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Embracing Defeat

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Embracing Defeat

By: John W. Dower
Narrated by: Edward Lewis
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About this listen

Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 2000

National Book Award, Nonfiction, 1999

In this illuminating study, Dower explores the ways in which the shattering defeat of the Japanese in World War II, followed by over six years of American military occupation, affected every level of Japanese society. He describes the countless ways in which the Japanese met the challenge of "starting over", from top-level manipulations concerning the fate of Emperor Hirohito to the hopes, fears, and activities of ordinary men and women in every walk of life. He shows us the intense and turbulent interplay of conqueror and conquered, West and East, in a way no Western historian has done before.

This is a fascinating portrait of an extraordinary moment in history, when new values warred with the old, and early ideals of demilitarization and radical reform were soon challenged by the United States' decision to incorporate Japan into the Cold War Pax Americana.

©1999 John W. Dower (P)1999 Blackstone Audio Inc.
20th Century Japan Military World War United States Imperialism

Critic Reviews

  • Winner of the 1999 National Book Award for Non-Fiction

"A magisterial and beautifully written book....A pleasure to read." (New York Times)
"An extraordinarily illuminating book....Surely the most significant work to date on the postwar era in Japan." (Wall Street Journal)
"The writing of history doesn't get much better than this....[Dower] deftly situates the political story within a rich cultural context....The book is most remarkable, however, for the way Dower judiciously explores the complex moral and political issues....Dazzling." (Publishers Weekly)

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The Narration.. I could return this...

I remember this was a must read for those at my university who studied Japanese or Japanese history.
The author does a good run of really delving deep into a less written about time in Japanese history. However after reading this one fully understands modern Japanese culture today and how it was shaped from the SCAP years of post WW2 occupation.
Shows how the Japanese were not allowed to come to terms with their role in the war and their processing of war guilt was interrupted or hindered by the American forces, which is a legacy they are forced to live with today.
The only problem is the narration is EXTREMLY BAD!! Really easily the worse I have ever heard. Its almost like a computer program read it.
Please update this with another narrator worthy of this scholarly work.

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