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This is a probing narrative of the history which came to its climax at Pearl harbor; an account of the attitudes and actions, of the purposes and persons which brought about the war between the United States and Japan.

It is full and impartial. Though written as an independent and private study, records and information of an exceptional range and kind were used in its making. These give it authority. They include all the pertinent State Department papers; the American official military records in preparation; selections from the Roosevelt papers at Hyde Park; the full private diaries of Stimons, Morgenthau, and Grew; the file of the intercepted "Magic" cables; and equivalent collections of official and private Japanese records. The author was at the time in the State Department (as Adviser on International Economic Affairs) and thus in close touch with the men and matters of which he writes.

In telling how this war came about, this book tells much of how other wars happen. For it is a close study of the ways in which officials, diplomats, and soldiers think and act; of the environment of decision, of the ambitions of nations, of the clash of their ideas, of the way sin which fear and mistrust affect events, and of the struggle for time and advantage.

The narrative follows events in a double mirror of which one side is Washington and the other Tokyo, and synchronizes the images. Thus it traces the ways in which the acts and decisions of this country influenced Japan and vice versa.

Originally published in 1950.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Table of Contents

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  1. Cover
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  1. Title Page, Copyright
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  1. Preface
  2. pp. v-ix
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. xi-xii
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  1. Part One: Separation
  1. 1. The Arc of Opposition
  2. pp. 3-7
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  1. 2. The Last, Lost Good Chance: 1937
  2. pp. 8-16
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  1. 3. I937-39: JaPan Goes Deeper into the Stubble
  2. pp. 17-24
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  1. 4. The Dismay of the Japanese Strategists:August 1939
  2. pp. 25-37
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  1. 5. Separation but Still not Enmity:the Winter of 1939-40
  2. pp. 38-46
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  1. Part Two: Hostility
  1. 6. The First Waves of German Victory Reach the Southwest Pacific: April 1940
  2. pp. 49-55
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  1. 7. The Grave Dilemma Before the United States: May 1940
  2. pp. 56-65
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  1. 8. Japan Starts on the Road South:June 1940
  2. pp. 66-71
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  1. 9. The American Government Forbears
  2. pp. 72-75
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  1. 10. Japan Selects a New Government
  2. pp. 76-83
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  1. 11. Japan Stencils Its Policy in Indelible Ink:July 1940
  2. pp. 84-87
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  1. 12. Our First Firm Counteraction
  2. pp. 88-94
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  1. 13. Maneuver and Resistance
  2. pp. 95-100
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  1. 14. We Stop the Shipment of Scrap Iron
  2. pp. 101-109
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  1. 15. The Making of the Alliance with the Axis: September 1940
  2. pp. 110-121
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  1. 16. We Draw Closer to Britain
  2. pp. 122-132
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  1. 17. After Our Elections:Steps towards a Concerted Program
  2. pp. 133-144
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  1. 18. Matsuoka Pursues the GreatCombination
  2. pp. 145-149
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  1. 19. At the Same Time Japan Continuesto Seek the Best Road South
  2. pp. 150-152
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  1. 20. Diplomacy by Gesture and Signal:American Policy in the Winter of 1940-41
  2. pp. 153-162
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  1. Part Three: Enmity
  1. 21. We Reach a World-Wide Strategic Accordwith Britain: March 1941
  2. pp. 165-170
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  1. 22. Hull and Nomura Begin the Searchfor Formulas of Peace
  2. pp. 171-179
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  1. 23. Matsuoka Goes to Berlin and Moscow,and Returns with a Neutrality Pact
  2. pp. 180-187
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  1. 24. The Two Faces of Japanese Diplomacy Glareat One Another: April 1941
  2. pp. 188-195
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  1. 25. Would Japan Stand Still While We ExtendedOurselves in the Atlantic? The Spring of 1941
  2. pp. 196-201
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  1. 26. Japan Chafes and Germany Invadesthe Soviet Union: May-June 1941
  2. pp. 202-208
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  1. 27. Japan Makes the Crucial Decision:July 2, 1941
  2. pp. 209-218
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  1. 28. The Konoye Cabinet Resigns—to Get Rid of Matsuoka
  2. pp. 219-226
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  1. 29. The United States and BritainPrepare to Impose Sanctions
  2. pp. 227-235
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  1. 30. We Freeze Japan's Funds
  2. pp. 236-241
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  1. 31. Was Japan to Have Any More Oil?
  2. pp. 242-250
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  1. 32. The Choice Before Japan Is Defined; and Konoye Seeks a Meeting with Roosevelt
  2. pp. 251-254
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  1. 33. Roosevelt Meets Churchill;Argentia and After: August 1941
  2. pp. 255-260
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  1. 34. The Japanese High Command DemandsThat the Issue with theUnited States Be Faced and Forced
  2. pp. 261-270
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  1. 35. The Idea of a Roosevelt-Konoye Meeting Dies;the Deadlock Is Complete: October 1941
  2. pp. 271-281
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  1. 36. The Army Insists on a Decision for War
  2. pp. 282-288
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  1. Part Four: War
  1. 37. The Last Ofiers to the United StatesAre Formulated: November 5, 1941
  2. pp. 291-297
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  1. 38. November: The American GovernmentStands Fast and Hurries Its Preparations
  2. pp. 298-306
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  1. 39. Japan's Final Proposal for a TruceIs Weighed and Found Wanting
  2. pp. 307-319
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  1. 40. As Stubborn as Ever; the AmericanAnswer, November 26, 1941
  2. pp. 320-325
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  1. 41. The Last Arrangements and Formalities for War
  2. pp. 326-332
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  1. 42. The Clasp of War Is Closed
  2. pp. 333-342
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  1. Index
  2. p. 343
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  1. Map
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