Chronicles magazine recently had a piece by Taki on the hubbub over the Japanese prime minister visiting their WW II memorial. Taki’s point was mostly what SOBs FDR and Truman were. Firebombing women and children and dropping the bomb. We were as bad as anyone else.

It was cause to recall the book I recently finished – “Back door to War” by Charles Tansill. This deals with the shenanigans that passed for diplomacy leading up to FDR’s intentional US entry in WW II.

The best 2500 Nook sized pages of history I never learned in government school.

What left the greatest impression was the fear Japan had regarding communist expansion in China. Read the rest of this entry »