1945
by Robert Conroy
Published by Ballantine Books
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Reviewed by Jeff Foster
On August 8, 1945, Emperor Hirohito, the divine earthly presence of Imperial Japan, issued a recorded statement instructing Imperial Japanese Armed Forces to lay down their arms in formal surrender to Allied Forces in the Pacific Theater of Operations–thus bringing to an end the final conflicts of World War Two.
In Robert Conroy’s latest novel 1945, the attempted coup to prevent this broadcast is in fact successful. Japanese do not surrender. Instead, coup planners kidnap Hirohito and replace him with a military government that vows to fight to the death for an honorable peace with the Allies.
Japan, having floated the possibility of peace, takes advantage of the lull in fighting, watching American veterans rotate home and US Military operations wind down. The result is worldwide chaos. European economies are bankrupt, world society is war weary, and America is at the end of its tether. Another year of war could conceivably cause enough irreparable damage so that the world will be ripe for the Soviet Union to coerce tired countries into is sphere of influence, with little military or economic pressure.
The world is destined for another six months of war in which a shattered Japan will pull out all the stops to defend the homeland. A brutal confrontation ensues. America uses overwhelming firepower against the withered Japanese army’s banzai charges in their last-ditch efforts to make us pay so dearly for victory that America sues for peace!
1945 uses all of the war’s pivotal America figures. Harry Truman, George Marshall, Douglas Macarthur and Chester Nimitz all play starring roles in this fictionalized account. Conroy has also expertly added fictional personalities to bring you right down to the trench-level brutality of what may have happened in these additional six months.
In 1945, Conroy has crafted yet another masterpiece of military fiction that will enthrall lovers of this genre, proving yet again that there is one more book on WWII worth the price or purchase.
Armchair Interviews says: A spectacular “what if” scenario. Conroy is proven the master of extending history to a chilling degree.