Downfall : the end of the Imperial Japanese Empire

Richard B Frank

Why did Japan surrender when it did, and were the atomic bombs the only way to end the war?

At a glance

You will question the assumption that some other course would have brought peace earlier without atomic weapons
You will understand why Japan's military leaders saw no reason to accept less than the survival of the old order
You will learn how American leaders found Japan massing armies and thousands of aircraft exactly where their invasion was due to land