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Loading... The Emperor's Generalby James Webb
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. 3903. The Emperor's General a Novel by James Webb (read 25 June 2004) I was much impressed by Webb's first two books, Fields of Fire (read 5 Mar 2001) and A Sense of Honor (read 20 Mar 2001) but this is the first I have read by him since then. This tells of General MacArthur when the central character becomes his aide in 1944 and stays with him in the first days of his time in Japan. While one is not sure how much is true, much seems accurate. If you read the Supreme Court opinion in Application of Yamashito, 327 U.S. 1 (1946) and the dissents therein you will have a good background for the book. There is a love story which is soap operay but not too distracting from the interesting parts of the book. I think Webb is a good writer, myself. no reviews | add a review
A combination of fact and fiction, The Emperor's General is an epic novel of historical intrigue set during the aftermath of World War II in the South Pacific and Japan. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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Yamashita comes off best of all the characters, even though MacArthur's flaws are probably inseparable from his genius (although that doesn't excuse his illegal and unethical actions).
Yamashita's trial is mirrored by the forced resignation of the Emperor's minister who took the fall for the court, regarding the prosecution of the war.
Webb knows his material thoroughly and gives an insider's view of the Japanese culture and mindset contrasted with the Western viewpoint. He claims that all historical events are accurate, and reveals some that are not common knowledge except to students of the period. He clearly thinks MacArthur is an arrogant, vindictive skunk who could have done a better job before leaving the Philippines in the first place, and at points afterward.
Style: Straightforward and intelligible. Some personal digressions make Webb's own views clear. Narrator reminds me of Nick Gatsby: too self-centered to be truly sympathetic.
NOTES:
p. 111: the politics of surrender.
p. 132: quoting Goethe, "Whenever one is polite in German, one lies."
p. 148: religious differences - shame is not the same as conscience; see p. 254 also.
p. 151: "Never give an order tha cannot be enforced."
p. 167: a scale of atrocities (3 types), see also 169-172
p. 180: Japan has a different style of politics, but there are still manipulators.
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