Code-Name Downfall: The Secret Plan to Invade Japan and Why Truman Dropped the Bomb

by Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen

Book Overview

Basing their narrative on newly declassified documents, the bestselling authors of Rickover reveal the secret World War II invasion plan--code named Downfall--that would have meant an Armageddon far... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684804069
• ISBN13: 9780684804064
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 351 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Downfall..the review

This is an excellent book which contains background information not normally known to history buffs. The inside information about Japanese thoughts and culture as it pertains to surrender was very informative.

The Actual Plan to Invade Japan

When Col. Paul Tibbets, flying the Enola Gay, dropped the first atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, it was prevent an American invasion of Japan. If the bombs were not dropped and the ensuing cataclysms had not caused Emperor Hirohito to break the tie in the War cabinet, bringing the unconditional surrender of Japan, a massive invasion would have been necessary - one that would have dwarfed the one at Okinawa, which required twice as many ships as are in the entire United States Navy today. Arrayed against the Americans were millions of Japanese soldiers and civilians, all of which the defense minister Anami wanted to mobilize in what he described as "the glorious death of 100 million." For the first time, a book details the actual plan to invade Japan, summarizing the experience and tactics that led up to it and the losses that were envisioned.

Well-researched book on a contentious subject.

While the overall argument of this title is to show why Truman approved the use of the atomic bomb, Allen and Polmar also show the strengths and weaknesses of the grand strategies pursued by the U.S. and Japan during World War II. The American failure to truly appreciate the massive national effort to defeat the Axis powers lead to a reliance on a bombing campaign to knock Japan out of the war, the apotheosis of which were the atomic bombs. The Japanese expected to exhaust America through heroic sacrifice and terror weapons. Code-name Downfall does a better job than most books on this period of the war in discussing the internal Japanese debate over surrender. My main complaint is that the book fails to consider the possible success of the continued American submarine campaign against the Japanese merchant marine. Nonetheless, highly recommended for all those interested in the Pacific campaigns in World War II and those debating the dropping of the atomic bomb.

A fair and surprising look at the bombing of Hiroshima.

In Codename Downfall, Allen and Polmar accomplish an amazing feat. In a book describing U.S. President Harry Truman's decision to use the atom bomb, they make the world's only nuclear attacks seem almost unimportant. Fifty years have passed since U.S. bombers annihilated the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but those events have been debated frequently and furiously ever since. Using insightful research the authors paint so terrible a picture of the Pacific war's escalating destruction it even dwarfs the instant vaporization of two complete cities. Downfall does not linger on the classic numerical comparison of lives lost to nukes versus invasion. Instead, the authors provide a sweeping account of the Allies' efforts to liberate or capture island after island in their determined drive to seize the Japanese homeland and stop the Japanese war-making ability. Both sides expected a full mobilization of every Japanese citizen to fight what would be the largest invasion of all time. As Japanese generals preached about "100 million souls" all dying together, the American leaders searched for any alternative to the "decisive battle" as the Japanese military referred to it. The book described how the U.S. leaders grasped at the atomic bomb as a last, desperate hope to avoid this bloody climax their enemies thirsted for. By the end of the book, the reader no longer wonders why Truman dropped the Bomb, but how the Japanese leaders could refuse the mercy of a peaceful surrender. Responsibility for the bombing finally rests squarely on the shoulders of the Japanese "cabinet." Codename Downfall gives a fresh and convincing perspective on a very old question. R. Day: May 29, 1996