- Hardcover: 352 pages
- Publisher: Naval Institute Press (April 15 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1591143292
- ISBN-13: 978-1591143291
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 15.5 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 363 g
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#107,028 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #5 in Books > History > Asia > Mongolia
- #77 in Books > History > Military > World War II > Naval
- #77 in Books > History > United States > 20th Century > World War II > Naval
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
The story of a little-known Soviet-Japanese conflict that influenced the outbreak and shaped the course of World War II In the summers of 1937, 1938, and 1939, Japan and the Soviet Union fought a series of border conflicts, the first being on the Amur River days before the outbreak of the 2nd Sino-Japanese War. In 1938, division-strength units fought a bloody 2-week battle at Changkufeng near the Korea-Manchuria-Soviet border. The Nomonhan conflict (May-September 1939) on the Manchurian-Mongolian frontier, was a small undeclared war, with over 100,000 troops, 500 tanks and aircraft, and 30,000-50,000 killed and wounded. In the climactic battle, August 20-31, the Japanese were annihilated. This coincided precisely with the conclusion of the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact , the green light to Hitler's invasion of Poland and the outbreak of World War II one week later. This book relates these developments and weaves them together. The fact that these events coincided was not accidental. Europe was sliding toward war as Hitler prepared to attack Poland. Stalin sought to avoid a two-front war against Germany and Japan. His ideal outcome would be for the fascist/militarist capitalists (Germany, Italy, and Japan) to fight the bourgeois/democratic capitalists (Britain, France, and perhaps the United States), leaving the Soviet Union on the sidelines while the capitalists exhausted themselves. The Nazi-Soviet Pact pitted Germany against Britain and France and allowed Stalin to deal decisively with an isolated Japan, which he did at Nomonhan.
About the Author
Stuart D. Goldman is the Scholar in Residence, National Council for Eurasian and East European Research. From 1979-2009, he was the senior specialist in Russian and Eurasian political and military affairs at the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress. He is a resident of Rockville, MD.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A very concise and clear account., April 9 2012
By Mark P. Deneris - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: NOMONHAN, 1939 (Hardcover)
I concur with the first reveiw that the Mr. Goldman's work illuminates the diplomatic nuances of the Nomonhan operation very well, and also that military operations are not covered in such great detail as might be desirable. However, I must add, his coverage of the miltary side, while brief, is also concise with so much being said in few words. Above all, it holds the virtue of clarity. The maps are good and the text offers the clearest outline of the battle I have read.The account of Nomonhan by Alvin Coox is far more detailed, but includes irrelvent minutia such as inconsequential distant sightings of Soviet troops by Japanese obervers and the minutest details of flag burning ceremonies and body recovery operations. Such infomation encumbers the forrest with so many trees that the larger tactical and operational pictures are often obscured. As noted, Coox's work is mostly from the Japanese point of view, but many of the tactical operations covered are, fortunately, rich in detail.
John Colvin and Douglas Varner offer very good summaries of Nomonhan, similar to Goldman's in size, with a similarly fair balance betweeen the Soviet and Japanese perspectives. They are slightly more detailed, but less concise and not so clearly organized. Goldman offers far more clarity, coherence and logical sequencing in presenting the campaign. Experts should appreciate his summary as a quick review. Novices to the topic, are unlikely to find a better introduction.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
How Could We not Know of this Limited War?, April 14 2012
By scaramouche - Published on Amazon.com
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: NOMONHAN, 1939 (Hardcover)
What does Stuart Goldman's Nomonhan 1939 have in common with William Manchester's A World Lit Only By Fire, James MacPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom or CV Wedgewood's Richelieu and The French Monarchy? The answer is they are exciting, well written and discuss historical events that have had far reaching consequences. It is Goldman's thesis that the surprise Russian victory over the Japanese at Nomonhan, a small town in Mongolia, in the summer of 1939, was a measurable factor in the non-aggression pact between Russia and Germany, the invasion of Poland, the honoring by the British and French of their alliance with Poland and thus to World War II. This short (200 page) book is filled with many of the usual suspects including Russia's Stalin and Zhukov and Japan's Emperor Hirohito and Tojo; but, it also includes one of the more fascinating virtually unknowns -- Tsuji Masanobu. Tsuji, a Major in the almost incredibly insubordinate Kwantung Army (the poster child of gekokujo -- "rule from below") perhaps was the major reason that the Kwantung Army fought the Russians despite the clear indication from Japanese Military Command that it did not want to engage. Tsuji was charismatic and incredibly brave. He was also likely responsible for mass murders of British and Americans and had an interesting post war career until he was lost in the jungles of Laos in 1961 and declared dead seven years later. But he is only one of the fascinating characters in this highly readable and thought provoking book.
18 of 21 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Good work with a good premise, Mar 31 2012
By Greg Phillips - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: NOMONHAN, 1939 (Hardcover)
As someone with a lifelong interest in World War II, I found the author's premise about the connection between Nomonhan and the Russo-German Pact of 1939 intriguing. I especially liked his study of the diplomatic efforts of Stalin to play the West against Germany against Japan -- to try to ensure the USSR's safety.... after all, isn't that the whole purpose of a national leader? Like him or hate him, Stalin DID do an effective job (in this context) of protecting his nation.As for the actual battle itself, I'd refer anyone interested to Coox's work............it is FAR more detailed and, to me, interesting. In fact, the one disappointment for me in this book was that I was hoping there would be much more regarding the battle from the Soviet side than there was. Coox's work suffers (if that's an acceptable word) from only having access to Japanese sources, since it was written in 1985 before the opening of the Soviet archives. I was looking forward to seeing more "from the other side" in this book than there was --- but the author's primary focus was on the diplomatic reasons and effects of the battle rather than the actual battle itself.
Even so, I'd recommend this to others interested in how Stalin had more of an effect on the beginning of World War II than most give him credit (blame?) for.
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