Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan - by Herbert P Bix (Paperback)

About the Book

With access to hundreds of previously untapped documents, including the unpublished letters and diaries of members of Hirohito's royal court, historian Bix has traced the Japanese emperor's reign from 1926 to 1989, revealing surprising information about his role in World War II. of photos.

Book Synopsis

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

"A startling work -- awesomely ambitious, faultlessly researched, daring in its thesis, and profound in its implications." -- Business Week

"Magnificent. . . . everything a political biography should be." -- Richmond Times-Dispatch

This rich and powerful biography is now given fresh relevance with a new introduction by the author that explores how Hirohito's legacy persists in Japan to this day, and how US foreign policy in the region in the last ten years is informed by our troubled past with Japan and with Hirohito as a ruler specifically.

Trained since childhood to lead his nation as a living deity, Japan's Emperor Hirohito cultivated the image of a reluctant, detached monarch, a façade which masked a fierce cunning and powerful ambition. Historian Herbert P. Bix has unearned hundreds of previously untapped documents including the unpublished letters and diaries of Hirohito's royal court, tracing the key events of his sixty-three-year reign (1926 - 1989), and shedding light on his uniquely active yet self-effacing stewardship. Debunking the common image of Hirohito as a pawn in the hands of the military, Bix exposes the emperor's personal involvement in every stage of the Pacific War. With rare insight, he shows how Hirohito avoided punishment for his nation's defeat and how the Japanese people have struggled to come to terms with this dark chapter in their history.

Review Quotes

"A historical bombshell...Compelling...The most controversial book yet on Japan's previous emperor." -- The Economist

"The author's virtuoso scholarship and accessible narrative invite us into Hirohito's world and change the way we think of recent history; his portrayal of a monarch rationalizing evil is superb." -- The New Yorker

""The triumph of Mr. Bix is that of a tailor able to assemble disparate scaps of material and sew them into a seamless whole."" -- The New York Times

"Myth-shattering...[T]his superb biography should jog loose a few suppressed memories." -- Newsweek

"Nothing published since the Berlin Wall's fall quite comes up to Herbert Bix's new book...It's a startling work--awesomely ambitious, faultlessly researched, daring in its thesis, and profound in its implications." -- Business Week

"Persuasive. . . . Bix proves, in an immensely readable 800 pages, that good imperial biography is still possible." -- The Times Literary Supplement