Tojo: The Rise and Fall of Japan’s Most Controversial World War II General
512 pages
Dr James WE Smith, King’s College London
Tojo: The Rise and Fall of Japan’s Most Controversial World War II General by Peter Mauch is a biography of Hideki Tojo (1884-1949) that examines his rise from a disciplined Imperial Japanese army officer to Japan’s Prime Minister during the Second World War. Under examination by the author is Tojo’s central role in leading the country into war – including decisions like the attack on Pearl Harbor – and his leadership ranging from Japan’s early successes through to eventual defeat. The book portrays Tojo as a complex figure shaped by Imperial Japan’s militaristic system, highlighting both his administrative skill and his responsibility for aggressive expansion of Japan’s borders and its wartime policies. It concludes with his fall from power, trial for war crimes, and execution, while also exploring the broader question of how much blame rests on him personally against that of the political and military environment he operated within.
The book’s quality reflects its author’s substantial professional and analytical experience – although written with a Western audience in mind the risks potential bias that may have – delivers a truly unique biography that leaves the reader pondering in their own mind if Tojo is purely the villain or a hero, depending on the perspectives offered in the book. That it stirs this analysis in the mind, is a sure sign of quality research and writing within.
The use of new archival resources shines in this book and are put to excellent use. They explain Tojo’s role as a canny political operator set against the backdrop of an individual who was consistent in being highly disciplined, ideologically driven and executing political skill few in Japan could match. The author explains with ease, decision-making flawed or otherwise and how Tojo came to those conclusions. Important to NR readers is attention to how Tojo navigated rivalries, critically with Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto (1884-1943), Commander in Chief of the Imperial Japanese Navy, who was later assassinated by American forces in 1943. Of interest to readers of the NR will be how these two men viewed Japan’s potential war with the United States, and both the build-up, off ramps and execution of the war. Tojo’s navigation of using divisions in the Imperial Japanese Navy about the war, clearly demonstrates political skill in the complex social rules of Japan and the role of the emperor. A useful reminder of how army and navy working against one another can so easily trash well laid strategic and operational plans, something we cannot rule out Japan may have assessed or ignored from the works of British historian and philosopher of maritime strategy, Sir Julian Corbett (1854-1922).
This is not a ‘quick read’. Being insightful and authoritative required the author to get into detail, heavy with bureaucratic and military minutiae. The reviewer did not see that as a problem, but a strength, but some may find the reading challenging. Yet is most welcome to see ‘older style’ biographical books such as this appear on the shelves.
In short, this represents a thoughtful provoking biography of a key wartime figure, which is a delight considering the weight of biographies we have on military leadership of the period of a Western origin. The book deserves high recommendation to any audience both military and civilian.
