A thorough and meticulously detailed survey of one of the key theatres of the Second World War.

Named one of Foreign Affairs' Best Books of 2016 In his magisterial 1,208 page narrative of the Pacific War, Francis Pike’s Hirohito’s War offers an original interpretation, balancing the existing Western-centric view with attention to the Japanese perspective on the conflict. As well as giving a ‘blow-by-blow’ account of campaigns and battles, Francis Pike offers many challenges to the standard interpretations with regards to the causes of the war; Emperor Hirohito’s war guilt; the inevitability of US Victory; the abilities of General MacArthur and Admiral Yamamoto; the role of China, Great Britain and Australia; military and naval technology; and the need for the fire-bombing of Japan and the eventual use of the atom bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hirohito’s War is accompanied by additional online resources, including more details on logistics, economics, POWs, submarines and kamikaze, as well as a 1930-1945 timeline and over 200 maps.

"Magnificent … Hirohito’s War by Francis Pike sets a new standard: oceanic in scope, comprehensive in detail, subtle in dissection, magisterial in organisation and consistently readable." - The Spectator

"Francis Pike's monumental new book, a thoughtful and detailed synthesis of the English-language secondary scholarship on the war, is a welcome addition to the work on the period ... [A]n immensely valuable and thoughtful synthesis." - New Statesman

"Pike’s book is an extraordinary achievement; it is as definitive as any single volume history of the Pacific War can be. As the title suggests, Pike does not let Japanese Emperor Hirohito off the hook for the battles fought in his name. Pike sets the fighting firmly in the context of the regional tensions that had been developing for some time before any combat took place, not least as a result of the Japanese invasion of China in 1937. The book covers all the major campaigns and battles of the war, from Pearl Harbor to Hiroshima, but also pays close attention to often overlooked topics, such as the Burma Campaign (which pitted the British and the Chinese against Indian, Japanese, and Thai forces) and the Chinese resistance to Japan. Pike’s analysis is careful but never dry, and he pens lively portraits of his main characters." - Foreign Affairs

"Pike's study of the Pacific War is the most comprehensive and readable account of this epic conflict to date. Unlike most previous historical examinations, which concentrate on only one or two dimensions, Pike devotes equal time to the war in China and the Burma-India Theater as well as MacArthur's southwestern Pacific campaign and King/Nimitz island hopping in the central Pacific. Pike does not evade controversial topics and is highly judgmental of war leaders on all sides. He sees Douglas MacArthur as a prima donna more concerned with his own image than with winning the war. Even worse, according to Pike the narcissism of General Joseph Stilwell was largely responsible for the eventual triumph of communism in China…[T]his is an excellent overview of the Pacific War that should be in all public and university libraries … Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries." - CHOICE

"Pike offers a spectrum of fresh perspectives on a war generally presented in Western terms that minimize Japan's agency. He addresses the Pacific conflicts in WWII in the context of a comprehensive century-long struggle for dominance over the Pacific. Within that framework, Pike establishes Hirohito's central position in 'the mythology of Japanese exceptionalism.' ... Pike's integrated analysis of Japan's simultaneous victories in Malaya, Burma, Philippines, and Dutch East Indies presents them as a virtuoso performance unsurpassed in modern warfare. Yet these victories resulted in a strategic overreach, due to Japan's belief that quick victories would be followed by rapid settlement ... Pike tells the epic story on a fitting scale." - Publishers Weekly

"In Hirohito's War, Francis Pike surveys the secondary literature on the Pacific War ... offer[ing] a refreshingly non-US perspective ... [The book] contains important insights." - Times Literary Supplement

"This momentous occurrence is covered in extraordinary detail in Francis Pike’s new book Hirohito's War: The Pacific War, 1941-1945. … This volume appears intended to be the definitive work on the Pacific war and succeeds in being just that." - WWII History Magazine

"[Pike] has spared no effort in creating what is likely to stand as the definitive reference book for students of the Pacific War. The book contains a wealth of detail on subjects such as logistics, the economic situation of the chief belligerent powers, submarine warfare, and the dreaded kamikazes." - Military History Monthly