World War II was the largest and most costly conflict in history, the first true global war. Fought on land, on sea, and in the air, it involved numerous countries and killed, maimed, or displaced millions of people, both civilian and military, around the world. In spite of the alliances that bound many of the same participants, the war was essentially two separate but simultaneous conflicts: one involved Japan as the major antagonist and took place mostly in Asia and the Pacific; and the other, initiated by Germany and Italy, was contested mainly in Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic. This book focuses on the lesser known war, the war with Japan. It begins with Japans seizure of Manchuria from China in 1931 and covers Japans ambitious attacks on Pearl Harbor and other territories ten years later, the use of atomic bombs on Japans cities, and the end of the Allied occupation of Japan in 1952. Although Japan renounced war in its 1947 constitution, conflict continued across Asia, as former colonies fought for independence and civil war engulfed other areas.
Historical Dictionary of World War II: The War Against Japan, Second Editioncontains a chronology, an introduction, and an extensive bibliography. The dictionary section has more than 500 cross-referenced entries on the military, diplomatic, political, social, economic, and scientific aspects of the war, in addition to the lives of the people who participated in and directed the war. This book is an excellent resource for students, researchers, and anyone wanting to know more about the war against Japan during World War II.
Anne Sharp Wellshas been associate editor of the
Journal of Military History, assistant editor of
The Papers of George Catlett Marshall(volumes 67), and a Fellow of the Eccles Centre for American Studies at the British Library. Among her other publications is
Historical Dictionary of World War II: The War Against Germany and Italy