Includes bibliographical references (p. [280]-347) and index
Foreword: "Three colonels" / by Stanley Weintraub -- "The maximum bloodletting and delay" -- Spinning the casualties -- The First Army and Kwantung redeployments -- The Pacific build-up and Berlin decision -- "Not a recipe for victory " -- The decision -- Japanese defense plans -- "Victory might be salvaged" -- The "manpower box" -- Mistakes and misperceptions -- What is defeat? -- The amphibious operation -- On the ground -- Unexamined factors -- A "target-rich environment" -- Half a million Purple Hearts -- "Punishment from heaven" -- Afterword -- Appendix A: G-2 estimate of enemy situation on Kyushu, U.S. Sixth Army, August 1, 1945 -- Appendix B: G-2 analysis of Japanese plans for the defense of Kyushu, U.S. Sixth Army, December 31, 1945 -- Appendix C: Proclamation defining terms for Japanese surrender issued at Potsdam, July 26, 1945 (Potsdam Declaration)