War and Society – serie

As American generals and diplomats accepted Japan's surrender on the deck of the U.S.S. Missouri in September 1945, allied combatants wrestled for power in the new post-war world. The decisions made to effect Japan's surrender entangled U.S. forces on the mainland of Asia for the next two years, and helped shape the next several decades of international relations in the Far East. Marc Gallicchio expertly examines the diplomatic, military, and economic struggles in which the United States, China, and the Soviet Union were pitted in the immediate aftermath of victory over Japan. The Allied victory was but a prelude to an American search for a lasting peace across Asia, stretching from Korea to Vietnam and out to the Pacific atolls. In seeking to shape events on the mainland, the administration of Harry S. Truman confronted the anomalous nature of American power. The military operations undertaken by the United States in the early days of post-war peace affected developments in Asia in unexpected ways. As Gallicchio makes clear, Americans would soon find that the scramble for Asia from 1945 to 1947 had set the stage for future conflict in the region.

Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 was the beginning of the United States' battle with Japan during World War II. In the months following the attack, Japan was successful in a series of victories throughout Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Then, from May 1942 to October 1943, the Japanese and the United States engaged in a series of fierce clashes in the Southwest Pacific. Both the U.S. and Japanese forces were evenly matched, and their troops fought one another to exhaustion. This engrossing book looks at the war with Japan, focusing on this 'period of balance' between American and Japanese forces. The War with Japan explains how the battles fought in the Coral Sea in May and off Midway Islands in June 1942 represented the first engagements that were not the result of decisions made by the Japanese before the outbreak of war. Both the U.S. and Japanese had to consider their next moves in a strategic situation that was much like a gun lying in the street: it was there for either side to pick up and use. H. P. Willmott examines the conflict in this context. The campaigns that raged in the lower Solomons and along the Kakoda Trail for control of eastern New Guinea, along with the ferocious battles in the Coral Sea and off Midway Islands, were the turning point of the war in the Pacific. The fight for control of Guadalcanal saw the Imperial Navy and U.S. Navy fight one another, and themselves, until they were completely spent. But between February and October 1943, the Americans gained a critical edge when the U.S. Navy took delivery of the first of the massive warships that were to carry the fighting to the Japanese home islands. After November 1943, this strong U.S. fleet-built during the period of hostilities-outfought the Japanese navy. The War with Japan explores all these aspects of Japanese defeat. This fascinating probe into the war with Japan is ideal for all readers who are interested in military history and World War II.

Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 was the beginning of the United States' battle with Japan during World War II. In the months following the attack, Japan was successful in a series of victories throughout Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Then, from May 1942 to October 1943, the Japanese and the United States engaged in a series of fierce clashes in the Southwest Pacific. Both the U.S. and Japanese forces were evenly matched, and their troops fought one another to exhaustion. This engrossing book looks at the war with Japan, focusing on this 'period of balance' between American and Japanese forces. The War with Japan explains how the battles fought in the Coral Sea in May and off Midway Islands in June 1942 represented the first engagements that were not the result of decisions made by the Japanese before the outbreak of war. Both the U.S. and Japanese had to consider their next moves in a strategic situation that was much like a gun lying in the street: it was there for either side to pick up and use. H. P. Willmott examines the conflict in this context. The campaigns that raged in the lower Solomons and along the Kakoda Trail for control of eastern New Guinea, along with the ferocious battles in the Coral Sea and off Midway Islands, were the turning point of the war in the Pacific. The fight for control of Guadalcanal saw the Imperial Navy and U.S. Navy fight one another, and themselves, until they were completely spent. But between February and October 1943, the Americans gained a critical edge when the U.S. Navy took delivery of the first of the massive warships that were to carry the fighting to the Japanese home islands. After November 1943, this strong U.S. fleet-built during the period of hostilities-outfought the Japanese navy. The War with Japan explores all these aspects of Japanese defeat. This fascinating probe into the war with Japan is ideal for all readers who are interested in military history and World War II.

The United States' involvement in World War II began with the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. But for Japan, the conflict began at a much earlier date. This book focuses on Japan and the events in its military history leading up to and including Pearl Harbor. Unique in its perspective, A Gathering Darkness shows how historical events in the 1920s and 1930s steered the country into war with America and its allies.A Gathering Darkness looks at what happened inside Japan in the 1920s to change its outlook on the West. There was a general repudiation of western values by Japanese society, and Japan turned its back on the outside world and an international order that were making life difficult for the country. The treaties made in Washington in the 1920s left Japan with a local supremacy that no other power, including Britain and the United States, could challenge on the account of their lack of forward bases and their commitments that precluded full deployment of forces in the western Pacific.A Gathering Darkness shows why Japan became increasingly militant in the 1930s. The authors look at Japanese military involvement in Manchuria beginning in September 1931. They cover the beginning of Japan's involvement in China in 1937, a conflict in which Japan would up in a deadlock with the China theater of operations in the period 1939–1941.The book then analyzes the first five months of the Pacific War, including the Pearl Harbor strike and the synchronization of offensive operations across more than four thousand miles of ocean. It also investigates the dilemma Japan faced as it realized in early 1942 that the United States was not going to collapse.A Gathering Darkness is the first volume in SR Books' trilogy on the Pacific War. This book offers a fascinating look at the prelude to the Pacific War and the early stages of the conflict that no one interested in World War II, military history, or Japanese history will want to miss.

The first comprehensive treatment of the air wars in Vietnam.Filling a substantial void in our understanding of the history of airpower in Vietnam, this book provides the first comprehensive treatment of the air wars in Vietnam. Brian Laslie traces the complete history of these air wars from the beginning of American involvement until final withdrawal. Detailing the competing roles and actions of the air elements of the United States Army, Navy, and Air Force, the author considers the strategic, operational, and tactical levels of war. He also looks at the air war from the perspective of the North Vietnamese Air Force. Most important for understanding the US defeat, Laslie illustrates the perils of a nation building a one-dimensional fighting force capable of supporting only one type of war. ,

Civil War Torpedoes and the Global Development of Landmine Warfare recounts the use of landmines in the American Civil War from their predecessors before 1861 through their legacy in the post-Cold War era. A handful of Confederates pioneered the use of torpedoes, as landmines were commonly called in the 1860s, burying them in front of fortifications, along roads, and as booby traps. Federal troops quickly learned how to deal with them, often using Confederate prisoners to dig them up. The first doctrine of landmine use in global history appeared during the Civil War. Hess discusses not only the technical and tactical aspects of the Civil War torpedo, but the morality and doctrine that surrounded this weapon in ways that illuminate how modern landmines have shaped international conflicts to our own time. Through intensive research in archival institutions, published primary sources, and technical literature, Hess has created the definitive account of Civil War era landmine warfare within its global context.

Civil War Torpedoes and the Global Development of Landmine Warfare recounts the use of landmines in the American Civil War from their predecessors before 1861 through their legacy in the post-Cold War era. A handful of Confederates pioneered the use of torpedoes, as landmines were commonly called in the 1860s, burying them in front of fortifications, along roads, and as booby traps. Federal troops quickly learned how to deal with them, often using Confederate prisoners to dig them up. The first doctrine of landmine use in global history appeared during the Civil War. Hess discusses not only the technical and tactical aspects of the Civil War torpedo, but the morality and doctrine that surrounded this weapon in ways that illuminate how modern landmines have shaped international conflicts to our own time. Through intensive research in archival institutions, published primary sources, and technical literature, Hess has created the definitive account of Civil War era landmine warfare within its global context.

The narrative history of France in 1709 combines scholarship with storytelling, and balances rigor with clarity and accessibility. The account of Louis XIV, the aging king beset by doubts and dangers yet determined to rule during the great crisis of 1709, is a gripping and immersive history of the dark year when Louis XIV and his monarchical state faced a potential military, economic, and political collapse during the War of the Spanish Succession.

The narrative history of France in 1709 combines scholarship with storytelling, and balances rigor with clarity and accessibility. The account of Louis XIV, the aging king beset by doubts and dangers yet determined to rule during the great crisis of 1709, is a gripping and immersive history of the dark year when Louis XIV and his monarchical state faced a potential military, economic, and political collapse during the War of the Spanish Succession.