Since the defendants did not represent a government for which genocide was a policy pursuit, their cases were more difficult to prosecute than those of Nazi war criminals. Keenan and his compatriots adopted criminal court tactics and established precedents in the conduct of war crimes trials that still stand today. Maga reviews the context for the trials, recounts the proceedings, and concludes that they were, in fact, decent examples of American justice and fair play.

Interesting, but not well-written or cohesive...   October 29, 2003

Karen Sadler,
Science Education,
University of Pittsburgh


Excellent study of largely misunderstood trial   January 27, 2003
  5 out of 6 found this review helpful

Maga does an excellent job of weeding through post-war propaganda and revisionist history to reveal a trial which was much more fair and effective than most scholars have argued. Maga carefully documents the Japanese attempts to turn world opinion against the trials and, through various machinations, detract from the criminal acts of those on trial. He also reveals the degree to which American politics, now focused on the Soviet threat and anxious to shore up Japanese support against Communism,, influenced the trial and brought about lenient sentences for war criminals, and in some cases (Emperor Hirohito, especially), no trial or punishment at all. An excellent read!


Passing This Judgment   January 23, 2002
  21 out of 27 found this review helpful

Tim Maga utterly fails to develop a coherant argument for his thesis (that, although critics abound, the Tokyo Trials were carried forth in the spirit of justice and fairness). Since I started the book as a skeptic of his argument, I was interested in what primary materials would be cited as well as how thorough of a job Maga would do.

The book follows no organization and the text itself is filled with tangental tid-bits of irrellevant information that serves no purpose except just to break any flow that a chapter might had. He focuses too heavily on the transcripts of the courtroom itself, instead of looking at how the trials proceeded according to a script written from outside sources. He concludes every chapter by returning to his thesis, while the reader is left wondering how such a claim can be made after what they have just read.

In all fairness, the task that Maga set out to do (to answer the critics of the trial) is a massive one. There are extremely well written histories of the Trial that take in-depth looks into how SCAP, MacArthur, even the Imperial House meddled in the affairs of the trial.....or reviewing the dissenting arguments of a few of the judges who saw the Trial first hand. These are all glossed over in a few paragraphs so that Maga can return to repeating his thesis that the allies and prosecutors were inspired only by justice/fairness.

To read a very small amount of material on the Trial, I suggest reading Dower's Embracing Defeat. Although not without folley of its own, his chapters on the trial give a better and in-depth glimpse into the Tokyo Trial.


Japanese War Crimes trials placed in historical context   February 18, 2001
  4 out of 6 found this review helpful

Tim Maga has done it again. The nation's premier scholar of US-East Asian relations has joined John Dower and Herbert Bix in considering postwar Japan. This book rises immediately to the top rank of studies of its specific subject and of the post-World War II period in general. The book is admittedly not an encylopedic review of the trials, although those who are searching for descriptions of the grotesque actions of Japanese war criminals will not be disappointed here. Rather the book's strength is in its ability to show how the trials played a crucial role in other important developments of the time. Dr. Maga's approach thus sheds new light on MacArthur's occupation government and its relationship with the State Department, the bifurcated view of war criminals in Japan itself as both villains and heros, and the developing Cold War in general and the Korean War in particular. The final chapter adds provocative insights into the legacy of the Japanese war crimes trials in light of the ongoing debate of how to deal with war crimes in the present day. Dr. Maga's research is impeccable and includes several heretofore unused sources. Out of this he has fashioned a book which must be considered by anyone plowing this field in the future. Expect to see this book receiving major awards later this year.


Japanese War Crimes trials placed in historical context   February 18, 2001
  14 out of 18 found this review helpful

Tim Maga has done it again. The nation's premier scholar of US-East Asian relations has joined John Dower and Herbert Bix in considering postwar Japan. This book rises immediately to the top rank of studies of its specific subject and of the post-World War II period in general. The book is admittedly not an encylopedic review of the trials, although those who are searching for descriptions of the grotesque actions of Japanese war criminals will not be disappointed here. Rather the book's strength is in its ability to show how the trials played a crucial role in other important developments of the time. Dr. Maga's approach thus sheds new light on MacArthur's occupation government and its relationship with the State Department, the bifurcated view of war criminals in Japan itself as both villains and heros, and the developing Cold War in general and the Korean War in particular. The final chapter adds provocative insights into the legacy of the Japanese war crimes trials in light of the ongoing debate of how to deal with war crimes in the present day. Dr. Maga's research is impeccable and includes several heretofore unused sources. Out of this he has fashioned a book which must be considered by anyone plowing this field in the future. Expect to see this book receiving major awards later this year.