The latest in Bill O’Reilly’s Killing series is Killing the Rising Sun. After a series of books of military commanders and political leaders, this non-fiction book trains guns on the final year of World War II in the Pacific.
The Japanese had near total control of the East Asia from the borders of India extending to the Pacific. This was perhaps one of the most brutal battlegrounds for the Allied forces as japan was beginning to look a bigger threat. The book, however, takes you back a bit more. From Gen Douglas McArthur to Roosevelt who started the Manhattan project to President Harry Truman who ordered the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings, the author takes each perspective in run up to the fateful day and end of the war in Pacific.
Japanese brutality was knows to all in East Asia as Japanese troops trampled and tortures every place and people they invaded. The author takes you to the bloody battlefields of Peleliu and Iwo Jima. The battle in the Pacific is heating up even as Europe is staring at end of war. Sudden death of Roosevelt has made Truman the head of the country. A president who must make the most important decision. A decision whether to use the atomic bomb. Even as the Japanese face mounting losses Emperor Hirohito refuses to surrender.
Killing the Rising Sun give a thrilling account of the final moments of the war and the build up tot he atomic bombing of two Japanese cities.
Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan
Author: Bill O’Reilly, Martin Dugard
Hardcover: 336 pages
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.; 1 edition (September 13, 2016)
ISBN: 1627790624, 978-1627790628
Killing the Rising Sun Audience Reviews
The readers have liked the detail in the book. Events, places and people who are never mentioned otherwise in the history taught in schools. Many think that the first part of the book is a bit slow, but as it nears the end the pace picks up.
Some have remarked that the book is a bit more complex than others by the same author and it is difficult to follow the many names people and soldiers in different locations.
Killing the Rising Sun Critics Reviews
Ray Locker of USA Today gives the book just two stars. He says the earlier books worked, partly because Lincoln and Kennedy were actually assassinated. This account of history appears to be a bit more like a thriller than an account of history. His take is that the book doesn’t offer anything new that is not covered in books like John Dower’s Embracing Defeat or Richard Frank’s Downfall.
J. Kemper Campbell of Linoln Journal Star agree that the book has nothing new to offer. But it is a good introduction to the Pacific war theater.he believes the true value of the book lies in its contemplation and opposing views on using the Atomic bomb on civilian population.