140 Days to Hiroshima: The Story of Japan's Last Chance to Avert Armageddon: The Story of Japan’s Last Chance to Avert Armageddon

On the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki comes this heart-pounding account of the war-room drama inside the cabinets of the United States and Japan that led to Armageddon on August 6, 1945. Here are the secret strategy sessions, fierce debates, looming assassinations, and planned invasions that resulted in history’s first use of nuclear weapons in combat, and the ensuing chaotic days as the Japanese government struggled to respond to the reality of nuclear war. During the closing months of World War II, as America’s strategic bombing campaign incinerated Japan’s cities, two military giants locked in a death embrace of cultural differences and diplomatic intransigence. The leaders of the United States called for the “unconditional surrender” of the Japanese Empire while developing history’s deadliest weapon and weighing an invasion, Downfall, that would have dwarfed D-Day. Their enemy responded with a last-ditch plan termed Ketsu-Go, which called for the suicidal resistance of every able-bodied man and woman in “The Decisive Battle” for the homeland. But had Emperor Hirohito’s generals miscalculated how far the Americans had come in developing the atomic bomb? How close did President Harry Truman come to ordering the invasion of Japan? Within the Japanese Supreme Council at the Direction of War, a.k.a. “The Big Six,” Foreign Minister Shigenori Tōgō risked assassination in his crusade to convince his dysfunctional government, dominated by militarist fanatics, to save his country from annihilation. Despite Allied warnings of Japan’s “prompt and utter destruction” and that the Allies would “brook no delay,” the Big Six remained defiant. They refused to surrender even after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. How did Japanese leaders come to this impasse? The answers lie in this nearly day-by-day account of the struggle to end the most destructive conflict in history. A WWII history told from US and Japanese perspectives—“an impressively researched chronicle of the months leading up to the atomic bombing of Hiroshima” ( Publishers Weekly ). During the closing months of World War II, two military giants locked in a death embrace of cultural differences and diplomatic intransigence. While developing history’s deadliest weapon and weighing an invasion that would have dwarfed D-Day, the US called for the “unconditional surrender” of Japan. The Japanese Empire responded with a last-ditch plan termed Ketsu-Go , which called for the suicidal resistance of every able-bodied man and woman in “The Decisive Battle” for the homeland. In 140 Days to Hiroshima , historian David Dean Barrett captures war-room drama on both sides of the conflict. Here are the secret strategy sessions, fierce debates, looming assassinations, and planned invasions that resulted in Armageddon on August 6, 1945. Barrett then examines the next nine chaotic days as the Japanese government struggled to respond to the reality of nuclear war. During the closing months of World War II, the leaders of the United States called for the 'unconditional surrender' of the Japanese Empire while developing history's deadliest weapon. Their enemy responded with a last-ditch plan which called for the suicidal resistance of every able-bodied man and woman. Within the Japanese Supreme Council at the Direction of War, Foreign Minister Shigenori Tōgō risked assassination in his crusade to convince his dysfunctional government, dominated by militarist fanatics, to save his country from annihilation. Barrett takes you into the secret strategy sessions and fierce debates that lead to August 6, 1945, and the chaotic days that followed. -- adapted from jacket On the 75th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki comes this war-room account from inside the cabinets of the United States and Japan leading to Armageddon on August 6, 1945. Here are the strategy sessions, fierce debates, looming assassinations, and planned invasions that resulted in history's first use of nuclear weapons in combat, and the ensuing chaotic days as Japan struggled to respond to the reality of nuclear war