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Embracing Defeat

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About this listen

Pulitzer Prize, General Nonfiction, 2000

National Book Award, Nonfiction, 1999

In this illuminating study, Dower explores the ways in which the shattering defeat of the Japanese in World War II, followed by over six years of American military occupation, affected every level of Japanese society. He describes the countless ways in which the Japanese met the challenge of "starting over", from top-level manipulations concerning the fate of Emperor Hirohito to the hopes, fears, and activities of ordinary men and women in every walk of life. He shows us the intense and turbulent interplay of conqueror and conquered, West and East, in a way no Western historian has done before.

This is a fascinating portrait of an extraordinary moment in history, when new values warred with the old, and early ideals of demilitarization and radical reform were soon challenged by the United States' decision to incorporate Japan into the Cold War Pax Americana.

©1999 John W. Dower (P)1999 Blackstone Audio Inc. 20th Century Asia Japan Military Modern World War Socialism China Imperialism Imperial Japan

Critic reviews

  • Winner of the 1999 National Book Award for Non-Fiction

"A magisterial and beautifully written book....A pleasure to read." (New York Times)
"An extraordinarily illuminating book....Surely the most significant work to date on the postwar era in Japan." (Wall Street Journal)
"The writing of history doesn't get much better than this....[Dower] deftly situates the political story within a rich cultural context....The book is most remarkable, however, for the way Dower judiciously explores the complex moral and political issues....Dazzling." (Publishers Weekly)
All stars
Most relevant
Perfect coverage of the most important period in Japanese history. Excellent balance between hard facts and interesting anecdotes

excellent !

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excellent well researched and exhaustive,goto book on Japanese American relationship after the war.
narrator does well with Japanese words
Chapters end very quickly

long listen!

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The book's content is good and well-researched. I would highly recommend Dower's work to anyone interested or researching Post-War Japanese society. However, the narration is very bad, very robotic and impersonal. I couldn't continue.

Informative, but poor narration

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Narrator sounds like a robot. His pitch and tone is all over the place. Really struggling to finish.

Narrator spoils interesting history

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The books content is very good but the robotic narration sounds as if someone used AI rather than a human. I've actually reverted to reading it rather than listening to it. Don't buy the ebook.

Good book, horrible narration

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