Tojo
By (Author) Courtney Browne
Hachette Books
Da Capo Press Inc
22nd March 1998
United States
General
Non Fiction
Asian history
Second World War
Modern warfare
Central / national / federal government
International relations
Warfare and defence
940.5352
Paperback
294
Width 141mm, Height 214mm, Spine 17mm
340g
General, minister of war, prime minister, and unrepentant ultranationalist, Hideki Tojo (18841948) was the most powerful leader in the Japanese government during World War II. From October 1941 to July 1944 he held unquestioned control, advocating and setting in motion the attack on Pearl Harbor as well as pushing forward the Japanese offensives in China, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific. The author examines Tojo's life against the backdrop of increasing Japanese militarismCivil war, political assassinations, and coup d'tatsand uses exclusive interviews with Tojo's wife to illuminate the spartan, single-minded, incorruptible personality of the man who chose war rather than succumb to U. S. induced economic strangulation. From the initial victories, through the later severe defeats and Tojo's resignation, to his thwarted suicide attempt, trial as a war criminal, and execution, no other book offers such a clear and compelling portrait.
In addition to having served as a British major in India, Burma, and China during World War II, Courtney Browne (1915-1994) had a deep knowledge of, and many personal encounters with, Japan. He was a member of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force a witness to the War Crimes Trials one of the few foreigners to win the confidence of Tojo's wife and a resident of Japan for a decade.