And this is the start of an excellent book. The research is extensive and the stories of the three men who were involved in the decision to drop the atomic bomb and how the Japanese surrendered.

Much has been said about the surrender and the atomic bomb. Nothing was as in-depth as this. With access to diaries to tell their story, this has a lot more insight than most books.

The main players are Henry Stimson, American Secretary of War; General Carl Spaatz, head of strategic bombing in the Pacific; Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo.

While we have heard the dry facts of the bombing, we have never read the thoughts, feelings, doubts, and turmoil of making those decisions brought.

As always, this was full of information and things I did not know. Excellent.

NetGalley/June 6, 2023, RHPG

A good book: easy to read, clear in its goal, successful in the presentation of solid evidence in support of that goal.

The goal is: to refute the contention, in wide circulation especially since the 1995 publication of The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb by Gar Alperovitz, “that, by August 1945, Japan was ready to surrender, and that America’s real motivation in dropping the A-bomb was to intimidate Russia in the earliest days of the Cold War” (Road to Surrender, Kindle location 88).

“The facts are otherwise,” Thomas replies (also location 88).

I think that Thomas’s book is very convincing in its thesis, but I don’t think the people who believe otherwise are going to be convinced by this book, or, indeed, by any book.

I don’t speak Japanese but I love words. Here are some interesting Japanese words, as interpreted by the author:

– haragei: “A man gifted at haragei, the stomach “art” or “game”, can disguise his gut feeling with words, while signaling, by inference or with the barest winks and nods, sometimes invisibly, his true intentions” (location 1001).

– giri: “a heavy sense of obligation” (location 1013).

– gekokujo: “the overpowering of seniors by their juniors” (used, in the book, concerning political matters, location 1032).

I love to read popular history, but I wish there were some sort of labelling law that books of this type had to have a box, sort of like the box on food with nutritional information, that stated clearly what new (that is, previously unpublished) information appears in the book you are reading. In the case of this book, the new information appears to be diaries and papers of the three people (Henry Stimson, US Secretary of War; Gen. Carl "Tooey" Spaatz, head of strategic bombing in the Pacific; and Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo) referred to in the book’s subtitle. Of these, the author only uses “unpublished” to characterize Togo’s dairy entries. For the other two, the author says, some family members gave him diaries and letters, but it’s not clear whether Thomas is the first scholar ever to be given that access.

In many books, interesting information is hidden in the footnotes. Here’s an example from this book: Footnote 31, appearing after the epilogue of this book, reads in part: “The Japanese military knew from its own failed attempt to build an atomic bomb that even a single bomb required a fantastic and time-consuming effort. After grudgingly conceding that Hiroshima had been destroyed by an atomic bomb, some Japanese military leaders argued that the Americans could not possible build more. Nagasaki showed them otherwise” (location 3172). Since people who might admit that one atomic bomb was necessary often feel that the second one was unnecessary, I would have loved to have had more information on this point, that is, which Japanese leaders argued that there was only one atomic bomb in existence, when did they argue it, what was the reaction?

The above are quibbles. This book was a fascinating read.

I received a free electronic advance copy of this book for review from Penguin Random House via Netgalley.

Mr. Thomas has added a well-written addition to the historical record. Many tens of thousands of books on the Second World War have been written and sold, but there is still a paucity of works in English that use Japanese primary source material and that is where "Road to Surrender" shines. Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo has only a now-out-of-print book dealing primarily with his experiences during the preceding years of the Second World War. Mr. Thomas uses Foreign Minister Togo's writings extensively juxtaposed with the American decision-makers
of the time concerning the decision to use the Atomic Bomb on Japan.

Road to Surrender by Evan Thomas
I found this an excellent book adding far more information on the buildup and dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan. Mr. Thomas has also been able to bring into the story the side of Japan. His focus are three important people in the process: Henry Stimson- A Republican but Roosevelt and Truman’s Secretary of War, Carl “ Tooey” Spaatz- Commander of Strategic Air Force and in Guam and responsible for among other planes the B-29’s that dropped the two atomic bombs and Shigenori Togo – Minister of Foreign Affairs in Japan during the war. What really makes the book outstanding is Mr. Thomas’s contact with Togo’s twin grandsons one of whom served for a long time in the Japanese Foreign Service and gave access to Shigenori’s private diary. This connection makes it possible to compare the debates and discussions in the US led by Stimson on whether or not to use the bomb and where versus Togo’s trying to negotiate among the military leaders to accept surrender after the two atomic weapons were dropped. It was not a done deal. This is what makes this book and outstanding and informative read. And finally, Mr. Thomas reveals he may not have existed without this end to the war as his father was in charge of a landing craft that would have been used in the US had decided to invade the main land of Japan.