The Faraway War: Personal Diaries of the Second World War in Asia and the Pacific

by RichardAldrich (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2005

  $3.25

  Richard Aldrich's first anthology of war diaries navigated the reader through the Second World War in Europe by showing the first-hand perspective of ordinary men, women and children, civilians, soldiers and politicians. Now, in this second volume, he completes the picture by illuminating the secrets of the war in the Pacific, giving a vivid picture of the level of global upheaval. Beginning in 1941, THE FARAWAY WAR describes key events in the action in the Far East through the secret diaries kept by those whose lives were affected. They include dramatic first-hand accounts of famous actions such as the American 'shoot-down' of Admiral Yamamoto in revenge for his command of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, through to the devastating moment when the atomic bomb was dropped upon Hiroshima. This volume of diaries focuses on the Japanese offensives against China, the vicious attacks upon Tokyo, the testing of the atom bomb in New Mexico, the lethal effects of the kamikaze pilots and, of course, the horrific repercussions of the nuclear bombs. Aldrich also sheds light on the ever changing politics of the time: the death of Roosevelt and Truman's succession, Winston Churchill's replacement by Clement Attlee, The Potsdam Conference and, following Japan's eventual surrender, the Tokyo War Crimes Trials. Once again, Aldrich taps into the vast wealth of knowledge imparted by the voices of diarists whose writings, often, have remained unpublished and unnoticed. Now they become the medium by which the Second World War is illuminated giving a polgnant insight, from all sides, into the full extent of a war that ravaged the globe for six successive years. Richard Aldrich's commentary provides a month-by-month historical overview as well as a brief analysis of key events.

• Used

  Paperback
  2006

  $5.81

  Following the illuminating first-hand revelations about the war in Europe and the Middle East compiled in Witness to War , Richard Aldrich now taps into another huge variety of diarists to explore the Second World War in the Pacific. From the dramatic bombing of Pearl Harbor to the devastating moment when the atomic bomb was dropped upon Hiroshima, the war is brought to life through the diaries of people on all sides, with events recorded as they happened and drawn into a chronological account of the war by Aldrich's expert month-by-month commentary. The Faraway War offers a stunning and diverse range of diaries, focusing both on ordinary people, some of whose diaries are published here for the first time, and on more celebrated figures such as Evelyn Waugh, Charles Lindbergh, Harry Truman and Joyce Grenfell. With this second volume, Richard Aldrich now completes the picture that he began with Witness to War , by creating an intimate and illuminating portrait of a whole world ravaged by war.