{"product_id":"black-snow-curtis-lemay-the-firebombing-of-tokyo-and-the-road-to-the-atomic-bomb-9781324002994","title":"Black Snow: Curtis LeMay  the Firebombing of Tokyo  and the Road to the Atomic Bomb","description":"\u003cp\u003eBlack Snow brilliantly vivifies the horrific reality of the most destructive air attack in history  against Tokyo on the night of March 9-10  1945. James Scott deftly employs sharply etched portraits of individuals of all stations and nationalities to survey the global  technological  and moral backdrop of the cataclysm  including the searing experiences of Japanese trapped in a gigantic firestorm. This riveting account illuminates an historical moment of profound contemporary relevance. Richard B. Frank  author of Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War: July 1937May 1942 Seven minutes past midnight on March 10  1945  nearly 300 American B-29s thundered into the skies over Tokyo. Their payloads of incendiaries ignited a firestorm that reached up to 2 800 degrees  liquefying asphalt and vaporizing thousands; sixteen square miles of the city were flattened and more than 100 000 men  women  and children were killed. Black Snow is the story of this devastating operation  orchestrated by Major General Curtis LeMay  who famously remarked: If we lose the war  well be tried as war criminals. James M. Scott reconstructs in granular detail that horrific night  and describes the development of the B-29  the capture of the Marianas for use as airfields  and the change in strategy from high-altitude daylight precision bombing to low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing. Most importantly  the raid represented a significant moral shift for America  marking the first time commanders deliberately targeted civilians which helped pave the way for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki five months later. Drawing on first-person interviews with American pilots and bombardiers and Japanese survivors  air force archives  and oral histories never before published in English  Scott delivers a harrowing and gripping account  and his most important and compelling work to date. 24 photographs and 3 maps\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45657660162101,"sku":"ByrdShop_1324002999","price":24.63,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781324002994.jpg?v=1782050009","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/black-snow-curtis-lemay-the-firebombing-of-tokyo-and-the-road-to-the-atomic-bomb-9781324002994","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}