A Limited Book Review: Killing the Rising Sun or Road to Surrender

A few months ago I raised some issues with Bill O'Reilly's Killing the Rising Sun and stated that I would not recommend it.  A better substitute, for a read about the end of the pacific theater during WW2, would be Evan Thomas's Road to Surrender.  It has some clear similarities, such as both Thomas and O'Reilly were former journalists. Both make statements that their fathers served in the US Navy and were both slated to serve in Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan.  Both authors tell how their father's stories sparked an interest in the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Both come to their respective projects with the belief that dropping the Bomb was necessary for ending the war. This being said, Thomas' book doesnt raise any of my four red flags. 

Firstly, Thomas never says his narrative is "The Truth (O'Reilly,2)."  He presents his evidence, gives voice to all sides and let's the reader decide how true his narrative is. This is what a historian is supposed to do. I don't argue that Thomas gets his narrative one hundred percent true but he presents his work with the humility of a student of history.

My second problem with O'Reilly's book was that I constantly asked how does he know that? Thomas explains in the beginning of his book that he had access to unpublished diaries and papers of key figures in his narrative (Thomas, xvi). Primary sources do lie for one reason or another but Having such personal primary sources makes the possibility that these men had certain thoughts and feelings more believable. 

Thirdly, THE BOOK HAD A BIBLIOGRAPHY! As I had said in another post, a bibliography is not necessary as long as your sources are sited in a Notes page (Keating).  A bibliography is great tool for the reader. It says the author at least knows the historiography of the subject. It allows readers to find more materials for further reading and research on the subject. Bibliographies are a chance for the author show how much he/she prepared for their book.

Finally, I took issue with the way Killing the Rising Sun used history to manipulate the reader by cherry picking its vignettes. Road to Surrender provides not only the American story about the bomb but a nuanced analysis of the Japanese side as well. providing the political situation in Japan, cultural roadblocks and historical reasoning for why they did not surrender when it first became obvious they would lose the war.

To be fair I'm not a WW2 historian the only other book I've read on the subject is Bill O'Reilly's Killing the Rising Sun.  In my opinion Road to Surrender is the better researched, better organized and is more empathetic in its presentation. This is the book I would recommend.

Bibliography: 

Keating, Chris. "A Limited Book Review: Killing the Rising Sun." The Weaving Chronicle. August 27, 2023. https://theweavingchronicle.blogspot.com/2023/08/a-limited-book-review-killing-rising-sun.html?m=1.

O'Reilly, Bill and Martin Dugard. Killing the Rising Sun. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC., 2016.

Thomas, Evan. Road to Surrender. New York: Random House, 2023.

Double Feature: Film Foliage or The 2 Best Films to Watch For Fall

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." -Joe Fox, You've Got Mail

I'm not talking about Halloween movies. Im not a fan of scary movies as a whole. These are the two movies I like to watch when the air starts getting crisp and the leaves begin changing.

You've Got Mail, the 90s romcom, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The Trouble with Harry, Introducing Shirley MacLaine in Hitchcock's 41st film.

I wish there were more to my list so that this article could be more "clicky." Maybe I'll find more and add them later for now these are the 2 movies to watch during the fall.

In our house, You've Got Mail has been the traditional film for the first day of fall. I'm not sure when that became the case but my wife and I enjoy sitting together and watching the film so much, why not give it a day. The film starts during the autumn in New York, meandering through the holidays and finishing in late spring. Truly, it could be watched at anytime of the year. It is one of the great 90s romcoms. As a history nerd I'm fascinated by it because it is a time capsule of before the change of the Millennium. New York before 9-11, the internet was still in its infancy, the big box store debates. Watch the film and see how the world has changed in the last 25 years. I grew up in the 90s and remember being dragged to the theater by my mom and older sister to watch this film. Now that I'm older it offers a great deal of nostalgia for me. Like a great big bowl of chicken soup for the soul. It's a 90s thing.

 The second film to watch in the autumn  is Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry (1955). What is amazing about this film is that Hitch was also releasing To Catch A Thief the same year, further more Hitch had released 2 films the previous year and would go on to release 2 films the next year. I love the aesthetic of the film. One minute you're looking at orange foliage the next it looks like a play. That is exactly what you are seeing because, Hurricane Carol, heavy storms and colder than usual weather wrecked the New England Foliage. The country side was recreated on a Soundstage, according to historian Patrick McGilligan, Hitchcock sent leaf samples to the special effects team to get the color right (506).  I'm not sure why I love this film; it wasn't a film I watched a lot as a kid. Everytime I see the leaves start to change I feel like watching the Trouble with Harry.

These films aren't historical epics but they are time capsules. So whether Fall makes you buy all things pumpkin spice or as in the cinematic words of Joe Fox, "It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." As the season get colder here are two recommendations for you. Let me know if you have recommendations of your own in the comment below.

sources:

McGilligan, Patrick. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2018/12/18/youve-got-mail-turns-20-all-best-quotes-rom/2335013002/