Victory in Japan Day on August 15, 1945 officially marked the end of
World War II, but in fact conflict continued throughout the month. This
history details the true final weeks of the war.
Despite the Allied grand strategy of "Germany first," after the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. especially was committed to confronting
Tokyo as a matter of urgent priority.
But from Oahu to Tokyo was a long, sanguinary slog, averaging an advance
of just three miles per day. The U.S. human toll paid on that road
reached some 108,000 battle deaths. But by the summer of 1945 on both
the American homefront and on the frontline there was hope. The stunning
announcements of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6 and
9 seemed sure to force Tokyo over the tipping point. In fact, most of
the Japanese cabinet refused to surrender and vicious dogfights still
raged in the skies above Japan.
This fascinating history tells the story of the final weeks of the war,
detailing the last brutal battles on air, land and sea with first-hand
accounts from pilots and sailors caught up in these extraordinary
events. Barrett Tillman expertly details the first weeks of a tenuous
peace and the drawing of Cold War battle lines as Soviet forces
concluded their invasion of Manchuria. When the Shooting Stopped draws
on accounts from all sides to relive the days when the war finally ended
and the world was forever changed.
