The Road to Pearl Harbor

TheRoad to Pearl Harboroffersa timelyexaminationofthe conflict in the Pacific prior to the attacks on Pearl Harborand offerslessons applicable to understandingcontemporaryGreat Powerflash pointsbetween Asia and the West.This volume bringstogether renownedhistorians and analysts of grand strategy to map out the fateful decisions that culminated in war. Thecontributorstake apragmaticview of the policy and strategy options, as well as the decisions made by the leaders of the great powers. This important history underscores that the choices made by political, military, and naval leaders mattered in determining questions of war and peace. HighlightingJapan's war against China and the protracted resistance of Chiang-Kai-shek's Nationalist regime,TheRoad to Pearl Harbor provideshistorical context for understanding the struggle for mastery in Asia and decisions for war. Thebookalso makes an important contribution to interwar naval history by examining the views of the Japanese navy's leaders, who wanted to build up their navy to defeat Britain and the United States at sea. This history is certainly relevant, as the concluding chapter demonstrates in an eye-opening examination of the current views held by Chinese naval officers about how to fight a future war in the Pacific.