1945

April 16, 2007
At the start of Conroy's compelling third alternate history (after 1901
and 1862
), military extremists, honor bound by the Japanese code of Bushido, kidnap Emperor Hirohito hours before he's set to announce his country's formal surrender in the aftermath of the atom bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Led by aging samurai and fanatical army general Korechika Anami, the new regime manipulates President Truman into invading the Japanese home islands. The massive offensive (with ground forces led by Gen. Douglas MacArthur) meets stiff resistance, including kamikaze attacks and the use of POWs as human shields. But as the U.S. finds itself slowly sinking into a nightmarish military quagmire, two improbable heroes chart a path to victory. Conroy explores the carnage of war through numerous viewpoints (a naïve American soldier, an escaped POW, a Japanese-American operative, the deposed emperor, etc.) with moving and thought-provoking results. For another take on the same scenario, see Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson's MacArthur's War: A Novel of the Invasion of Japan
(Reviews, Mar. 26).

May 15, 2007
The author of two previous adventures in alternate history (1901, 1862), Conroy now explores what might have happened in late 1945 if a militarist faction of the Japanese government had succeeded in preventing Emperor Hirohito from issuing the surrender order that ended World War II. The political and military maneuverings of both sides are portrayed through multiple viewpoints ranging from frontline troops to secret agents to heads of state. The battle scenes are vivid and energetic, as the U.S. military must carry out a bloody amphibious assault on the Japanese homeland in the face of a fanatical last-ditch defense. The deliberations of the political leaders provide a slower-paced but more complex strategic viewpoint; a postscript discloses the actual fate of the historical luminaries but leaves some ambiguity about whether other characters are entirely fictional. Recommended for all popular fiction collections where there is interest in the age-old game of "what if?" as applied to military and political history. [Another alternate history of this time period is Douglas Niles and Michael Dobson's MacArthur's War, which Forge is publishing this month and which will be reviewed in the May 15 print issue of LJ; Conroy is an LJ reviewer.Ed.]Bradley A. Scott, Brighton Dist. Lib., MI

Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.