

Storm Clouds over the Pacific, 1931-1941
Author: Peter Harmsen
Series: War in the Far East #1
Narrator: Walter Dixon
Unabridged: 9 hr 5 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 08/24/2021
Categories: Nonfiction, History, Wars, World War Ii, Asian & Pacific Islander History
Synopsis
Storm Clouds Over the Pacific begins the story long before Pearl Harbor, showing how the war can only be understood if ancient hatreds and long-standing geopolitics are taken into account. Harmsen demonstrates how Japan and China's ancient enmity led to increased tensions in the 1930s, which, in turn, exploded into conflict in 1937.
The battles of Shanghai and Nanjing were followed by the Battle of Taierzhuang in 1938, China's only major victory. A war of attrition continued up to 1941, the year when Japan made the momentous decision to pursue all-out war. The infamous attack on Pearl Harbor catapulted the United States into the war, as the Japanese also overran British and Dutch territories throughout the western Pacific.