John Toland

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ilovestrategy -> John Toland (11/8/2008 8:08:27 AM)
I've read his Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire. I liked his writing style so much I started reading Adolf Hitler and I'm halfway through it. It just astounds me the amount of research that he did and this was before the internet.

Terminus -> RE: John Toland (11/8/2008 9:55:41 AM)
Well, the vast majority of research of all types was done before there was Internet...[:'(][;)]

Widell -> RE: John Toland (11/8/2008 12:39:43 PM)
What! No Wikipedia?[:D]

Titanwarrior89 -> RE: John Toland (11/8/2008 1:40:36 PM)
Read it myself. Its a good read. He has writen some good stuff. quote: ORIGINAL: ilovestrategy I've read his Rise and Fall of the Japanese Empire. I liked his writing style so much I started reading Adolf Hitler and I'm halfway through it. It just astounds me the amount of research that he did and this was before the internet.

SlickWilhelm -> RE: John Toland (11/8/2008 1:53:38 PM)
Oh boy, another chance to groom a John Toland fan! :) ilovestrategy, you've got a lot of great reading ahead of you. The book you've just read, The Rising Sun:The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire was the book that earned Toland the Pulitzer Prize. Some of his other more famous books: The Last One Hundred Days - The last 100 days of WWII. No Man's Land: 1918, the Last Year of the Great War. But Not in Shame - The first six months of WWII in the Pacific. Adolf Hitler Battle: The Story of the Bulge What stands out in my mind as to what makes Toland great, is his decision to tell his stories by using the experiences of humans caught up in the situations. His narrative also sucks you in and keeps you there throughout. With Cornelius Ryan, he is the most interesting of the great historic authors of the last half of the 20th century.

sol_invictus -> RE: John Toland (11/8/2008 2:37:41 PM)
I have only read Battle, since Toland writes on subjects that I am not really interested in, but I must say that Battle is one of the best histories of WWII combat I have ever read. If only he had written on some Napoleonic subjects.

sullafelix -> RE: John Toland (11/8/2008 4:04:59 PM)
Toland was in Japan right after the war. I believe he was in the army. He also had a Japanese wife. I love No Man's land and Rising Sun. The only caveat is that in Rising Sun he follows the " company line " that Hirohito ( Showa ) was pretty much a totally uninvolved spectator in the planning of the war. Toland's findings and that reporting of events has been debunked by many authors since the book was written. I was at a VFW sponsored talk of his that also included a German army major from WW2 and a representative of the Japanese consulate. During the Q+A period I asked him why he came to such different conclusion than the newer authors on the emperors involvement. I was not unrespectful or rude in my question. I phrased it as politely as I could. His answer was bluntly they were wrong, with no explanation of why. One thing that was very surprising from the Vets was that at least from the ones who spoke from the crowd, was that they felt that there was really no need to have fought Japan and negotiations should have prevented it. They showed no animosity whatsoever toward Japan. I have no idea how many fought in the PTO compared to ETO. Their feelings toward Nazi Germany were however loud and vocal that Germanny had to be crushed ( not just beaten ). I was completely taken aback that with the pearl Harbor attack and no DOW that the Vets felt that way, and there were quite a few that held this opinion. many even apologized for the bomb. As a personal note I had to go to his house a few years after this and deliver something. I must have been in a fog that day because I never noticed Toland's name on the slip. I got inside the house and saw a large history library and then the fact that the woman I was speaking to was Japanese, before it finally clicked. I tried to involve him in converation just to say how much I enjoyed his works. His bedside manner left a lot to be desired, I'll leave it at that.

ilovestrategy -> RE: John Toland (11/8/2008 8:05:05 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: Terminus Well, the vast majority of research of all types was done before there was Internet...[:'(][;)] TERMINUS!!!!!!!! You beat me in both WIT and POST COUNT!!!!!!!! [sm=00000028.gif][sm=00000030.gif][sm=00000036.gif][sm=00000945.gif][sm=character0272.gif][sm=duel.gif] shakes fist in ultimate frustration [sm=comp16.gif][sm=sign0063.gif][sm=00000016.gif][sm=00000117.gif] At leasT I got to use some smileys! [:D]

ilovestrategy -> RE: John Toland (11/8/2008 8:06:04 PM)
Oh, and ignore that capital "T" in least. Dang typos! [:@]

leastonh1 -> RE: John Toland (11/9/2008 10:03:01 AM)
Just ordered Battle, based on this thread. Thanks guys! [:D] All the best, Jim

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