Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering - by John W Dower (Paperback)

About the Book

Historian John W. Dower's celebrated investigations into modern Japanese history, World War II, and U.S.-Japanese relations have earned him critical accolades and numerous honors, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Bancroft Prize. Now Dower returns to the major themes of his groundbreaking work, examining American and Japanese perceptions of key moments in their shared history.
Both provocative and probing, "Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering" delves into a range of subjects, including the complex role of racism on both sides of the Pacific War, the sophistication of Japanese wartime propaganda, the ways in which the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is remembered in Japan, and the story of how the postwar study of Japan in the United States and the West was influenced by Cold War politics.
"Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering" offers urgent insights by one of our greatest interpreters of the past into how citizens of democracy should deal with their history and, as Dower writes, "the need to constantly ask what is not being asked."

Book Synopsis

Historian John W. Dower's celebrated investigations into modern Japanese history, World War II, and U.S.-Japanese relations have earned him critical accolades and numerous honors, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Bancroft Prize. Now Dower returns to the major themes of his groundbreaking work, examining American and Japanese perceptions of key moments in their shared history.

Both provocative and probing, Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering delves into a range of subjects, including the complex role of racism on both sides of the Pacific War, the sophistication of Japanese wartime propaganda, the ways in which the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is remembered in Japan, and the story of how the postwar study of Japan in the United States and the West was influenced by Cold War politics.

Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering offers urgent insights by one of our greatest interpreters of the past into how citizens of democracy should deal with their history and, as Dower writes, "the need to constantly ask what is not being asked."

Review Quotes

Praise for Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering :

"No historian writes with more authority than this leading historian
of modern Japan. Dower's new work . . . shows him at the
top of his form."
--Publishers Weekly

"Scrupulously researched and bravely presented scholarship."
--Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Embracing Defeat :

"A superb history of Japan's occupation."
--The New York Review of Books

"A magisterial and beautifully written book. . . . A pleasure to read."
--The New York Times Book Review


Praise for Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering :

"No historian writes with more authority than this leading historian
of modern Japan. Dower's new work . . . shows him at the
top of his form."
-Publishers Weekly

"Scrupulously researched and bravely presented scholarship."
-Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Embracing Defeat :

"A superb history of Japan's occupation."
-The New York Review of Books

"A magisterial and beautifully written book. . . . A pleasure to read."
-The New York Times Book Review

About the Author

John W. Dower is Professor Emeritus of History at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of several books, including War Without Mercy, Cultures of War, and Embracing Defeat, which was the recipient of numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, the Bancroft Prize, and the Fairbank Prize. He lives in Boston.