Overview

"The end of World War II led to the United States' emergence as a global superpower. For Western Europe it marked the beginning of decades of unprecedented cooperation and prosperity that one historian has labeled ""the long peace."" Yet half a world away, in China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Korea, and Malaya--the fighting never really stopped, as these regions sought to completely sever the yoke of imperialism and colonialism with all-too-violent consequences. East and Southeast Asia quickly became the most turbulent regions of the globe. Within weeks of the famous surrender ceremony aboard the USS Missouri, civil war, communal clashes, and insurgency engulfed the continent, from Southeast Asia to the Soviet border. By early 1947, full-scale wars were raging in China, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Within a decade after the Japanese surrender, almost all of the countries of South, East, and Southeast Asia that had formerly been conquests of the Japanese or colonies of the European powers experienced wars and upheavals that resulted in the deaths of at least 2.5 million combatants and millions of civilians. With A Continent Erupts, acclaimed military historian Ronald H. Spector draws on letters, diaries, and international archives to provide a comprehensive military history and analysis of these little-known but decisive events."

Full Product Details

9798212284714

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""Marvelous."" -- ""New York Times Book Review"" ""Rich with battle detail."" -- ""Wall Street Journal"" ""Vivid profiles of military and political leaders...keep the pages turning...This sweeping survey of the bloody wages of decolonization astounds."" -- ""Publishers Weekly (starred review)"""

Author Information

Ronald H. Spector, professor emeritus of history and international relations, George Washington University, is a graduate of Johns Hopkins and Yale. His first permanent job was as a Marine NCO in Vietnam. He retired from the Marine Corps Reserve as a lieutenant colonel in 1997. Spector has been a Fulbright Visiting Professor in India, Israel, and Singapore. From 1986 to 1989 he was the director of Naval History for the Navy Department. He is the author of seven books, including Eagle Against the Sun and In the Ruins of Empire. In 2012 he was awarded the Samuel Eliot Morison Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Military History. Since iTunes named his as one of the top podcasts of 2007, BJ Harrison has continued to wow audiences with his voicing skills. Now, over 475 audiobooks later, he still impresses critics and listeners alike. From eldritch witches to young ingenues, from marble mouthed gangsters to Shakespearean Danes, BJ has an astounding array of character voices, dialects, and accents at his fingertips, coupled with an impressive depth of interpretation.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available