"The first book in a new three-volume history of the Asia-Pacific War, by the acclaimed author of Downfall and Guadalcanal. In 1937 the swath of the globe from India to Japan contained half the world's population, but only two nations with real sovereignty (Japan and Thailand) and two with compromised sovereignty (China and Mongolia). All other peoples in the region endured under some form of colonialism. Today the region contains nineteen major, fully sovereign nations. Tower of Skulls is the first work in any language to present a unified account of the course and titanic impact of this part of the global war, which began the torturous route to twenty-first-century Asia. Covering with extraordinary detail campaigns in China, Singapore, the Philippines, and Burma, as well as the attack on Pearl Harbor, it expands beyond military elements to highlight the critical political, economic, and social reverberations of the struggle. Finally, it provides a graphic depiction of the often forgotten but truly horrific death toll in the Asia-Pacific region-over 20 million-which continues to shape international relations today"--

"Black Snow brilliantly vivifies the horrific reality of the most destructive air attack in history, against Tokyo on the night of March 9-10, 1945. James Scott deftly employs sharply etched portraits of individuals of all stations and nationalities to survey the global, technological, and moral backdrop of the cataclysm, including the searing experiences of Japanese trapped in a gigantic firestorm. This riveting account illuminates an historical moment of profound contemporary relevance." --Richard B. Frank, author of Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War: July 1937-May 1942.