As the rise of China pulls the world’s attention to East Asia, Americans are catching up on a relatively unfamiliar part of the world. Although Americans have been seeking their fortunes in Asia since the Empress of China sailed out of New York Harbor in 1784, the country as a whole is unfamiliar with the Indo-Pacific. For Americans to succeed in the 21st century, this will have to change.
Many of the stories that fill today’s headlines are the results of events described in Ronald Spector’s A Continent Erupts, which covers the wars that broke out in Asia after V-J Day. Unlike in Europe, where most of the major violence ceased after the Axis powers surrendered, Japan’s defeat marked the end of only one phase of the fighting. As Spector puts it, “East and Southeast Asia was, in fact, the most violent region of the globe during the decade following the end of World War II.”
