1
of
1
Empire of Ashes
Truman, Hirohito, and the Descent into Total War
Brief Description
Over three days in August 1945, a nation once morally opposed to the bombing of civilians killed 120,000 men, women, and children; doomed tens of thousands more to agonising death in the weeks and months ahead; and annihilated two cities: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Empire of Ashes...
Read More
Format: Hardback
$9100
Unit price
/
Unavailable
International Supplier
This title is in-stock with overseas suppliers. While it is not available locally, we fly books in weekly from the US and UK to our Auckland warehouse for immediate dispatch.
AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER
Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 2-3 weeks
Found a better price? Request a price match
Empire of Ashes
$9100
Unit price
/
Unavailable
Latest News
From Page to Panel: The Rise of Graphic Novel Adaptations
Discover why graphic novel adaptations are booming, from ‘Dune’ and ‘Sapiens’ to ‘Call Me by...
Why You Should Read Folk Horror!
If you're looking for a new read and haven't yet tried Folk Horror as a...
Movie Review on The End of Oak Street
Lizzy and Roopa are sharing their reviews of The End of Oak Street, a movie...
We Expanded Our Board Game Range…400+ New Games in Stock Now!
Board game week has arrived at Book Hero! 🎲 We’ve expanded our range, with 400...
What We Played: A Weekend Full of Board Games
What happens when you fill an entire weekend with board games? From family games with...
See moreFrom the acclaimed Pacific War historian, the harrowing story of America’s bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the dramatic struggle to end the Second World War
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
Over three days in August 1945, a nation once morally opposed to the bombing of civilians killed 120,000 men, women, and children; doomed tens of thousands more to agonising death in the weeks and months ahead; and annihilated two cities: Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Empire of Ashes explores the final brutal months of the war in the Pacific, featuring the voices of never-before-heard victims of the atomic bombs. Through interviews with survivors and accounts gleaned from Japanese sources, New York Times best-selling author James M. Scott combines the attacks' heart-wrenching details with their causes and consequences, from debates within the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, and Hanford to the fallout that would alter decades of life in Japan.
From "an exceptional writer with a keen eye for dazzling detail and gripping, suspenseful storytelling" (Henry Richard Maar III, Journal of Military History), Empire of Ashes illuminates the moral dilemma at the center of America's decision to inflict total war upon Japan with startling immediacy.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781324065487
Publisher: WW Norton & Co
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 04 August 2026
Country: United States
Imprint: WW Norton & Co
Illustration: 48 illustrations
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 36.0mm
Width: 165.0mm
Height: 244.0mm
Weight: 886g
Pages: 528
About the Author
James M. Scott is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Black Snow, Rampage, Target Tokyo, The War Below, and The Attack on the Liberty, and coauthor with Jack Carr of Targeted: Beirut. He lives in Charleston, South Carolina.
Also by James M. Scott
View all-
Black Snow
Seven minutes past midnight on March 10, 1945, nearly 300 American B-29s thundered into the skies over Tokyo. Their payloads of incendiaries ignited a firestorm that reached up to 2,800 degrees, liquefying asphalt and vaporising thousands; sixteen square miles of the city were flattened and more than 100,000 men, women, and children were killed. Black Snow is the story of...Hardback$6699Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Black Snow
Seven minutes past midnight on March 10, 1945, nearly 300 American B-29s thundered into the skies over Tokyo. Their payloads of incendiaries ignited a firestorm that reached up to 2,800 degrees, liquefying asphalt and vaporizing thousands; sixteen square miles of the city were flattened and more than 100,000 men, women, and children were killed. Black Snow is the story of...Paperback$4199Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Target Tokyo
On April 18, 1942, sixteen U.S. Army bombers under the command of daredevil pilot Jimmy Doolittle lifted off from the deck of the USS Hornet on a one-way mission to pummel Japan's factories, refineries, and dockyards in retaliation for their attack on Pearl Harbor. The raid buoyed America's morale and prompted an ill-fated Japanese attempt to seize Midway that turned...Paperback$3799Unit price /UnavailableAvailableShips in 3-4 weeks -
Rampage
In early 1945, General Douglas MacArthur prepared to reclaim Manila, America's Pearl of the Orient, which had been seized by the Japanese in 1942. Convinced the Japanese would abandon the city, he planned a victory parade down Dewey Boulevard—but the enemy had other plans. The Japanese were determined to fight to the death. The battle to liberate Manila resulted in...PaperbackSold Out -
Rampage
Before World War II, Manila was a slice of America in Asia, populated with elegant neoclassical buildings, spacious parks, and home to thousands of U.S. servicemen and business executives who enjoyed the relaxed pace of the tropics. The outbreak of the war, however, brought an end to the good life. General Douglas MacArthur, hoping to protect the Pearl of the...HardbackSold Out
More from History & Military
View all-
21% offSaving Elli
One child. Two years in hiding. Three lives in mortal danger. In Nazi-occupied Amsterdam, near Anne Frank's house, another Jewish girl is hidden. Her name is Elli. Her father has been executed at Mauthausen concentration camp. Her mother is fleeing for her life. Elli is next. To save her, resistance couple Frits and Jo Hakkens must risk everything, concealing her...Paperback$2600Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
The Spy and the Traitor
The Spy and the Traitor by Ben Macintyre is a spellbinding Cold War thriller that unravels the true story of Oleg Gordievsky, a KGB double agent who risked everything to aid the British in the battle against Soviet oppression. In meticulously researched detail, Macintyre paints a vivid portrait of espionage, double-crossing, and unparalleled bravery, giving readers a riveting glimpse into...Paperback$2100Elsewhere:$2600Unit price /UnavailableBackorderShips early September -
New ReleaseSuicidal Empathy
The bestselling author of The Parasitic Mind shows why empathy in politics leads to civilizational collapse. What happens when a society elevates victimhood to a virtue and decides that punishment is cruel? You get the disease Dr. Gad Saad calls suicidal empathy. And the West may be terminally infected. In his new book, Suicidal Empathy, Saad unleashes a blistering critique...Paperback$3099Elsewhere:$3799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
20% off
Betrayal
‘Tom Bower is the Inspector Morse of investigative biographers, a fluent, phlegmatic storyteller and a master of intricacies.’ Sunday Times The British Crown is in crisis, with constitutional threats at home and abroad. At a landmark moment in royal history, can King Charles overcome the scandals that blight the Royal family? Can the broken bonds between the Houses of Sussex...Paperback$2800Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Man's Search For Meaning
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl is a profound, thought-provoking memoir and psychological exploration that delves into the harrowing experiences of life in Nazi concentration camps, intertwined with the author’s groundbreaking theories on existential psychology. The book is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit, offering a beacon of hope and a roadmap for finding purpose...Paperback$1800Elsewhere:$2100Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Buy to WinNew ReleaseBiological War
There is an invisible weapon among us. By the time you know you are a victim, it has turned you into a killer. A blistering new non-fiction thriller from the Baillie Gifford shortlisted author of Nuclear War (200,000 copies sold). A lab accident, a bio-attack, a global pandemic, and the collapse of human society. In this essential new book, based...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
20% offDiscipline
Silence is complicity, but how do we confront the cost of speaking up? Sydney, May 2021. Ashraf is an academic whose career and personal life are in freefall. Hannah is a young journalist struggling to honour the voices of her community. When a Year 12 Al-Bayinnah College student is arrested for protesting a university's ties to an Israeli weapons manufacturer,...Paperback$3200Usually:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Women's Prize WinnerThe Finest Hotel in Kabul
The story of a hotel. The story of a nation. When the Inter-Continental Kabul opened in 1969, Afghanistan's first luxury hotel symbolised a dream of a modernising country connected to the world. More than fifty years on, the Inter-Continental is still standing. It has endured Soviet occupation, multiple coups, a grievous civil war, a US invasion and the rise, fall...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Signed
The Chief and the Empire
The Chief and the Empire uncovers the extraordinary true tale of Te Tai Tokerau rangatira Te Pahi - the first influential Māori leader to cross the Tasman - whose curiosity about the Pākehā world forged alliances, saved lives, and ultimately cost him his own. On a visit to Sydney in 1805, Te Pahi was feted as a celebrity, building close...Paperback$3200Elsewhere:$3999Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Shattered Lands
'A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian' – PETER FRANKOPAN 'This book is a revelation … both original and important' – MISHAL HUSAIN A history of modern South Asia told through five partitions that reshaped it. As recently as 1928, a vast swathe of Asia – India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma, Nepal, Bhutan, Yemen, Oman, the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and...Paperback$3699Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
Goliath’s Curse
Goliath’s Curse by Luke Kemp offers a radical retelling of human history through the lens of collapse, delving into what this means for our uncertain future. This narrative spans from the dawn of our species to the urgent existential threats of the twenty-first century and beyond. It's grounded in the latest research and a comprehensive database of more than 440...Paperback$2999Elsewhere:$4000Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow -
1929
From the bestselling author of Too Big to Fail, comes a riveting, fly-on-the-wall account of the most infamous stock market crash in history. In 1929, the world watched in shock as the unstoppable Wall Street bull market went into a freefall, wiping out fortunes and igniting a depression that would reshape a generation. But behind the flashing ticker tapes and...Paperback$3299Elsewhere:$4500Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips tomorrow
Why buy from us?
Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!
Service & Delivery
Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.
Auckland Bookstore
We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.
Our Gifting Service
Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.
