Book review - "Nemesis: The Battle for Japan 1944-45" by Max Hastings (2007)

Another superb book from Hastings which takes the relatively fresh approach of focusing on the last years of the war with Japan. So no Pearl Harbour, Bataan, Malaya, Singapore, Kokoda, or Midway. But there are still epic encounters - Slim in Burma, the Aussies in Borneo, Leyte Gulf, the Philippines, Le May's bombing campaign, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, the Marianas, the kamikaze. Refreshingly for a Western history there is plenty of non Western stuff - the home front of Japan, the occupied territories, the war in China (very neglected by Western histories over the years), the Russian invasion of Manchuria, the dropping of the atomic bombs, Japan's final surrender.

Consistencies emerge: the most egotistical and famous Allied commanders (MacArthur, Mountbatten and Halsey) made the biggest mistakes (whereas Slim and Nimitz kept their mouths shut and did the job), American mistakes were frequently covered up by Japanese ones, the British tried to cling to their old position and kind of redeemed some of their early disasters, the Chinese got screwed over by everyone especially themselves, the Japanese regime was hideously evil and their soldiers and citizens manically brave, Stalin was a prick, citizens and innocents suffer while the powerful and privileged hang on.

There were a number of ways Japan could have prolonged the war (45% of their troops were in China, their navy committed suicide in the Philippines - had their consolidated more they could have held out for a number of years) - if they'd invaded Russia and not the West they might have one the whole thing. But they made the mistake of attacking the US in such a way that they never were going to be forgiven and paid the price - though not as big a price as the countries they occupied.

Australia doesn't come out of the book particularly well - Hastings is quick to praise out early contributions but not later on when our troops were sent on useless campaigns and often asked not to go. He's particularly harsh on wharfies who would strike and play up during war time - something we don't hear a lot about in Australia and which should be discussd more often.

The epic scale of so many of the encounters surprised me - I knew about Leyte Gulf and Okinawa, but the battles in China and Manchura involved so many people. I was surprised Japan had that many to kill. A lot of this is harrowing reading - the rapes (which was unofficial army policy for the Japanese and Russians), torture, racism, brutality, sadism. It's full on. But it's an excellent book.

(George MacDonald Fraser fans will be delighted to see Quartered Safe Out Here quoted so consistently and extensively in the bits on the Burma Campaign - but then Fraser's personal, human viewpoint of the conflict is very much in line with Hasting's approach.)