Overview

In 1937 the swath of the globe from India to Japan contained half the world's population, but only two nations with real sovereignty (Japan and Thailand) and two with compromised sovereignty (China and Mongolia). All other peoples in the region endured under some form of colonialism. Today the region contains nineteen major, fully sovereign nations. Tower of Skulls is the first work in any language to present a unified account of the course and titanic impact of this part of the global war, which began the torturous route to twenty-first-century Asia. Covering with extraordinary detail campaigns in China, Singapore, the Philippines, and Burma, as well as the attack on Pearl Harbor, it expands beyond military elements to highlight the critical political, economic, and social reverberations of the struggle. Finally, it provides a graphic depiction of the often forgotten but truly horrific death toll in the Asia-Pacific region—over 20 million—which continues to shape international relations today.

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9781324002109

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Reviews

Tower of Skulls is the opening volume of what promises to be the definitive history of the Asia-Pacific War, a gripping account of two wars-one on the Asian mainland, the other in the islands of the Pacific-that conjoined and became a history-changing struggle without mercy or precedent. The scope is epic and the story has the pulling power of fiction. It is that rare thing: a work of staggering scholarship bound to appeal to a wide reading audience. -- Donald L. Miller, author of Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign that Broke the Confederacy Richard Frank's Asia-Pacific War trilogy is destined to become as much a 'go-to' scholar's source as his definitive Guadalcanal, which has long been invaluable for researchers of America's first Pacific offensive of 1942. Tower of Skulls is deeply researched, providing fresh evaluation of the political, economic, and military scenes of the early years of the Second World War. And yet this book remains highly readable, thanks to an artful blend of personal perspectives and colorful battle summaries -- Stephen L. Moore, author of Uncommon Valor and Pacific Payback In this impressive reassessment of the early phases of the Pacific War, Richard B. Frank offers a rare combination of deep scholarship, thoughtful analysis, and compelling prose to illuminate aspects of the war too-often overlooked in Western accounts: China, Malaya, Burma, and Bataan. This is an essential and rewarding work for anyone who wants to understand World War II. -- Craig L. Symonds, author of World War II at Sea: A Global History This magisterial work swarms with events and personalities, which, with masterly deftness, the author marshals into a powerful narrative that never loses momentum as it recounts calamities familiar (Pearl Harbor, the disgraceful collapse of British-held Singapore) and forgotten (Chiang Kai-shek's breaching of the Yellow River dykes to impede the Japanese advance killed 900,000 people and left 4 million homeless). Vivid, engrossing, and indispensable to an understanding of today's world, Tower of Skulls gives fresh legitimacy to the shopworn encomium 'epic.' -- Richard Snow, author of A Measureless Peril: America in the Fight for the Atlantic, the Longest Battle of World War II In Tower of Skulls historian Richard B. Frank has crafted a sweeping epic of the first five years of World War II in Asia, from the horrors of the Rape of Nanking through the catastrophic attack on Pearl Harbor and the tragic fall of the Philippines. In Frank's expert hands readers will be transported from the battered Chinese capital of Chongqing to the roaring cockpits of torpedo bombers swarming the skies over Oahu down to the bloody emergency room where a little girl still clung to a jump rope. In this gripping first volume, Frank promises to do for the war in the Pacific what Rick Atkinson did for Europe. -- James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Target Tokyo and Rampage

Tower of Skulls is the opening volume of what promises to be the definitive history of the Asia-Pacific War, a gripping account of two wars, one on the Asian mainland, the other in the islands of the Pacific, that conjoined and became a history-changing struggle without mercy or precedent. The scope is epic and the story has the pulling power of fiction. It is that rare thing: a work of staggering scholarship bound to appeal to a wide reading audience. -- Donald L. Miller, author of Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign that Broke the Confederacy In this impressive reassessment of the early phases of the Pacific War, Richard Frank offers a rare combination of deep scholarship, thoughtful analysis, and compelling prose to illuminate aspects of the war too often overlooked in Western accounts: China, Malaya, Burma, and Bataan. This is an essential and rewarding work for anyone who wants to understand the Second World War. -- Craig L. Symonds, author of World War II at Sea In Tower of Skulls historian Richard B. Frank has crafted a sweeping epic of the first five years of World War II in Asia, from the horrors of the Rape of Nanking through the catastrophic attack on Pearl Harbor and the tragic fall of the Philippines. In Frank's expert hands readers will be transported from the battered Chinese capital of Chongqing to the roaring cockpits of torpedo bombers swarming the skies over Oahu down to the bloody emergency room where a little girl still clung to a jumprope. In this gripping first volume Frank promises to do for the war in the Pacific what Rick Atkinson did for Europe. -- James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Target Tokyo and Rampage This magisterial work swarms with events and personalities, which, with masterly deftness, the author marshals into a powerful narrative that never loses momentum as it recounts calamities familiar (Pearl Harbor, the disgraceful collapse of British-held Singapore) and forgotten (Chiang Kai-Shek's breaching of the Yellow River dykes to impede the Japanese advance killed 900,000 people and left four million homeless). Vivid, engrossing, and indispensable to an understanding of today's world, Tower of Skulls gives fresh legitimacy to the shopworn encomium `epic.' -- Richard Snow, author of A Measureless Peril: America in the Fight for the Atlantic, the Longest Battle of World War II

In this impressive reassessment of the early phases of the Pacific War, Richard B. Frank offers a rare combination of deep scholarship, thoughtful analysis, and compelling prose to illuminate aspects of the war too-often overlooked in Western accounts: China, Malaya, Burma, and Bataan. This is an essential and rewarding work for anyone who wants to understand World War II.--Craig L. Symonds, author of World War II at Sea: A Global History Monumentally researched....A painful yet riveting history, especially valuable for historians and military buffs.--Kirkus (starred review) Tower of Skulls is the opening volume of what promises to be the definitive history of the Asia-Pacific War, a gripping account of two wars--one on the Asian mainland, the other in the islands of the Pacific--that conjoined and became a history-changing struggle without mercy or precedent. The scope is epic and the story has the pulling power of fiction. It is that rare thing: a work of staggering scholarship bound to appeal to a wide reading audience.--Donald L. Miller, author of Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign that Broke the Confederacy

Tower of Skulls is the opening volume of what promises to be the definitive history of the Asia-Pacific War, a gripping account of two wars, one on the Asian mainland, the other in the islands of the Pacific, that conjoined and became a history-changing struggle without mercy or precedent. The scope is epic and the story has the pulling power of fiction. It is that rare thing: a work of staggering scholarship bound to appeal to a wide reading audience. -- Donald L. Miller, author of Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign that Broke the Confederacy In this impressive reassessment of the early phases of the Pacific War, Richard Frank offers a rare combination of deep scholarship, thoughtful analysis, and compelling prose to illuminate aspects of the war too often overlooked in Western accounts: China, Malaya, Burma, and Bataan. This is an essential and rewarding work for anyone who wants to understand the Second World War. -- Craig L. Symonds, author of World War II at Sea In Tower of Skulls historian Richard B. Frank has crafted a sweeping epic of the first five years of World War II in Asia, from the horrors of the Rape of Nanking through the catastrophic attack on Pearl Harbor and the tragic fall of the Philippines. In Frank's expert hands readers will be transported from the battered Chinese capital of Chongqing to the roaring cockpits of torpedo bombers swarming the skies over Oahu down to the bloody emergency room where a little girl still clung to a jumprope. In this gripping first volume Frank promises to do for the war in the Pacific what Rick Atkinson did for Europe. -- James M. Scott, Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of Target Tokyo and Rampage This magisterial work swarms with events and personalities, which, with masterly deftness, the author marshals into a powerful narrative that never loses momentum as it recounts calamities familiar (Pearl Harbor, the disgraceful collapse of British-held Singapore) and forgotten (Chiang Kai-Shek's breaching of the Yellow River dykes to impede the Japanese advance killed 900,000 people and left four million homeless). Vivid, engrossing, and indispensable to an understanding of today's world, Tower of Skulls gives fresh legitimacy to the shopworn encomium 'epic.' -- Richard Snow, author of A Measureless Peril: America in the Fight for the Atlantic, the Longest Battle of World War II

In this impressive reassessment of the early phases of the Pacific War, Richard Frank offers a rare combination of deep scholarship, thoughtful analysis, and compelling prose to illuminate aspects of the war too often overlooked in Western accounts: China, Malaya, Burma, and Bataan. This is an essential and rewarding work for anyone who wants to understand the Second World War.--Craig L. Symonds, author of World War II at Sea Tower of Skulls is the opening volume of what promises to be the definitive history of the Asia-Pacific War, a gripping account of two wars, one on the Asian mainland, the other in the islands of the Pacific, that conjoined and became a history-changing struggle without mercy or precedent. The scope is epic and the story has the pulling power of fiction. It is that rare thing: a work of staggering scholarship bound to appeal to a wide reading audience.--Donald L. Miller, author of Vicksburg: Grant's Campaign that Broke the Confederacy

Author Information

Richard B. Frank is an internationally acclaimed historian of the Asia-Pacific War. He was an aerorifle platoon leader with the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam and is the author of Guadalcanal and Downfall. He is a member of the Board of Presidential Counselors of the National WWII Museum and lives in Annandale, Virginia.

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