War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War

Dower's premise in War without Mercy is a startling one: Though Western allies were clearly headed for victory, pure racism fueled the continuation and intensification of hostilities in the Pacific theater during the final year of World War II, a period that saw as many casualties as in the first five years of the conflict combined. Dower doesn't reach this disturbing conclusion lightly. He combed through piles of propaganda films, news articles, military documents, cartoons--even entries in academic journals in researching this book. Though his case is strong, Dower minimizes other factors, such as the protracted negotiations between the West and the Japanese.

• A War To Be Won: Fighting the Second World War
• World War II: A Short History
• The Pacific War: 1931-1945 (Pantheon Asia Library)
• With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
• Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland
• Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland
• Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945
• The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire
• Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II
• No Clear And Present Danger: A Skeptical View Of The UNited States Entry Into World War II