The last book of a trilogy. All three are exceptionally well written. The style is easy to read, well researched and makes excellent use of contemporary reports, personal letters and official material.

McManus gives a vivid account of the fighting but also provides descriptions of the logistics effort that only the American economy could sustain. His pen portraits of the main commanders and their various intra and inter-service machinations was something that is not usually covered.

These books provide an understanding of the US Army contribution in many unknown locations that hardly ever feature in the Pacific narrative. ( )

I finished John McManus’ trilogy , To The End of the Earth: The U.S. Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945. A tremendously well researched book that strives and succeeds in giving both high level view with leaders of the significance of Admiral Chester Nimitz, General Douglas MacArthur, General Robert Eichelberg and General Walter Krueger, General Albert Wedemeyer, down to the individual experience of foot soldiers, a well ad U.S. POW’s. McManus also goes into great detail of Japanese leadership and the experience of the common soldier, Filipino’s, and other indigenous people.

The focus of of the trilogy and the book is the war of the U.as. Army in the Pacific largely but not completely under Douglas MacArthur in the SWPA.

The book starts with the invasion of Luzon in the Philippines and the hard fought battle for Manila, describing in great building to building and block to block urban warfare and the continuing battle of attrition to take and begin pacification of the Philippines.

McManus then continues with the ongoing war in the Chinese and Burmese theaters, the completion of the Ledo Road which allowed for land based supplying of China and the war between the Japanese, China Kai Shek and the Nationalist forces and the Chinese Communists under Mao Tse Tung and the U.S. General Albert Wedemeyer.

The final major offensive on the SWPA is the the taking of Okinawa and the surrounding land in preparation for what is projected to be the invasion of Japan under Operation Olympic and Coronet. A invasion largely begun under General Simon Bolivar Buckner until his death and replacement by General Joe Still recently the leader of the CBI Theater until replaced by General Albert Wedemeyer. The invasion of Okinawa was largely a defensive battle by the Japanese added by the coral geographic features added to by the digging of the Japanese to make this a slow slogging, costly, ridge to ridge and cave to cave fight by infantrymen, tanks, flamethrowers and explosives. This cost.y battle added to the psychology which made the dropping of the atomic bomb all but guaranteed.

The book concludes with the signing of the instruments of peace on the Battleship Missouri followed by an epilogue dealing with the postwar for the common soldiers and the leading generals of the Pacific.

McManus continues the trend of presenting both big picture and small unit histories which are incredibly detailed and readable. A 5 star history of the army in the South West Pacific Area Theatre. ( )