This important book . . . MagisterialEvery so often, a new work emerges of such immense scholarship and weight that it really does add a significant difference to our understanding of the Second World War and its consequences. Judgement in Tokyo is one such, a monumental work in both scale and detail, beautifully constructed and written, leaving the reader not only moved but disturbed as well.With impeccable scholarship and lucid writing, this is a magnificent book on an aspect of Asian history that has far-reaching repercussions todayA work of singular importance – balanced, original, human, accessible, and riveting. It is of huge relevance to our times.Magisterial . . . A well-crafted, warts-and-all account from which almost no one emerges unscathed.A meticulously researched and authoritative accountBass has written a massively long and detailed book, always lively and judgmental. He brings out not only the legal arguments, but the colour of the great tribunal itself.This magisterial account – long but never sprawling; thick with detail yet always engrossing . . . This is a breathtakingly ambitious and well-executed piece of history, unlikely to be bettered as a portrait of the trials and their place in postwar global history.FascinatingComprehensive, landmark and riveting . . . Bass employs the complexities of the trial as a fulcrum to sketch a wide canvas . . . FascinatingImmersiveMagnificent . . . Vivid . . . ProfoundMagisterial . . . Bass is a marvelous writer.In this superb work of transnational history, Gary Bass uses the Tokyo trial to illuminate the making of the modern world.To understand the dynamics of post-World War II Asia, Gary Bass’s Judgement at Tokyo is fascinating, essential reading.Gary Bass has written nothing less than a masterpiece. With epic research and mesmerizing narrative power, Judgement at Tokyo has the makings of an instant classic.A vivid and meticulously crafted account, rich in detail, fair-minded, superbly nuanced.Destined to become a classic, Judgement at Tokyo is meticulously researched and elegantly written: it is also a necessary book.The definitive account of the Tokyo war crimes trials of 1946-8 and the impact the settlement has had on post-war China and Japan, and on the wider the world right up to the present day.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2024 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE

'Magisterial' – Max Hastings, The Sunday Times
'Monumental'– Rana Mitter, Times Literary Supplement

'Every so often, a new work emerges of such immense scholarship and weight that it really does add a significant difference to our understanding of the Second World War and its consequences. Judgement in Tokyo is one such, a monumental work in both scale and detail, beautifully constructed and written, leaving the reader not only moved but disturbed as well.' – James Holland, The Sunday Telegraph

'A work of singular importance . . . balanced, original, human, accessible, and riveting' – Philippe Sands, author of East-West Street

'Breathtakingly ambitious and unlikely to be bettered as a portrait of the trials and their place in postwar global history' – History Today

A landmark history of the postwar trials of Japan’s leaders as war criminals, and their impact on the modern history of Asia and the world.

In the weeks after Japan finally surrendered to the Allies to end World War II, the victorious powers turned to the question of how to move on from years of carnage and destruction. For the Allied powers, the trials were an opportunity both to render judgment on their vanquished foes and to create a legal framework to prosecute war crimes and prohibit the use of aggressive war. For the Japanese leaders on trial, it was their chance to argue that their war had been waged to liberate Asia from Western imperialism and that the court was no more than victors’ justice.

Gary J. Bass' Judgement at Tokyo is a magnificent, riveting story of wartime action, dramatic courtroom battles, and the epic formative years that set the stage for the postwar era in the Asia–Pacific.

'A comprehensive, landmark and riveting book' – The Washington Post, 'The 10 Best Books of 2023'

Gary J. Bass is a professor of politics and international affairs at Princeton University. He is the author of Judgement at Tokyo and The Blood Telegram, winner of the Cundill History Prize and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in general nonfiction. A former reporter for The Economist, Bass has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker and The Washington Post amongst others. He lives in Princeton, New Jersey.