WORLD WAR II - FICTION
"The Emperor's General" by
James Webb 
James Webb is one of America's finest writers of military fiction. "Fields of Fire" (soon to be a major motion picture) is in my opinion the best book so far about combat infantry in Viet Nam. In "The Emperor's general", Webb takes us back to the closing days of World War II in the Pacific and the events that took place to forge the new post-war modern-day Japan. The main character is Jay Marsh, a Japanese speaking officer on MacArthur's staff. The book starts with MacArthur's triumphant landing at Leyte and ends with the ignominious hanging for war crimes in the Philippines of General Yamashita in February, 1946.
The principal characters and historical events in the book are fact, and Marsh is planted in the middle as history is made. Webb presents an inside look at the power struggle between MacArthur and the Japanese Imperial Family. The three issues that had to be resolved were: 1) The Imperial Family must be free of all responsibility of war crimes; 2) Some people must be held responsible for the war crimes and pay in order to satisfy propriety; 3) MacArthur must get his new Japanese Constitution accepted by the Japanese. Marsh as a young Captain, student of Asian history, and speaker of Japanese, is planted in the middle of the political maneuvering. He becomes the confidant of the Lord Privy Seal, Kiochi Kido, the advisor to the Emperor and second most powerful man in Japan. He is used by both sides and becomes torn between loyalty and what is right. Marsh is young, but brilliant and becomes an astute political player as world events progress. Marsh also has his own daemons to deal with along with the pressures put upon him by MacArthur and Kido.
This is an excellent read and one can learn much of the events that helped shape modern-day Japan. General Yamashita was in fact innocent and members of the Imperial Family were responsible for atrocities committed during the war. The major points of these atrocities were the Rape of Nanking and the Destruction of Manila, where hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians were brutally murdered. Most of the responsible parties got away with murder on a grand scale.
Reviewed by Kenneth S. Smith 9/18/2000
Bantam Books
1540 Broadway
New York, NY 10036
