HarperCollins 2000. Hard cover dust wrapper 800pp. A bit of wear on dw edges, now protected. Corners bumped, texta line on bottom pages else very good-very good+. . Complete look at the enigmatic leader whose 63 year reign ushered Japan into the modern world. Focussing on Hirohito's interactions with his advisers and successive Japanese governments, Bix sheds new light on the causes of the China War in 1937 and the start of the Asia-Pacific War in 1941. He details the strong, decisive role Hirohito played in the wartime operations and shows how Hirohito prolonged the war effort and them used the atomic bombings, together with the Soviet entrance into the war, as his exit strategy from a no-win situation. The last quarter of the book deals with his post WWII life.