Lew Paper's Blog: Lew Paper's Blog
January 15, 2019
In the Cauldron: Terror, Tension and An American Ambassador's Struggle to Avoid Pearl Harbor
Looking forward to the publication of my book on Pearl Harbor -- In the Cauldron: Terror, Tension, and an American Ambassador's Struggle to Avoid Pearl Harbor. Publication date is November 1, 2019.
There have been countless books on Pearl Harbor, but I do believe this one offers a unique perspective: a focus on the effort the American ambassador in Tokyo -- Joseph Grew -- to orchestrate an agreement between the US and Japan that would avoid the war he saw coming. To be sure, Grew is mentioned in many other books about Pearl Harbor. But none of those books drills down on what Grew was thinking or doing -- or the dynamics of the life that surrounded him in Tokyo. Wiretapping and other surveillance by the Japanese secret police was everywhere (symbolized, perhaps, by the secret police telling the Japanese servant of an American journalist that he should not tear up documents placed in the waste paper basket because it made it difficult for the police to put the scraps together in a document they could read). Arrests and torture of those suspected of collaborating with Americans or having dissenting views was an accepted fact. And the threat of assassination by radical groups could not be discounted (causing Grew himself to carry a gun in the months before Pearl Harbor).
Grew was very frustrated and bitter when he returned to the United States in August 1942 because he believed that war could have been avoided if his recommendations were followed (which they were not). The book includes an explosive narrative of Grew's effort to present a critique to Secretary of State Cordell Hull upon his return to the United States.
The book relies on an abundance of primary source material, including thousands of pages of Grew's diaries, letters and memos, as well as interviews with members of Grew's family and the family members of other Embassy staff.
The book has already received praise from Sidney Pash, a recognized authority on Pearl Harbor history and the author of The Currents of War: A New History of American-Japanese relations, 1899-1941: "Lew Paper’s In the Cauldron is simply the best treatment of Ambassador Joseph Grew and the run-up to the Pacific War. Engaging writing and thorough research make the book a must read for both the historian and the general audience."
There have been countless books on Pearl Harbor, but I do believe this one offers a unique perspective: a focus on the effort the American ambassador in Tokyo -- Joseph Grew -- to orchestrate an agreement between the US and Japan that would avoid the war he saw coming. To be sure, Grew is mentioned in many other books about Pearl Harbor. But none of those books drills down on what Grew was thinking or doing -- or the dynamics of the life that surrounded him in Tokyo. Wiretapping and other surveillance by the Japanese secret police was everywhere (symbolized, perhaps, by the secret police telling the Japanese servant of an American journalist that he should not tear up documents placed in the waste paper basket because it made it difficult for the police to put the scraps together in a document they could read). Arrests and torture of those suspected of collaborating with Americans or having dissenting views was an accepted fact. And the threat of assassination by radical groups could not be discounted (causing Grew himself to carry a gun in the months before Pearl Harbor).
Grew was very frustrated and bitter when he returned to the United States in August 1942 because he believed that war could have been avoided if his recommendations were followed (which they were not). The book includes an explosive narrative of Grew's effort to present a critique to Secretary of State Cordell Hull upon his return to the United States.
The book relies on an abundance of primary source material, including thousands of pages of Grew's diaries, letters and memos, as well as interviews with members of Grew's family and the family members of other Embassy staff.
The book has already received praise from Sidney Pash, a recognized authority on Pearl Harbor history and the author of The Currents of War: A New History of American-Japanese relations, 1899-1941: "Lew Paper’s In the Cauldron is simply the best treatment of Ambassador Joseph Grew and the run-up to the Pacific War. Engaging writing and thorough research make the book a must read for both the historian and the general audience."
