''Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II'' is a history book written by

John W. Dower John W. Dower (born June 21, 1938 in Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, Rhode Island) is an American author and historian. His 1999 book ''Embracing Defeat, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II'' won the U.S. National Book Awar ...

and published by W. W. Norton & Company in 1999. The book covers the difficult social, economic, cultural and political situation of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in the aftermath of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and the nation's

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

between August 1945 and April 1952, delving into topics such as the administration of

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

, the

Tokyo war crimes trials The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (IMTFE), also known as the Tokyo Trial or the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal, was a military trial convened on April 29, 1946 to Criminal procedure, try leaders of the Empire of Japan for crimes ag ...

Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

's controversial

Humanity Declaration The , also known as the , , and ''Imperial Rescript Denying His Divinity'', is an imperial rescript issued by the Emperor Shōwa as part of a New Year's statement on 1 January 1946 at the request of the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers (als ...

and the drafting of the new

Constitution of Japan The Constitution of Japan (Shinjitai: , Kyūjitai: , Hepburn: ) is the constitution of Japan and the supreme law in the state. Written primarily by American civilian officials working under the Allied occupation of Japan, the constitution r ...

. Described by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' as "magisterial and beautifully written," the book won the 2000

Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published duri ...

, the 1999

National Book Award The National Book Awards are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. The Nat ...

, (With acceptance speech.) the 2000 Bancroft Prize, the 2000 L.L. Winship/PEN New England Award, the

Mark Lynton History Prize The Mark Lynton History Prize is an annual award in the amount of $10,000 given to a book "of history, on any subject, that best combines intellectual or scholarly distinction with felicity of expression". The prize is one of three awards given as p ...

and the 1999

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Since 1980, the ''Los Angeles Times'' has awarded a set of annual book prizes. The Prizes currently have nine categories: biography, current interest, fiction, first fiction (the Art Seidenbaum Award added in 1991), history, mystery/thriller ( ...

Publication

* Total pages: 676.

References

External links

*
First ChapterInterview with Dower on ''Embracing Defeat''
'' Booknotes'', March 26, 2000 History books about World War II Books about Japan Occupied Japan Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction-winning works National Book Award for Nonfiction winning works 1999 non-fiction books W. W. Norton & Company books Bancroft Prize-winning works {{WWII-book-stub

Publication

See also

References

External links