the pivotal events of the war with spellbinding authority. The Fall of Japan brings to life both celebrated and lesser-known historical figures, including Admiral Takijiro Onishi, the brash commander who drew up the Yamamoto plan for the attack on Pearl Harbor and inspired the death cult of kamikaze pilots. This astonishing account ranks alongside Cornelius Ryan's The Longest Day and John Toland's The Rising Sun as a masterpiece of World War II history.

©1967 William Craig; This edition published in 2015 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Learned a lot

I consider myself reasonably knowledge about World War II but this book a detailed a lot of stuff that I didn't realize. for example, I generally thought that after the second atomic bomb dropped nearly everybody was in favor of surrendering, which was not the case. I also never really considered how the transition to surrender took place, unlike Germany they didn't go all the way to the capital; there were still Japanese troops, there was still POW camps. How did they get liberated, etc.

The Definitive Story

This is the most comprehensive book I've heard. The narration is great, he emphasizes what needs emphasis and delivers a fluid rendition. It is too bad the author did not write more than the two books I've heard on Audible. He lived early enough in history to interview participants and observers and his writing is artful. I'll listen again to these two books for sure.

One of the most chilling descriptions of the bombing of Japan

Though it makes up only about half the book Craig's detailing of first the fire and then atomic bombing of Japan paints a vivid and horrific picture.

excellent and detailed

excellent and detailed ... tells the story of the last few days of the Empire

Excellent, balanced, and well researched

I very much enjoyed the audio book. I’m an American who is an avid student of Japanese history and have lived in Japan for many years. For me, Japanese history is most interesting when it interacts, or in this case collides, with foreigners and other nations. The few months around the end of WWII are obviously one of those times. It also highlights the folly of war when mortal enemies can, within a few days or even hours, suddenly stop the killing and develop cooperation, respect, and even friendship. Some reviewers have commented that this book is too sympathetic or pro Japanese. I don’t find that to be the case. Rather the author dives deeply into the motivations of the Japanese officials and combatants (and their families) which I find to be one of the unique strengths of this book.