Tower of Skulls: A History of The Asia-Pacific War July 1937-May 1942 is a 2021 nonfiction book written by American military historian Richard B. Frank. It is the first volume released of a planned trilogy covering the Pacific Theater of the Second World War.[1] The full text is divided into 18 chapters. This volume recounts the first five years of the Second Sino-Japanese War starting with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident up until just before the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Tower of Skulls: A History of The Asia-Pacific War July 1937-May 1942
AuthorRichard B. Frank
Cover artistChris Welch
LanguageEnglish
GenreNonfiction
PublisherW. W. Norton & Company
Publication date
March 9, 2021
Publication placeUnited States
Pages751
ISBN978-0-393-54136-6

Background

edit

The book's title comes from a quote in a letter written by the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore in 1938 to the Japanese poet Yonejirō Noguchi stating "You are building your conception of an Asia which would be raised on a tower of skulls."[2]

Reception

edit

Naval War College Review,[3] US Naval Institute,[4] The New York Review of Books,[5] and the Literary Review[6] published positive reviews.

References

edit
  1. ^ LiVecche, Marc (2020-12-16). "A Conversation with Richard Frank on Tower of Skulls and World War II". Providence Magazine. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  2. ^ Frank, Richard (2021). Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War July 1937-May 1942 (1st ed.). United States: W. W. Norton & Company (published March 9, 2021). pp. XI. ISBN 978-0-393-54136-6.
  3. ^ Holmes, James (2022). "Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War, July 1937–May 1942". Naval War College Review. 75 (1).
  4. ^ Symonds, Craig (June 2020). "Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War, Volume 1: July 1937–May 1942". US Naval Institute.
  5. ^ Lenaberg, Jerry. "a book review by Jerry Lenaburg: Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War, Volume I: July 1937–May 1942". New York Journal of Books. Retrieved 2024-02-07.
  6. ^ Murfett, Malcolm (2024-02-07). "Leaping into the Abyss". Literary Review. Retrieved 2024-02-07.