The Emperor's General

Substance: MacArthur and the occupation of Japan, centered around the prosecution of Japanese general Yamashita for massacres in Manila, of which he appeared to be innocent. Intrigue and ego abound. Yamashita's position is similar to Thomas More's: despite doing what is right, if the King wants your head that's what happens. Detailed account of the rigging of the trial, the political reasons for it, MacArthur's personal vendetta, and the dilemmas of the junior staff.
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 show more 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.

p. show less

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.