Books about Operation Olympic

• 1945: A Novel
• Burning Mountain
• Codename Downfall: The Secret Plan to Invade Japan
• Death Is Lighter Than a Feather
• Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire
• MacArthur's War: A Novel of the Invasion of Japan
• The Invasion of Japan: Alternative to the Bomb

• Alternate Historys of World War II
  (Book reviews)

Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947 By D. M. Giangreco Brand: Naval Institute Press Hardcover (416 pages) List Price: $36.95* Lowest New Price: $36.95* Lowest Used Price: $14.30* *(As of 21:55 Pacific 24 May 2017 More Info) Click Here Used Book in Good Condition Product Description: Hell To Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947 is the most comprehensive examination of the myriad complex issues that comprised the strategic plans for the American invasion of Japan. U.S. planning for the invasion and military occupation of Imperial Japan was begun in 1943, two years before the dropping of atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In final form, Operation Downfall called for a massive Allied invasion―on a scale dwarfing “D-Day”-- to be carried out in two stages. In the first stage, Operation Olympic, after the dropping of multiple atom bombs the U.S. Sixth Army would lead the southern-most assault on the Home Island of Kyushu to secure airfields and anchorages to support the second stage, Operation Coronet, a decisive invasion of the industrial heartland of Japan through the Tokyo Plain, 500 miles to the north, led by the First and Eighth armies. These facts are well known and have been recounted― with varying degrees of accuracy― in a variety of books and articles. A common theme in these works is their reliance on a relatively few declassified high-level planning documents. An attempt to fully understand how both the U.S. and Japan planned to conduct the massive battles subsequent to the initial landings was not dealt with in these books beyond the skeletal U.S. outlines formulated nine months before the initial land battles were to commence, and more than a year before the anticipated climactic series of battles near Tokyo. On the Japanese side, plans for Operation Ketsu-go, the “decisive battle” in the Home Islands, have been unexamined below the strategic level and seldom consisted of more than a rehash of U.S. intelligence estimates of Kamikaze aircraft available for the defense of Kyushu. Hell To Pay examines the invasion of Japan in light of substantial new sources, unearthed in both familiar and obscure archives, and brings the political and military ramifications of the enormous casualties and loss of material projected by trying to bring the Pacific War to a conclusion by a military invasion of the island. This ground breaking history counters the revisionist interpretations questioning the rationale for the use of the atom bomb and shows that the U.S. decision was based on very real estimates of the truly horrific cost of a conventional invasion of Japan.

Downfall: The End of the Imperial Japanese Empire By Richard Frank Random House Released: 1999-09-28 Hardcover (512 pages) List Price: $35.00* Lowest New Price: $15.78* Lowest Used Price: $1.99* Usually ships in 1-2 business days* *(As of 21:55 Pacific 24 May 2017 More Info) Click Here Product Description: "The publication of Richard Frank's long-awaited Downfall is an event of great importance, not only to historians but to the general public. No aspect of World War II is more controversial today than the use of atomic bombs against Japan in 1945. Some have argued that this act was cruel and unnecessary since Japan was on the verge of surrender. But by means of exhaustive      research and the employment of previously neglected and recently declassified sources, Frank proves in this definitive book that neither the Emperor nor the Japa-nese armed forces were anywhere close to surrendering in August 1945.    "In a stunning tour de force, Frank re-creates the end of the war, not as it seemed to people writing much later but as it appeared to American and Japanese decision makers at the time. Though the bomb was often seen as the worst possible means of ending the Pacific war, Frank establishes that its use was superior to all existing alternatives, and saved not only Allied lives but Japa-nese lives as well. Masterly in conception, brilliantly    reasoned, superbly researched, Downfall is all but impossible to put down.      "Anyone concerned with the moral, military, and political issues surrounding the end of the Pacific war must read this book."              --William L. O'Neill, author of A Democracy at War Downfall opens with a vivid portrayal of the catastrophic fire raid on Tokyo in March 1945--which was to be followed by the utter destruction of almost every major Japanese city--and ends with the anguished vigil of American and Japanese leaders waiting to learn if Japan's armed forces would obey the Emperor's order to surrender.    America's use of the atom bomb has generated more heated controversy than any other event of the whole war:   Did nuclear weapons save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans poised to invade Japan?   Did U.S. leaders know that Japan was urgently seeking peace and needed only assurance about the Emperor's safety to end the war swiftly?   Was the bomb really used to intimidate the Russians?         Why wasn't the devastating power of the weapon demonstrated first before being unleashed on a city? Richard B. Frank has brought to life these critical times, working from primary documents, reports, diaries, and newly declassified records. These pages present the untold story of how American leaders learned in the summer of 1945 that their compromise strategy to end the war by blockade and bombardment, followed by invasion, had been shattered; radio intelligence had unmasked a massive Japanese buildup on Kyushu designed to turn the initial invasion into a bloody shambles. Meanwhile, the text and analysis of diplomatic intercepts depicted sterile prospects for negotiation before a final clash of arms. Here also, for the first time, is a full and balanced account of how Japan's leaders risked annihilation by gambling on a military strategy aimed at securing political bargaining leverage to preserve the old order in Japan.      Downfall replaces the myths that now surround the end of the war and the use of the bomb with the stark realities of this great historical controversy.

X-Day: Japan: Front Line Reporting at the Greatest Invasion and the Dawn of Nuclear Warfare By Shawn D. Mahaney Stone Lake Historical Paperback (310 pages) List Price: $11.99* Lowest New Price: $7.18* Lowest Used Price: $5.30* Usually ships in 24 hours* *(As of 21:55 Pacific 24 May 2017 More Info) Click Here Product Description: "Engaging, interesting and frighteningly believable. Five Stars." - M. Heminger "X-Day: Japan is the single best researched alternate history of the aborted invasion of Japan you are going to find." - Trent Telenko, chicagoboyz.net In November of 1945 over a million fighting men clashed in the greatest amphibious invasion of human history. 400,000 American soldiers and Marines forced their way ashore. They were outnumbered by the Japanese but brought unprecedented firepower. This Pacific “D-day” was called X-Day. Walter F. Tuttle was there as a front line reporter. This is his account. It is not a parade of military hardware and tactics, nor is it a political thriller. It is the story of fighting men, their field commanders, and the nation which supported them. Nuclear weapons stood ready to join the battle. No one on the ground knew anything about atom bombs, until the world was turned upside down around them. A full preview sample of the book, not just the first portion, is available at the project web site, www.xdayjapan.com. The companion volume X-Day: Gaming Olympic is a detailed illustration of the battle, in maps and photos, with running commentary, www.xdayjapan.com/gaming-olympic.

Decisive Darkness: Part One – Majestic By Paul Hynes Sea Lion Press Released: 2016-01-30 Kindle Edition (148 pages)   Product Description: In August 1945, Japan was hit with two nuclear weapons. This, along with the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, caused the government to surrender. What if it had not? Paul Hynes imagines a world in which a fanatical junta takes over Japan and pledges a fight to the bitter end. Using real-world plans relating to the invasion of the Home Islands, along with an extensive knowledge of American, British, Soviet and Japanese attitudes and capabilities at the time, Hynes crafts a story of harrowing losses, desperate measures, and unspeakable horror for the civilian population.

Code-Name Downfall: The Secret Plan to Invade Japan-And Why Truman Dropped the Bomb By Thomas B. Allen Historical Books Simon & Schuster Hardcover (351 pages) List Price: $25.00* Lowest New Price: $10.49* Lowest Used Price: $2.00* Usually ships in 4-5 business days* *(As of 21:55 Pacific 24 May 2017 More Info) Click Here Product Description: Revealing a secret World War II invasion plan that would have meant destruction worse than that caused by the atomic bombs, acclaimed military authors examine a plan code-named Downfall that would have turned Japan into a wasteland. 25,000 first printing.

Hell to Pay: Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947 [Hardcover] [2009] D. M. Giangreco Naval Institute Press Paperback Lowest New Price: $44.54* Lowest Used Price: $18.98* *(As of 21:55 Pacific 24 May 2017 More Info) Click Here

X-Day: Gaming Olympic: Illustrating the Greatest Invasion, 1945 Japan By Shawn D. Mahaney Stone Lake Historical Paperback (80 pages) List Price: $14.99* Lowest New Price: $14.99* Usually ships in 24 hours* *(As of 21:55 Pacific 24 May 2017 More Info) Click Here Product Description: Set for November, 1945, Operation Olympic was the first half of Operation Downfall, the American plan to invade Japan and seize Tokyo in 1945-46. In support of the journalistic novel X-Day: Japan, Operation Olympic was gamed out over contemporary Army maps. The battle is much larger than previous conflicts over places like Okinawa and Iwo-jima. In this book the greatest amphibious invasion in history is played out day-by-day. American and Japanese forces meet, fight, and suffer over several months of conflict. Running commentary describes the difficult decisions faced by field commanders on a regular basis, and the impact of each decision on the brutal fighting. Other books have covered the invasion plans, but no modern works are supported by this type of effort. X-Day: Japan ended with a broad tactical nuclear attack, using the early low-yield weapons available. Impact of such weapons on a large battle front is displayed and evaluated. 80 full-size color pages; E-book version best viewed on larger color devices.

Decisive Darkness: Part Two – Coronet By Paul Hynes Sea Lion Press Released: 2016-10-31 Kindle Edition (176 pages)   Product Description: The year is 1946 and despite the nightmarish sacrifices of the American invasion, Japan remains a battlefield. The leadership of the fanatical junta which ignored the Emperor’s wishes to end the war has been beheaded yet those who have survived remain just as resolute in their ultimate goal, to fight to the last Japanese subject and take as much of the rest of the world with them. In the second and final part of the 'Decisive Darkness' series, 'Coronet', Paul Hynes details the apocalyptic struggle that the world came so close to in our own time. The fanaticism of the junta is equally matched by the Allies desperation to end the war as quickly and as cleanly as possible in the wake of the mass slaughter portrayed in the series’ previous work, Majestic. As the Allied commanders prepare for the final strike against the heart of Japan, the capital city of Tokyo, they will learn history’s most horrific lesson. An enemy with nothing to lose is the most dangerous one of all.

Code-Name Downfall: The Invasion of Japan, November 1, 1945 Holiday House Hardcover Lowest Used Price: $322.02* *(As of 21:55 Pacific 24 May 2017 More Info) Click Here

Decisive Darkness By Paul Hynes CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform Paperback (324 pages) List Price: $11.99* Lowest New Price: $10.21* Lowest Used Price: $9.59* Usually ships in 24 hours* *(As of 21:55 Pacific 24 May 2017 More Info) Click Here Product Description: “An enemy with nothing to lose is the most dangerous one of all” In August 1945, Japan was hit with two nuclear weapons. This, along with the Soviet invasion of Manchuria, caused the government to surrender. What if it had not? Paul Hynes imagines a world in which a fanatical junta takes over Japan and pledges a fight to the bitter end. Using real-world plans relating to the invasion of the Home Islands, along with an extensive knowledge of American, British, Soviet and Japanese attitudes and capabilities at the time, Hynes crafts a story of harrowing losses, desperate measures, and unspeakable horror for the civilian population.