It’s been drilled in our heads over and over, World War II. We all know how Hitler rose to power and his struggle in Europe and Emperor Hirohito and the Pacific campaign, but what if there was one small little change?  What if, even after two atomic bombs detonate, Japan pushes on and  doesn’t surrender? We’ll that’s what this 1945 dives into and much much more.

After the atomic bomb there was a military coup in Japan, where the military tried to overthrow the emperor.  In reality it failed because one general refused to take part in the coup.  However, 1945 imagines that he joins them and the overthrow is successful.  Once in power the military’s motto for Japan is “surrender under no condition” so there’s only two ways this war can end:  Japan being destroyed forever or the US being defeated.

The US then begins to plan using Okinawa as a military base to land on the island of Kyushu and set up a military base there to invade Tokyo. Estimates in the US say that Japan has little resources and should just give up under their military might. Once they land on Kyushu they see how wrong they are in every way. With the Japanese government using tons of kamikaze planes and submarines, hidden cells of soldiers that stay waiting for weeks just to pop out and take a couple American life’s, prisoners of war as human shields, arming all civilians with as little as spears, and even as far as the possibility of chemical warfare, the US has its work cut out.

This book is without a doubt one of the best books I’ve read and it’s a book about history! Most of the time history is boring and bland but the idea of alternate history just opens up tons of questions.  This is the first book I’ve read by author Robert Conroy but I can tell you it won’t be the last. The characters are greatly portrayed, taking the view of multiple historic people like President Truman, Douglas MacArthur, Japanese Emperor Hirohito, and an assortment of soldiers. Conroy did a great job making the historically famous act exactly as if it was really them and the soldiers accurately portray a soldier’s life and struggle on both sides of the battle losing many people. Conroy also keeps the setting true to Japan mentioning the absolute true landscape of Japan that has gone from a place of culture to a broken battle ground. By using real people from history and accurate real places it’s easily to picture what’s happening scene by scene.  Anyone who has any interest at all in WW II needs to read this book, also anyone who like the military or alternate history genre.