Men to Devils, Devils to Men: Japanese War Crimes and Chinese Justice

by Barak Kushner

The Japanese Army committed numerous atrocities during its pitiless campaigns in China from 1931 to 1945. When the Chinese emerged victorious with the Allies at the end of World War II, many seemed ready to exact retribution for these crimes. Rather than resort to violence, however, they chose to deal with their former enemy through legal and diplomatic means. Focusing on the trials of, and policies toward, Japanese war criminals in the postwar period, Men to Devils, Devils to Men analyzes the complex political maneuvering between China and Japan that shaped East Asian realpolitik during the Cold War.

Barak Kushner examines how factions of Nationalists and Communists within China structured the war crimes trials in ways meant to strengthen their competing claims to political rule. On the international stage, both China and Japan propagandized the tribunals, promoting or blocking them for their own advantage. Both nations vied to prove their justness to the world: competing groups in China by emphasizing their magnanimous policy toward the Japanese; Japan by openly cooperating with postwar democratization initiatives. At home, however, Japan allowed the legitimacy of the war crimes trials to be questioned in intense debates that became a formidable force in postwar Japanese politics.

In uncovering the different ways the pursuit of justice for Japanese war crimes influenced Sino-Japanese relations in the postwar years, Men to Devils, Devils to Men reveals a Cold War dynamic that still roils East Asian relations today.

Genres: History, Japan, China, War, Nonfiction, Japanese History, World War II

416 pages, Hardcover

First published November 17, 2014

Reviews

[L · Rating 3 out of 5]

篇幅：極長，有心理準備要看很久
內容：英文版及中文版序算是最不易讀，後面第一至六章就還好，不算很有趣也不算很悶。趕時間光看最後一章和結論就好。作者顯然對國民黨對日本戰犯的處理方式不甚滿意，對共產黨的手法或許稍有微辭但沒有表露得很明顯，兩者都是對日本戰犯採較寬容的態度。日本在盟軍佔領過後恢復正常國家體制，但對戰爭罪責卻沒有承擔，也是作者很在意的點。資料翔實得有點過了頭，其實可以稍為減磅，這點扣掉一粒星。
翻譯：沒有比對原文，因為光看中文版已經耗時甚久，但整體感覺信實，而且由作者的合作伙伴再審校並加註，令讀者獲得更完整的背景資訊。

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Features primary source information regarding Japanese war criminals that cannot be found elsewhere. For anyone with an interest in postwar Asian-Pacific history, I would suggest reading this once it is published.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent - 4.5/5