War Without Mercy

War Without Mercy

Author	John W. Dower
Language	English
Genre	History
Publisher	W. W. Norton & Co.
Publication date	1986
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (hardcover)
Pages	399
ISBN	0-394-75172-8

War Without Mercy: Race & Power In the Pacific War is a 1986 history book written by John W. Dower and published by W. W. Norton & Company.[1] The book covers the views of the Japanese and their Western adversaries during the Pacific War, with a particular focus on the United States.[2][3][4]

Overview

In War Without Mercy, Dower, emeritus professor at MIT, examines the Pacific Campaign in the Second World War through a racial lens.[5] He argues that the fighting between the US and the Japanese be seen as a race war, as evidenced in "songs, slogans, propaganda reports, secret documents, Hollywood movies, the mass media and quotes from soldiers, leader and politicians".[6]

Dower contrasts Western racism toward Japanese people with attitudes toward Germans/Nazis since in the US, Germans overall were differentiated from Nazis. He contends that that differentiation was not complete or perfect, but was still different from the attitudes toward the entire Japanese people. He points to the different kinds of treatment people of German and Japanese descent were treated with (internment in the case of Japanese-Americans versus overlooking the German American Bund's open support for Hitler right up to the declaration of war).[7]

Dower instances examples of racism, and argues that such discourse and ideas can be easily re-established: "They [racist stereotypes] remain latent, capable of being revived by both sides in times of crisis and tension."[5]

Reception

While accepting some of the tenets of Dower's arguments, historians have also pushed back on some of his other points. For example, British journalist and historian Max Hastings argues that American views toward the Japanese accounted for little where aerial bombardment was concerned. Civilian populations in both Japan and Germany, he notes, were subjected to heavy Allied bombing raids in spite of the casualties war planners knew this would inflict.[8]

Sections

War Without Mercy is divided into four sections. The first section describes the patterns of a race war. The second and third part are a matched set: Part II covers the war from a Western viewpoint, while Part III relays the war as seen by Japanese eyes. Kitano says "The point-counterpoint scenario, as the two cultures misunderstand, misperceived, misinterpret and attempt to justify the destruction of each other is skillfully done." The final part is an epilogue, explaining how those intense viewpoints subsided, but may not have entirely disappeared.[6]

See also

• An Investigation of Global Policy with the Yamato Race as Nucleus

References

1. Dower, John W (1986). War Without Mercy: Race & Power In the Pacific War (1993 ed.). W. W. Norton & Co. pp. 317. ISBN 0-394-75172-8.
2. Plath, David W. (June 29, 1986). "War Without Mercy review". The New York Times. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
3. Smith, Gladdis (Autumn 1986). "War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War". foreignaffairs.com. Foreign Affairs. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
4. Kitano, Harry H. L. (May 25, 1986). "War Without Mercy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
5. Mitgang, Herbert (June 19, 1986). "Books: Of Bias and War". The New York Times. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
6. Kitano, Harry H. L. (May 25, 1986). "War Without Mercy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
7. Stevenson, John (May 14, 1987). "Reading: Hating the Japanese Why during World War II were the Japanese perceived as being more treacherous and atrocious than the Nazis?". Chicago Reader. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
8. Hastings, Max (2009). Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45. New York: Knopf Doubleday. pp. 281–82.

Publication

• Dower, John W (1986). War Without Mercy: Race & Power In the Pacific War (1993 ed.). W. W. Norton & Co. pp. 317. ISBN 0-394-75172-8.Total pages: 399.