This book is about Americans not of Japanese ancestry; who served as Japanese language officers in World War II. Covering the period 1940-1945; it describes their selection; training; and service in the Navy and Marine Corps during the war and their contributions to maintenance of good relations between America and Japan thereafter. It argues that their service as “code breakers†and combat interpreters hastened victory and that their cross-cultural experience and linguistic knowledge facilitated the successful dismantling of the Japanese Empire and the peaceful occupation of Japan. The book shows how the war changed relations between the Navy and academia; transformed the lives of these 1200 men and women; and set onetime enemies on course to enduring friendship. Its purpose is twofold: to reveal an exciting and hitherto unknown aspect of the Pacific War and to demonstrate the enduring importance of linguistic and cross-cultural knowledge within America’s armed forces in war and peace alike.The book is meant for the general reader interested in World War II; as well as academic specialists and other persons particularly interested in that conflict. It will also appeal to readers with an interest in America’s intelligence establishment and to those interested in Japan and its relations with the United States. This history tells and exciting and previously unknown story of men and women whose brains and devotion to duty enabled them to learn an extraordinarily difficult language and use it in combat and ashore to hasten Japan’s defeat and transformation from enemy to friend of America.
#2464186 in Books 2009-07-06Original language:English 10.75 x 8.50 x 1.00l; #File Name: 1589834291444 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Ronald L. TroxelMagesterial volume.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A much needed overview of Judaen textsBy JeriScholars interested in detailed research into scribal practices and documents found in Qumran and throughout the Judean desert will find this book a treasure.Tov provides plenty of charts showing the number of documents; whether they were on leather or papyrus; the number of errors; where they were found; the type of ink; and pretty much everything else you ever had a question about.Scribes of religious texts eventually came to be called "soferim...(which) combined...the copying of texts especially of Scripture and other religious documents" (p 12). Not unsurprisingly; the recovered texts show variability in the skill level of the scribe; the number and kind of errors; and the size and quality of the letters."Lemaire claimed...abecedaries derived from the First Temple period point to the existence of scribal schools; and this argument may be valid also with regard to Qumran" (13).At Qumran; "the scrolls in cave 4 probably were stored on wooden shelves attached to the walls; for which there is some archaeological evidence" (p 43). It is known that synagogues placed their Scripture in a separate room; then later; in a special niche.Nearly all of the documents recovered from the Judean desert were written in black ink; only a very small amount were done in red ink. "The main argument in favor of the existence of a Qumran scribal practice is the orthographic and morphological; however inconsistent; allowing a distinction between a group of texts" (p 262). Tove argues that it can't be only a coincidence that the majority of sectarian texts "followed special scribal conventions" (p 262).
