Judgement at Tokyo

Author Gary J. Bass
Narrator Simon Vance
Publisher Pan Macmillan
Run Time 1 day, 7 hours and 23 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Asian history, Geopolitics, History, Law, Military and defence law and civilian service law, Military history: post-WW2 conflicts, Politics and government, Society and Social Sciences, War crimes.

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What to expect

A FINALIST FOR THE 2024 CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE
A Best Book of the Year in The Economist, Prospect, The Telegraph, TLS, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Yorker, and Foreign Affairs

'Magisterial' – Max Hastings, The Sunday Times
'Monumental' – Rana Mitter, Times Literary Supplement

'Every so often, a new work emerges of such immense scholarship and weight that it really does add a significant difference to our understanding of the Second World War and its consequences. Judgement at Tokyo is one such, a monumental work in both scale and detail, beautifully constructed and written, leaving the reader not only moved but disturbed as well.' – James Holland, The Sunday Telegraph

'A work of singular importance . . . balanced, original, human, accessible, and riveting' – Philippe Sands, author of East-West Street

A landmark history of the postwar trials of Japan’s leaders as war criminals, and their impact on the modern history of Asia and the world.

In the weeks after Japan finally surrendered to the Allies to end World War II, the victorious powers turned to the question of how to move on from years of carnage and destruction. For the Allied powers, the trials were an opportunity both to render judgment on their vanquished foes and to create a legal framework to prosecute war crimes and prohibit the use of aggressive war. For the Japanese leaders on trial, it was their chance to argue that their war had been waged to liberate Asia from Western imperialism and that the court was no more than victors’ justice.

Gary J. Bass' Judgement at Tokyo is a magnificent, riveting story of wartime action, dramatic courtroom battles, and the epic formative years that set the stage for the postwar era in the Asia–Pacific.

'A comprehensive, landmark and riveting book' – The Washington Post, 'The 10 Best Books of 2023'
'Breathtakingly ambitious and unlikely to be bettered as a portrait of the trials and their place in postwar global history' – History Today

Critics Review

This important book . . . Magisterial

Max Hastings, The Sunday Times

Every so often, a new work emerges of such immense scholarship and weight that it really does add a significant difference to our understanding of the Second World War and its consequences. Judgement in Tokyo is one such, a monumental work in both scale and detail, beautifully constructed and written, leaving the reader not only moved but disturbed as well.

James Holland, The Sunday Telegraph

With impeccable scholarship and lucid writing, this is a magnificent book on an aspect of Asian history that has far-reaching repercussions today

The Judges of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction

The word ‘monumental’ is used by reviewers rather too often, but in this case it is entirely deserved . . . Outstanding and detailed . . . Compelling and deeply humane

TLS

A work of singular importance – balanced, original, human, accessible, and riveting. It is of huge relevance to our times.

Philippe Sands, author of East-West Street

Magisterial . . . A well-crafted, warts-and-all account from which almost no one emerges unscathed.

Financial Times

A meticulously researched and authoritative account

The Economist, 'The Best Books of 2023'

Bass has written a massively long and detailed book, always lively and judgmental. He brings out not only the legal arguments, but the colour of the great tribunal itself.

Observer

This magisterial account – long but never sprawling; thick with detail yet always engrossing . . . This is a breathtakingly ambitious and well-executed piece of history, unlikely to be bettered as a portrait of the trials and their place in postwar global history.

Christopher Harding, History Today

Fascinating

The New Yorker, 'Best Books of 2023'

Comprehensive, landmark and riveting . . . Bass employs the complexities of the trial as a fulcrum to sketch a wide canvas. . . . Fascinating

The Washington Post, 'The 10 Best Books of 2023'

Immersive

The New York Times, 'Notable Books of 2023'

Magnificent . . . Vivid . . . Profound

Foreign Affairs

Magisterial . . . Bass is a marvelous writer.

Air Mail

In this superb work of transnational history, Gary Bass uses the Tokyo trial to illuminate the making of the modern world.

Ramachandra Guha, author of India After Gandhi

To understand the dynamics of post-World War II Asia, Gary Bass’s Judgement at Tokyo is fascinating, essential reading.

Barbara Demick, Baillie Gifford prize-winning author of Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Gary Bass has written nothing less than a masterpiece. With epic research and mesmerizing narrative power, Judgement at Tokyo has the makings of an instant classic.

Evan Osnos, US National Book Award-winning author of Age of Ambition: Chasing Fortune, Truth, and Faith in the New China

A vivid and meticulously crafted account, rich in detail, fair-minded, superbly nuanced.

Fredrik Logevall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Embers of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam

Destined to become a classic, Judgement at Tokyo is meticulously researched and elegantly written: it is also a necessary book.

Anna Sherman, author of The Bells of Old Tokyo

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