Competition among the national myths of the Pacific War held by the various countries of Northeast Asia and by the US about the Pacific still rages in the international politics, even while accurate understanding of what actually took place in that war has largely faded. Unresolved wartime grievances continue to constrain, distort, and embitter bilateral relationships, erupting over such issues as the Yasukuni Shrine, Japanese history textbooks, the Nanjing Massacre, the "comfort women," how to remember the atomic bombs, and the US military bases on Okinawa. The first part of The Pacific War recounts as straightforwardly and impartially as possible the trains of events of the Pacific War that continue to vex international relations in Northeast Asia. This summary historical narrative provides the reader with enough "backstory" to challenge the reader's own assumptions and to judge the veracity and balance of other competing national interpretations of the war.

© Praeger