Judgment at Tokyo: World War II on Trial and the Making of Modern Asia

Named one of the 10 best books of the year by The Washington Post in 2023, Bass’ sweeping work details the events that followed the immediate aftermath of World War II as its victors and other Allied Powers argued over punishments, trials, and new legal framework to ensure that these horrendous events were never to be repeated. A tangled meshwork of international meetings did little to bring international peace, though, and these frictions and tension can still be felt among East Asian countries today. A massive, decade’s effort of research, Judgment at Tokyo (Knopf) is a riveting analysis of postwar Asia.