Stalin's War on Japan: The Red Army's 'Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation', 1945

Charles Stephenson

Dec 2022 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Derek Perkins

About this audiobook

Did Japan surrender in 1945 because of the death and devastation caused by the atomic bombs dropped by the Americans on Hiroshima and Nagasaki or because of the crushing defeat inflicted on their armies by the Soviet Union in Manchukuo, the puppet state they set up in north-east China? Indeed, the Red Army's rapid and total victory in Manchukuo has been relatively neglected by historians. In this scholarly study, Charles Stephenson describes the political, diplomatic, and military build-up to the Soviet offensive and its decisive outcome. He also considers to what extent Japan's capitulation is attributable to the atomic bomb or the stunningly successful entry of the Soviet Union into the conflict. The military side of the story is explored in fascinating detail-the invasion of Manchukuo itself where the Soviet "Deep Battle" concept was employed with shattering results, and secondary actions in Korea, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. But equally absorbing is the account of the decision-making that gave rise to the offensive and the political and diplomatic background to it, and in particular the Yalta conference. There, Stalin allowed the Americans to persuade him to join the war in the east; a conflict he was determined on entering anyway. Stephenson's engrossing narrative throws new light on the last act of the Second World War.

About the author

Charles Stephenson is an established author on naval and siege warfare and the history of fortifications, with several books in print, including The Fortifications of Malta 1530-1945, Zeppelins: German Airships 1900-40, and The Channel Islands 1941-45: Hitler's Impregnable Fortress.

A native of the United Kingdom, Audie and AudioFile Earphones Award winner Derek Perkins's audiobook narration skills are augmented by a knowledge of three foreign languages and a facility with accents. He has narrated numerous titles in a wide range of fiction and nonfiction genres. He is a member of SAG-AFTRA.