Books like Retribution by Max Hastings

John Keegan’s authoritative history of the Great War traces the political failures, battlefield campaigns, and human cost that reshaped Europe and the world.

A true‑story account of nine American airmen shot down over the Pacific during World War II, whose fates were hidden for nearly 60 years until the full story was finally revealed.

"Leckie's smooth narrative deals with all aspects of the Okinawa battle...and his style adds some nice touches, including autobiographical flashes that go back as fas as Guadalcanal."—Washington Post Book World.

A masterly narrative history of the climactic battles of the Second World War, and companion volume to his bestselling 'Armageddon', by the pre-eminent military historian Max Hastings.The battle for Japan that ended many months after the battle for Europe involved enormous naval, military and air operations from the borders of India to the most distant regions of China. There is no finer chronicler of these events than the great military historian Max Hastings, whose gripping account explores not just the global strategic objectives of the USA, Japan and Britain but also the first-hand experiences of the airmen, sailors and soldiers of all the countries who participated in the Far East and the war in the Pacific. The big moments in the story are chosen to reflect a wide variety of human experience: the great naval battle of Leyte Gulf; the under-reported war in China; the re-conquest of Burma by the British Army under General Slim; MacArthur's follies in the Philippines; the Marines on Iwojima and Okinawa; LeMay's fire-raising Super-fortress assaults on Japan; the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki; the kamikaze pilots of Japan; the almost unknown Soviet blitzkrieg in Manchuria in the last days of the war, as Stalin hastened to gather the spoils; and the terrible final acts across Japanese-occupied Asia.This is classic, epic history – both in the content and the manner of telling.

Gar Alperovitz argues that the United States did not need the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, showing that Japan was close to surrender, alternatives existed, and the decision was influenced by political motives.

Downfall uncovers how American leaders discovered in summer 1945 that their blockade, bombardment and planned invasion strategy had failed, as Japan prepared a massive defense on Kyushu, forcing a final clash of arms.

A detailed study of Japan’s rise to aggression and the U.S. unpreparedness in the Pacific during World War II, examining causes, policies, and key events that shaped the conflict.

Japanese doctors conducted horrific human experiments during World War II, using victims for biological warfare and targeting Chinese civilians and POWs.

Robert Leckie's memoir of his service as a United States Marine during the Pacific campaigns of World War II, detailing training, battles on Guadalcanal, New Britain, and Peleliu, and reflecting on the brutal reality of war.

The Bedford Boys is a poignant story of nineteen boys from Bedford, Virginia, who lost their lives during World War II on Omaha Beach in Normandy.

Two volumes of Ulysses S. Grant’s firsthand account of his life and the military campaigns that defined his career, offering insight into his rise from a modest upbringing to the presidency of the United States.