Navigating the Pacific: History and Narrative in WWII

For the 80th anniversary of the Allied victory over Japan, ChinaTalk interviewed Ian Toll about his Pacific War trilogy, which masterfully brings America’s bloodiest war — and the world’s only nuclear war — to life. Ian’s detailed scholarship creates a multisensory historical experience, from the metallic tang of radiation after the bombs were dropped to the stench of Pacific battlefields.

Ian’s forthcoming book, The Freshwater War, will explore the naval campaign the US fought against Britain on the Great Lakes between 1812 and 1815.

Today our conversation covers….

• How Ian innovates when writing historical narratives,
• Whether Allied victory was predetermined after the US entered the war,
• Why the Kamikaze were born out of resource scarcity, and whether Japanese military tactics were suicidal as well,
• How foreign wars temporarily stabilized Japan’s revolutionary domestic politics,
• How American military leadership played the media and politics to become national heroes,
• Lessons from 1945 for a potential Taiwan invasion.

Cohosting is Chris Miller, author of Chip War. Thanks to the US-Japan Foundation for sponsoring this podcast.

Outro music: The Mills Brothers - Till Then (YouTube link)

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