Embracing Defeat

De: John W. Dower

Narrado por: Edward Lewis

Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 2000

National Book Award, Nonfiction, 1999

In this illuminating study, Dower explores the ways in which the shattering defeat of the Japanese in World War II, followed by over six years of American military occupation, affected every level of Japanese society. He describes the countless ways in which the Japanese met the challenge of "starting over", from top-level manipulations concerning the fate of Emperor Hirohito to the hopes, fears, and activities of ordinary men and women in every walk of life. He shows us the intense and turbulent interplay of conqueror and conquered, West and East, in a way no Western historian has done before.

This is a fascinating portrait of an extraordinary moment in history, when new values warred with the old, and early ideals of demilitarization and radical reform were soon challenged by the United States' decision to incorporate Japan into the Cold War Pax Americana.

©1999 John W. Dower (P)1999 Blackstone Audio Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

• Winner of the 1999 National Book Award for Non-Fiction

"A magisterial and beautifully written book....A pleasure to read." (New York Times)
"An extraordinarily illuminating book....Surely the most significant work to date on the postwar era in Japan." (Wall Street Journal)
"The writing of history doesn't get much better than this....[Dower] deftly situates the political story within a rich cultural context....The book is most remarkable, however, for the way Dower judiciously explores the complex moral and political issues....Dazzling." (Publishers Weekly)

Interesting information but a bit like a textbook

Information was interesting though I think I would have organized it differently. It was obvious chapters were recorded separately then placed together afterwards. The problem is that there was no pause between chapter to the point that he barely finished the breath on the last sentence of the chapter, then “chapter 12...”highly irritating.

JAPANS REBIRTH

Victory is sweet; defeat is bitter. Victory engenders responsibility for the defeated; defeat demands fealty to a victor. Japan’s rebirth after WWII proves the point.

John Dower, in “Embracing Defeat”, endeavors to picture Japan’s condition; i.e. the state of its economy and its people, after surrender in WWII. History’s complexity is difficult to capture in words. Dower makes an effort to explain the context of post war Japan by showing Japanese attitude in media reports and literature of the time. The irony of Dower’s effort is that media reports and literature are censored by Allied forces, particularly the United States.

One’s interest is piqued by Japan’s experience after WWII because of the current Middle East muddle. Countries like Libya, Egypt, and Syria are on the verge of cataclysmic government change. Iraqis are further down that track. What is going to happen in those countries? Are there any clues in the great change that occurred in Japan after WWII?

Nature abhors a vacuum (Spinoza). The centralized governments and economies of Libya, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq will be occupied democratically, autocratically, or some combination thereof, when domestic tumult subsides. Japan’s experience suggests that freedom will not be denied but how it exhibits is a mystery wrapped in Middle Eastern histories, beliefs, and practices. Will there be an equivalent “Major Bonner Fellers” to guide America’s policy in the Middle East?

Where human freedom leads in the Middle East is a Middle Eastern peoples’ decision, just as Japan’s rebirth was and is a Japanese decision.

Very Insightful

I have always been infatuated with how the world has shaped to be what it is today. This book provides college course level insight on the years following Japan's defeat in World War 2. This book gives a great idea on how political war can be and the consequences for losing one.

A thorough study of Japan’s period of occupation after the war

It covers a wide range of cultural, political, military, and economic factors in the rebirth of Japan in quite a bit of depth. Fascinating, if this is a subject of interest to you.

Japan and the American South

I never thought before about the parallels between the occupation of Japan and the occupation of the American South after the War Between the States. I'm fascinated as I examine my own history through this lens. When this book addressed the issue of how the Japanese might appropriately commemorate their war dead, considering they died fighting an unjust War, I connected with that immediately. Today (2020), if we Southerners commemorate our war dead or praise any of their virtues, we are instantly labeled as racist.
As I listen to the book, I wondered how Douglas MacArthur's actions during Japanese occupation might have been informed by his father's experience during that War and/or observations of Reconstruction thereafter. I wondered how our history might have been different had our MacArthur not been assassinated on April 14, 1865.