Downfall
Book description
In a riveting narrative that includes information from newly declassified documents, acclaimed historian Richard B. Frank gives a scrupulously detailed explanation of the critical months leading up to the dropping of the atomic bomb. Frank explains how American leaders learned in the summer of 1945 that their alternate strategy to…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Downfall as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
A well-known historian brilliantly tells the last months of World War II in the Pacific.
Frank immerses readers in the details of strategy, planning, and thinking on both sides, culminating with the dropping of the atomic bombs and the Japanese surrender. The book provides a clear record of the often misunderstood end of the Pacific War.
From John's list on World War II from a World War II author.
All of Richard Frank’s books are excellent, but Downfall is the most important.
We learn about the massive preparations for 39 American divisions to invade the Japanese Home Islands commencing in late 1945, along with Imperial Army and Navy plans to defeat the US landing force with more than four million men and 13,000 aircraft.
Had the invasion gone forward, casualties would have been counted in the millions with the Japanese planning to unleash kamikaze attacks on the US fleet in vast numbers while the Emperor’s fanatical soldiers backed by an armed civilian population readied themselves to kill as many…
From James' list on World War II in the Southwest Pacific.
Want books like Downfall?
Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Downfall.
Share your top 3 reads of 2024!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
1,578
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like Downfall, you might also like...
The Lion and the Fox
From the author of Washington’s Spies, the thrilling story of two rival secret agents — one Confederate, the other Union — sent to Britain during the Civil War.
The South’s James Bulloch, charming and devious, was ordered to acquire a clandestine fleet intended to break Lincoln’s blockade, sink Northern…
Grand Old Unraveling
It didn’t begin with Donald Trump. When the Republican Party lost five straight presidential elections during the 1930s and 1940s, three things happened: (1) Republicans came to believe that presidential elections are rigged; (2) Conspiracy theories arose and were believed; and (3) The presidency was elevated to cult-like status.
Long…
