Selected Product:
| The Emperor's General
Mass Market
Author: James Webb
Publisher: Bantam
Release Date: 2000-01-04
ISBN-10: 0553578545
ISBN-13: 9780553578546
List Price: $7.99
Average Customer Rating:
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Captain Jay Marsh had never questioned where his ultimate loyalty lay. He had witnessed the bloody horror left behind by the retreating Japanese army during World War II's final days. And he had abandoned his beautiful Filipina fiancée to see his duty through.
But not even Marsh could guess the terrible personal price he would have to pay for his loyalty. He would follow General Douglas MacArthur to Tokyo itself. There he would become the brilliant, egocentric general's confidant, translator, surrogate son--and spy.
Marsh would play a dangerous game of deliberate deceit and brutal injustice in the shadow world of postwar Japan's royal palaces and geisha houses, and recognize that the defeated emperor and his wily aides were exploiting MacArthur's ruthless ambition to become the American Caesar. The Emperor's General is a dramatic human story of the loss of innocence and the seduction of power, about the conflict between honor, duty, and love, all set against an extraordinary historical backdrop.
book review
| Customer Rating: | | Sen. Jim Webb is an amazingly good writer. I didn't expect it, frankly. "The Emperor's General" is a complex and moving story about the end of the Pacific war and the instalation of Douglas McArthur as the military governor of Japan. The "Blue Eyed Shogun", I believe the Japanese called him. |
A rivetting historical novel of MacArthur in postwar Japan.
| Customer Rating: | | This is a ripping good historical novel about General MacArthur's leadership of the American occupation of Japan--the first time in over a thousand years that the "nation family" of Japan suffered defeat and conquest. The author tells the story from the perspective of one Jay Marsh, a young Japanese-speaking American captain and aide-de-camp to General MacArthur. Seen from Marsh's perspective, we see MacArthur from what seemed to me to be an authentic portrayal of a complicated man who was vain, brilliant, ambitious, and charismatic. The essential theme of the novel (no spoilers here) is that in 1945 although MacArthur represented the victor and the Japanese were in fact utterly beaten and indeed devestated by war, the interaction between occupier and the Japanese power structure was complex. The Japanese ruling class, although forced to endure American-inspired democratic reforms, remained the ruling class, at least for a time. In particular, the novel shows how, in exchange for the Japanese establishment's cooperation for a remarkably tranquil and calm occupation, most of the truly culpable Japanese war criminals escaped prosecution. The infamous Rape of Nanking, in particular, largely went unpunished. Although the novel is wonderful history, it never loses sight of its first mission--to entertain. The story is beautifully told, with compassion and humor, as we follow Captain Marsh through his love affairs with beautiful Phillipine and Japanese girls, and his interaction, friendships, and ultimately his outmaneuverings of key Japanese government figures. The most rivetting part of the novel, and its central story, is the trial and hanging of Japanese General Yamashita. Author Webb does an excellent job persuading the reader that this was in fact a travesty of justice in which MacArthur essentially made Yamashita a scapegoat for war crimes committed by others--others in the Japanese power establishment whom MacArthur was shielding from prosecution in exchange for the establishment's cooperation in the occupation and democratic reform process. An unforgettable novel that I have read more than once, each time with added insight and enjoyment. |
Historical Masterpiece
| Customer Rating: | | This is a masterfully written historical novel that I would place in the same category as "Gone With the Wind" and "The Far Pavilions." |
Superb - One of my all-time favourites.
| Customer Rating: | | The Emperor's General is set at the end of World War 2 in the Pacific and centres around the American occupation of Japan following the surrender of the Japanese. It tells of the political chess game played out between the Japanese Emperor and General MacArthur, Supreme Commander of the allies in Asia. The story is told through the eyes of Captain Jay Marsh, an aide to General MacArthur. The three main characters in the story are Jay Marsh, General MacArthur and number one advisor to the Emperor, Lord Privy Seal Koichi Kido. Although the surrounding events to the story are based on historical facts and the major historical figures did exist, the author James Webb tells us the story is otherwise one of fiction, and the interplay of the characters is drawn from his surmise and deduction. Nonetheless, one can't help but ponder how much Webb has accurately deducted from his research. I thoroughly enjoy historical novels, but tend to lean towards ones that have a deal of action in them. The Emperor's General has no battlefield fighting and no action in the normal sense of the word contained within the story, so it was going to be a test for me and I think a test for the book to see if it could hold my interest. I wasn't disappointed. This is a beautifully written book. It draws you into the story in such a subtle way that it has a mystical quality to it. Webb has masterfully created the atmosphere of the Asian cities where the story unfolds. Reading about the Philippines, one can feel the prickly heat and the rain soaked roads leading from the capital Manila. The destruction of Tokyo is contrasted vividly with the elegance of the few remaining buildings deliberately left untouched by allied bombing. Webb has portrayed Japanese culture and tradition in a very convincing manner and has woven it into the story intricately. This aspect plays a lead part in the crafting of this story and from this perspective the book will appeal to those with an interest in Asian cultures and is a wonderful introduction to those interested in knowing something about the Japanese psyche. Running parallel to the political mind game being played out in Tokyo, where Captain Jay Marsh is stationed for most of the story, is the romance between Marsh and his Philippine lover Divina Clara. Marsh is torn between his love for Divina and his love for the diplomatic role he plays in the shaping of Japan. The relationship between the young American Captain and the beautiful Philippine woman is a swirling mix of romance, clash of cultures and a surreal Asian atmosphere which is all marvellously rendered by Webb. The unfolding relationship between Marsh, MacArthur and the Lord Privy Seal Koichi Kido is where the obvious drama in this story takes place, but always hauntingly in the background is this yearning romance which culminates the book. My hat is off to the author. This is an engrossing and stunning stage-show penned in the highest calibre. I know these words have been used before to describe this book, but they are so appropriate I feel obliged to reiterate them. The Emperor's General is "sublime, romantic" and utterly mesmerising. "An unforgettable read". |
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