In the Cauldron

Terror, Tension, and the American Ambassador’s Struggle to Avoid Pearl Harbor

By: Lew Paper

Narrated by: Robertson Dean

Length: 14 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

This is not just another book about Pearl Harbor. It is the story of Joseph Grew, America’s ambassador to Japan, and his frantic effort in the months before the Pearl Harbor attack to orchestrate an agreement between Japan and the United States to avoid the war he saw coming. It is a story filled with hope and heartache, with complex and fascinating characters, and with a drama befitting the momentous decisions at stake. 

And more than that, it is a story that has never been told. 

In those months before the Pearl Harbor attack, Japan and the United States were locked in a battle of wills. President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s economic sanctions were crippling Japan. America’s noose was tightening around Japan’s neck - but the country’s leaders refused to yield to American demands.  

In this cauldron of boiling tensions, Joseph Grew offered many recommendations to break the deadlock. Having resided and worked in Tokyo for almost 10 years, Grew understood what Roosevelt and his administration back home did not: that the Japanese would rather face annihilation than endure the humiliation of surrendering to American pressure.  

The President and his administration saw little need to accept their ambassador’s recommendations. The administration’s policies, they believed, were sure to succeed. And so, with increasing urgency, Grew tried to explain to the President and his administration that Japan’s mindset could not be gauged by Western standards of logic and that the administration’s policies could lead Japan to embark on a suicidal war with the United States “with dangerous and dramatic suddenness.” 

Relying on Grew’s diaries, letters and memos, interviews with members of the families of Grew and his staff, and an abundance of other primary source materials, Lew Paper presents the gripping story of Grew’s effort to halt the downward spiral of Japan’s relations with the United States. Grew had to wrestle with an American government that would not listen to him - and simultaneously confront an increasingly hostile environment in Japan, where pervasive surveillance, arbitrary arrest, and even unspeakable torture by Japan’s secret police were constant threats.  

In the Cauldron reads like a novel, but it is based on fact. And it is sure to raise questions whether the Pearl Harbor attack could have been avoided. 

©2019 Lew Paper (P)2019 Blackstone Publishing

Great Book! Well Written and Superbly Narrated

“In the Cauldron” is a fascinating account of the circumstances leading up to the fateful decision by the Japanese to attack the US. This was a period when the US and Japan were negotiating resolution of Japanese aggressions and US responses to those aggressions in the Asia-Pacific region. The author, Lew Paper, describes the many government and military officials on both sides who were involved in the policies, decisions and actions of their respective countries. He goes into their backgrounds, illuminating those parts that shaped their attitudes, and in some cases prejudices, towards other people and cultures. He shows how differences in their traditions and languages made it quite difficult, if not impossible, for the Americans and Japanese to negotiate serious conflicts. Central to US efforts in this regard, Paper focuses on Joseph Grew, the dedicated but pragmatic US ambassador to Japan. Grew’s experience, skills, and talents allowed him to understand the nuances in the Japanese culture and language that his bosses back in the United States were unable to appreciate and which permitted him to foresee Japanese intentions to attack. The last part of the book becomes a real page turner as Grew desperately attempts to forestall the anticipated outcome.

The book is expertly narrated by Robertson Dean. Dean speaks clearly and at a perfect pace. His adept pronunciation of all the Japanese names makes one think that he actually speaks the language.

Another aspect of the book that makes it a gratifying audible experience is a unique literary technique that the author incorporates throughout the book. A historical narrative filled with multiple characters can be quite challenging for the reader/listener to follow. Paper does a masterful job, from beginning to end, of reminding the reader who a character is by always mentioning a character’s position or title after re-mentioning his name. As a result, the listener does not have to struggle to remember someone introduced earlier in the book.

This book allows one to truly appreciate the importance of having experienced, dedicated and skillful diplomats when trying to negotiate peaceful resolutions to international conflicts. It also shows what the consequences can be when these diplomats are not listened to.

“In the Cauldron” is an important and valuable addition to the historical record of World War II. Highly recommended.

Good book

Fascinating look at a facet of WWII I knew little about. It did not read as a conspiracy book on the subject.