The Fall of Japan: The Final Weeks of World War II in the Pacific

By midsummer 1945, Japan had lost the war in the Pacific, though the Japanese people and emperor were kept uninformed. Most Japanese military leaders refused to accept defeat and wanted to continue fighting until complete destruction. William J. Craig's account examines the final weeks of the Pacific War from both Japanese and American perspectives, covering events from the fighting on Okinawa to the second atomic bomb mission, and from Franklin D. Roosevelt's White House to Tokyo's bunker where Japanese leaders finally told the emperor the truth. The book features both well-known and lesser-known historical figures, including Admiral Takijiro Onishi, who developed the Yamamoto plan for the attack on Pearl Harbor and promoted kamikaze tactics. Craig chronicles how these dramatic events ultimately forced Japan to surrender unconditionally.