The Imperial Japanese Army

Just as the German blitzkrieg stunned the world in 1939–40, so too did the Japanese offensive of 1941–42. In just eight weeks following 7 December 1941, the Imperial Japanese Army captured Manila, almost all of the Philippines, Hong Kong, the Malay Peninsula and the great British bastion at Singapore before forcing the capitulation of Siam and occupying Burma. A month later, they had added the Netherlands East Indies, with an area and depth of natural resources more than twice that of Japan, to their trophy case. Based on Japanese sources and first-hand reports, this book examines these astonishing Japanese successes, revealing how victory after victory was won despite the huge logistical and geographical challenges presented by waging war in the Pacific.