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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
$7999
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Releases 11th September 2026 (Approx. Date) Pre-order  "Empire of Ashes" now to secure your copy from our first shipment

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From the acclaimed Pacific War historian, the harrowing story of Americaโ€™s bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the dramatic struggle to end the Second World War

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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.

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