A groundbreaking history that considers the attack on Pearl Harbor from the Japanese perspective and is certain to revolutionize how we think of the war in the Pacific. When Japan launched hostilities against the United States in 1941, argues Eri Hotta, its leaders, in large part, understood they were entering a war they were almost certain to lose. Drawing on material little known to Western readers, and barely explored in depth in Japan itself, Hotta poses an essential question: Why did these men—military men, civilian politicians, diplomats, the emperor—put their country and its citizens so unnecessarily in harm’s way? Introducing us to the doubters, schemers, and would-be patriots who led their nation into this conflagration, Hotta brilliantly shows us a Japan rarely glimpsed—eager to avoid war but fraught with tensions with the West, blinded by reckless militarism couched in traditional notions of pride and honor, tempted by the gambler’s dream of scoring the biggest win against impossible odds and nearly escaping disaster before it finally proved inevitable. In an intimate account of the increasingly heated debates and doomed diplomatic overtures preceding Pearl Harbor, Hotta reveals just how divided Japan’s leaders were, right up to (and, in fact, beyond) their eleventh-hour decision to attack. We see a ruling cadre rich in regional ambition and hubris: many of the same leaders seeking to avoid war with the United States continued to adamantly advocate Asian expansionism, hoping to advance, or at least maintain, the occupation of China that began in 1931, unable to end the second Sino-Japanese War and unwilling to acknowledge Washington’s hardening disapproval of their continental incursions. Even as Japanese diplomats continued to negotiate with the Roosevelt administration, Matsuoka Yosuke, the egomaniacal foreign minister who relished paying court to both Stalin and Hitler, and his facile supporters cemented Japan’s place in the fascist alliance with Germany and Italy—unaware (or unconcerned) that in so doing they destroyed the nation’s bona fides with the West. We see a dysfunctional political system in which military leaders reported to both the civilian government and the emperor, creating a structure that facilitated intrigues and stoked a jingoistic rivalry between Japan’s army and navy. Roles are recast and blame reexamined as Hotta analyzes the actions and motivations of the hawks and skeptics among Japan’s elite. Emperor Hirohito and General Hideki Tojo are newly appraised as we discover how the two men fumbled for a way to avoid war before finally acceding to it. Hotta peels back seventy years of historical mythologizing—both Japanese and Western—to expose all-too-human Japanese leaders torn by doubt in the months preceding the attack, more concerned with saving face than saving lives, finally drawn into war as much by incompetence and lack of political will as by bellicosity. An essential book for any student of the Second World War, this compelling reassessment will forever change the way we remember those days of infamy.

Presents the battle of Trafalgar in it's historical scope and context. Quotes extensively from journals and sources and brings to life the whole story of the British-French conflict, at sea and on land, at the dawn of the nineteenth century.

ISIS. Ebola. Social disorder. Religious persecution. Rampant immorality. Are these the harbingers of the biblical apocalypse, of the end of the world? If they are, what do they mean and when can we expect this to happen? In this eye-opening book, prophecy insider Robert Jeffress offers a reasoned look at these "signs" and what Jesus Christ himself meant when he talked about a future so horrendous that no human lives would be spared "unless those days were shortened" (Matthew 24.22). Did He have our time in mind? All over the world people are aware that something unprecedented in human history is about to happen. COUNTDOWN TO THE APOCALYPSE presents vital information that everyone, both inside and outside the church, needs to know to be prepared.

Learn How to Make Any Occasion Shine! Have you ever attended a party so clever it had you talking for days? Or received an invitation that made you feel like royalty? Were you ever given a gift so "you" that you never forgot it? Make It Memorable is an A to Z thematically organized resource for making the most of every special occasion and highlighting the little things in life. From anniversaries and birthdays through weddings and zero-cost ideas, it includes: - It was a very good year! For a special anniversary, select bottles of wine with vintages from special years for the couple---the year they met, the year they married, etc. - A blast from the past! For a memorable birthday for an old friend, rent a limo and take a tour down memory lane---past the birthday girl's high school, first house, etc., reminiscing as you go. - Love is in bloom! For a garden party shower theme, have each guest bring a plant. Distribute the plants around the room to create your own greenhouse atmosphere for the bride. - A to-do bag just for you! For a get-well present, create a to-do bag filled with things your friend can do while recuperating. You can include everything from favorite missed shows on videotape to assorted magazines and goodies. - Plus fabulous favors, inviting invitations, party ideas, dazzling centerpieces, memorable gifts, unforgettable weddings, and much more! Gift-giving expert Robyn Spizman has packed Make It Memorable with the most creative ideas under the sun for enlivening every party, event, and occasion with a touch of pizzazz.

Forty years later, Ernest J. Philson was no longer proud he was addicted. As he examined his life and his smoking habit, he knew that he had to make a change. In his incredible and inspiring book, Delivered: My Journey to an Addiction-free Life, Ernest will show you how he completely vanquished his smoking addiction purely with willpower and the Holy Spirit in a mere twenty-one days. Join Ernest on his twenty-one-day journey as he documents his discoveries in his battle with smoking. Rejoice with him as he comes to the realization that his smoking habit is being slowly replaced by a more intimate relationship with God. Draw strength and find advice and techniques to build your confidence and step out of your comfort zone as you beat your own addiction. If Ernest can do it, you can too.

A "behind-the-scenes account of the 116 days leading up to the Americans attack on Hiroshima"--Dust jacket flap.

Few scholars have paid close attention to the factors internal to the Republican Party that helped the Right to consolidate its power within the party between the 1960s and the 1980s. Plugging the gap in party literature, The Rise of the Republican Right: From Goldwater to Reagan provides a comprehensive account of the rise of the Republican Right in the years between Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential defeat and the election of Ronald Reagan as president in 1980. Specifically, it offers a historical-institutional analysis of the organizational factors internal to the Republican Party that helped the conservative Right maintain, and then expand its ascendant position within the GOP in the critical years between Goldwater and Reagan. Brian M. Conley demonstrates how the growth of the Right during this period was aided by a desire on the part of many Republican leaders to rebound from electoral defeat by rebuilding the party organizationally, rather than reforming it politically, through the introduction of a more "service" -oriented party structure. The Rise of the Republican Right will interest academics, party scholars, and researchers eager to gain a more nuanced understanding of the factors that helped the Right become a dominant force within the Republican Party.

In 1993, the neophyte Reform Party stunned the nation, winning 52 seats in the House of Commons, narrowly missing Official Opposition status. Having collected just 2% of the popular vote in the 1988 federal election, it garnered an astonishing 19% five years later.

The author identifies key players in nuclear development and offers prophetic insights