The purpose of this book is to present, in a single volume, a concise account of the war which convulsed the Far East from 1941 to 1945. Earlier events have been touched upon only insofar as some reference to Japan's embroilment in China, to the yearnings and antagonisms which shaped and marred relations between East and West throughout the ages, is clearly needed to explain the circumstances in which the belligerents found themselves when hostilities began.