Supernova in the East (Hardcore History, #62-67) by Dan Carlin

Supernova in the East (Hardcore History, #62-67) Reviews

• 
  Ryan

  Dan Carlin is probably my favorite podcaster, for his way of diving into eras or episodes of history and re-contextualizing them in a way that modern listeners can relate to, while treating the people of the past compassionately and trying to be fair to the different perspectives on events (both at the time and among modern historians). At the risk of sounding a little narcissistic, I like Dan because his mind seems to work a lot like mine does: he’s a thinker who’s fascinated with his subject matter and never seems to run out of angles to examine it from. Even when I didn't think I was that interested in the topic itself, I find his fascination contagious.
  
  I’m not sure if his podcasts can really be called “books”, but many of the ones of more recent years are of an audiobook-like length and depth. I highly recommend his series on ancient Rome, on the Mongols, and on the First World War, even though they’re a commitment of time. His focus leans towards the military side of history, but he never neglects the human aspect of it, so if that’s something that interests you, it’s hard to go wrong with at least checking out his programs.
  
  This series examines the East Asian and Pacific theater of World War Two (and/or the Second Sino-Japanese War, depending on your definitions). Dan explores the Japanese experience and what factors led Japan down the road that it followed, given several other possible paths the country’s leaders might have chosen at critical junctures. Being an American, I’ve had the US-centric and Britain-centric narratives of WWII drummed into my head pretty well, but our history programming doesn’t seem to pay much attention to what went on in the Far East (or in our government concerning that part of the world) before Pearl Harbor, so I appreciate Dan’s attention to that. As usual, he gives the listener a sense of the madness and horror of war, and the way small mistakes and misjudgments made by leaders or even low-level people can snowball to have huge implications.
  
  There’s too much in this show (two episodes so far) for me to try give an overview of, but Dan made one point I thought was particularly interesting: Americans on the right often get angry about Japan’s lack of forthrightness about its atrocities back in WWII (particularly against American servicemen). However, those same Americans, when US atrocities in Vietnam are brought up, become defensive, often seeing the topic as a sneaky attempt by progressives to smear our brave troops and our nation’s honor. What many Americans don’t realize is that modern day Japan has its own right wing, and that’s how *their* attitude works. “So, a few of our boys got a little carried away and bayoneted a few prisoners and raped a few girls, but other countries did awful things in the war and at other times, so why do *we* have to apologize? Besides, those dirty commies are surely inflating the numbers to make us look worse and we can’t cave in to that.” Probably, they get on the internet and write angry comments about “political correctness”, or whatever the Japanese version of the term is. No country sees themselves as the bad guys of the story. In their narrative, the bad things they did were always things they were forced into to protect their own interests and honor, or to punish someone else’s wrongdoing.
  
  In a time of toxic nationalism, maybe it’s something to keep in mind. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
  
• 
  Jorge Ramos

  Three part series of this epic podcast/audiobook i guess. The background and profound horror of the pacific theatre is epic. Dan Carlin does an outstanding job as always and it is utterly fascinating every step of the way. Even if you think you dislike history this is your best shot at liking it again.
• 
  Pieter Decuyper

  Alweer een podcastreeks over de mens en zijn extremen. Veel bijgeleerd over WO II in de Pacific...
• 
  Sarthak Bhatt

  My first time hearing carlin, very impressed!
• 
  Darryl

  Great history on what was going on in Asia, and Japan specifically, leading up to WW2 from late 19th century. It will be interesting to hear the rest of this series.
  
  Update: the whole series was great. Worth a listen.
• 
  Max

  So, this is a podcast series, not a book, but given that the episodes so far have spanned the length of a medium-sized audiobook already, I'll count this towards my reading goal for this year :).
  
  The podcast is well-produced and interesting, and it talks about an aspect of WW2 that I did not know a lot about before. As the author says, you are getting the "Dan Carlin version of history", so I don't know if everything he says and especially his interpretations of the actions and his views of "the japanese people" / "the japanese spirit" are in any way backed up by reality or just more stereotypes - but even if they were, this podcast would be worth listening to, purely for the engaging descriptions of how the pacific theatre of the second world war developed over time and what happened there. I will definitely listen to more of his podcast series' in the future.
• 
  Reinis

  Šis ir Spotify brīvi pieejams podkāsts par vēsturi (Hardcore History sērijas 62-67 daļa). Apjoma un izpildījuma ziņā šie podkāsti kopumā atbilst audiogrāmatai.
  
  "Supernova in the East" ir interesants skats uz Japānu, kas mazāk kā simts gadu laikā no atpalikušas viduslaiku valsts 1860-os pārvērtās par tehnoloģiski attīstītu iekarotāju, kas 1942. gadā vienlaikus karoja no PSRS robežām līdz Austrālijai un no Havaju salām līdz Indijai.
  Autors ir mēģinājis saprast kāpēc tik tehnoloģiski attīstīta armija tik bieži karoja kā viduslaikos. Kāpēc tikai Japānā armija sakāves gadījumā labāk izvēlējās kolektīvas pašnāvības padošanās vietā.
• 
  Cassidy Gagnon

  Although not necessarily a audiobook, Dan Carlin does such an amazing job at distilling knowledge and accounts of people during historical events that it should be deemed at least as an important listen.
  
  I have gone through many of Dan's podcast series at this point, and this one is by far one of the most extreme, disturbing, and sad stories, which focuses on the supernova of WWII Japan aggression and defeat. Could not recommend it enough.
• 
  Amy Johnson

  Really well constructed and educational. I don't think we recognise the intergenerational trauma of people who lived during or after this period enough. I think it would be really helpful for me to listen to something similarly in-depth about the Vietnam War.
  
  Very pleased to see this recognised by Goodreads as an audiobook rather than a podcast...
• 
  Kevin Keating

  Always get so much insight from Dan Carlin podcasts. Highly recommend. Can't wait for the next installment.
• 
  Aravind NG

  Incredible stories and insights from the Pacific theatre of WW2. Never realised these stories closer to home could be as fascinating as the ones from western theatre. As for the Japanese, Dan Carlin sums it up best (in WW2 context): The Japanese are just like everyone else, only more so.
• 
  Kelly Eaton

  The first episode of this series showcases the extreme nature of the Japanese individual in comparison with all other peoples. Dan shares numerous accounts that give insight into the larger social conscious of the Japanese people, showcasing how exceptional they are in their extremity. He provides an amusing description of them as just like everyone else, simply more so. The most memorable example of this is of a Japanese soldier, Hirō "Hiroo" Onoda, who continued fighting WWII in the Philippines until 1974 when a former commander traveled there and informally relieved him of duty. The second episode of this topic continues to exposé the exceptional case of Japanese society in providing some powerful accounts of notorious events during WWII, including the Rape of Nanjing and the Bombing of Pearl Harbor.
  
  The indomitable spirit and supreme ambition of the Japanese was certainly showcased in their aggression and successes throughout WWII and Dan does a phenomenal job expressing in engaging and visual voice the grand strategy and specific application of those Japanese qualities. Carlin's ability to impress upon his listeners the horror of the atrocities committed in the name of war in equal measure to the awe of strategic genius and individual grit is impeccable. You have not had a meaningful understanding of Pearl Harbor until you have seen it not only from the American perspective, but the Japanese considerations and an outsider 3rd person perspective of the affair as well. The second episode of this podcast provides a meaningful foundation for any casual history aficionado from all three of those perspectives, additionally granting little nuggets I wouldn't be surprised for true hardcore historians to be newly exposed to. A specific anecdote that is both telling of the circumstances of the attack and endearing in its retrospective incredulity is Dan's quoting of a sailor saying something to the effect of "this is the best damn drill the army's ever put on" as bombs and bullets are literally raining down around him, some of the flagships already in initial stages of being sunk.
  
  As with all Hardcore History episodes, this series delivers the highest quality history analysis you'll find in podcast format. Dan's voice and speech style is well practiced and comfortable, clearly indicating a profound understanding of the content being related. Dan's research into each topic is of a level that would reasonably fill the pages of a proper history of the highest level, despite Dan's insistence that he's an "amateur historian". The only reason you should consider avoiding this podcast is because it will reveal quite starkly by contrast the poor quality of every other podcast out there.
• 
  Liam

  This one was a great listen. I did find the start to middle a bit bloated with the long histories, however it was helpful to see the historical reasons for the Japanese cultural movements regarding the war - something I knew little to nothing about before this listen. However - at over 27 hours of audio, this one is a commitment to complete. The podcast really amps up in the last two episodes. Some of the descriptions Carlin gives are extremely haunting. They culminate with vivid first hand accounts of the bombings of Hiroshima. Not an easy listen. Over all this was a great history of the Pacific front of WWII.
  
  
  Top World War I & II Histories by Algorithm List
• 
  David

  I know... technically a podcast. Completely spoken and never written down, but...an audiobook is still a type of book, and if this is essentially a type of audiobook, it's over 26.5 hours long, so I count it as "read". Aside from that, it's singularly focused on the Japanese in WWII and the Allied response, and full of wonderful insight and a candor seldom experienced elsewhere on this topic with Dan Carlin's wonderful story-telling style. Find it on the podcasts, but enjoy it like a 6-part audiobook!
• 
  Tyler Haladuick

  Binging on Japanese history after reading Shogun. This podcast flows from the Tokugawa Shogunate and the battle of Sekigahara through to WWII. How the Bushido code embeds its swords into every realm of Japanese culture in the years surrounding WWII is fascinating. Militarism and Honour until death. This mental model developed or devolved into self-immolation over capture, full-frontal suicide attacks into machine-gun fire; and torture/beheading of foreigners who surrendered and thus were not honourable under their code.
• 
  Konrad

  I've been listening to "Hardcore history" and while I think the likes of "Wrath of the khans" and "King of kings" were excellent, in my view Carlin outdid himself with this one: jumping effortlessly between big picture strategy and individual human drama, he creates an absolutely gripping narrative. Brilliant.
• 
  Toomas Tuul

  A very deep dive into the most surreal nation of maybe ever: Imperial Japan from 1930s until 1945.
  It made me mutter "Wow, this is crazy" or "I can't believe this happened" way more than just a couple of times. A truly fascinating listen for any history buff.
• 
  Jesse

  More amazing work by Dan and Ben. Five hours fly by like nothing because of the amazing storytelling. Can't wait for the rest of the series.
• 
  Abhi

  A sweep from the battle of Sekigahara in 1600 up to the battle of Shanghai in 1937.
• 
  Martti

  Dan Carlin is a great storyteller, podcaster and an amateur historian I've been aware of for quite some time, but managed to listen to some episodes only just now. Maybe because an episode of Hardcore History is usually ~4h long, probably also the reason for an entry in Goodreads. 4h x 6 is a proper length for an audiobook. Looks like he manages to complete only couple of episodes in a year, and last 10 or so are free to download. The rest can be bought from
  https://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-hi... - which I will do as soon as I have finished the episodes available for free.
  
  These 6 episodes are an analysis of Japan in WWII. Couple of lines for my memo:
  
  When Commodore Matthew Perry sailed into Tokyo bay in 1853–1854, to the Tokugawa Shogunate and saw a closed second tier medieval nation without modern weapons, they went into full crisis mode. Meji Restoration "restored" the Emperor and Japan to the world arena as main tier player. They first copied French army, then had German consultants and copied as much as possible. But they had the best brain-washed motivation of an army already before. When they won China 1895 and Russia in 1905 in a complete surprise, then the world really took notice, but they believed they had been cheated out of a better agreement after these pre-Pearl Harbor like preemptive strikes to establish their dominance of the region.
  
  The way from a lowly medieval country can be compared also as an addiction to start with poking at neighbors with small sticks. Then you get bigger sticks and you see that you are successful. You start believing in your god-emperor and want more. And you cannot turn the engine back even if you want. Welcome to the "predator country pack". They warp their main drive into "asian revolution from western powers".
  
  Japan saw Manchuria as a limitless supply of raw materials and a protective buffer state against the Soviet Union in Siberia. Japan invaded Manchuria outright after the Mukden Incident in September 1931.
  
  The Battle of Nanking (or Nanjing) was fought in early December 1937 during the Second Sino-Japanese War between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japanese Army for control of Nanking (Nanjing), the capital of the Republic of China.
  
  Building on the hard-won victory in Shanghai, the IJA captured the KMT capital city of Nanjing (December 1937) and Northern Shanxi (September–November 1937). These campaigns involved approximately 350,000 Japanese soldiers, and considerably more Chinese.
  Historians estimate that between 13 December 1937, and late January 1938, Japanese forces killed or wounded an estimated 40,000 to 300,000 Chinese (mostly civilians) in the "Nanjing Massacre" (also known as the "Rape of Nanjing"), after its fall.
  
  WWII - we now revile Chamberlain for going to Hitler and beg for peace. Coming back and seeing we will now "see peace in our times", this weak kneed response was a logical continuation of the fact that they came out of a worst war ever. WWI. They tried to do everything that their country wouldn't be really wiped off the map. And more bellicose Churchill who supposedly saw all this coming and scream for more aggressive response, the guy is in the wilderness alone. Nobody wants to take it seriously.
  
  France was considered to be the most powerful land army of the day, held back the greatest army of the age - the German WWI army with about million lives for 4 years. Now defeated in 6 weeks. In addition to blasting through the Netherlands and UK also looking like being on the brink of surrender. Then now Japan looking at the colonies of these European powers in Asia that don't look so formidably defended all of a sudden.
  
  Last episode describing the US taking island by island, meter by meter the fanatic japanese. Then going for carpet bombing with 339 B-29's of Tokyo, creating firestorms and fields of burnt people. And finally together with nuclear bombs and the Soviet Union declaring war on Japan, they finally got through to the Empire of the Sun.
  
  Can you put a price in lives and destruction on political or national independence? Revolution as a gift. Morality? Food for thought.
• 
  Josiah Richardson

  Carlin Chronicles the timeline that led up to the bombing on Pearl harbor and the consequential war that America joined afterwards. One of the striking things for me was the racism of our country that allowed for the Japanese military to be so successful. American war generals were so adamant that the Japanese were just a bunch of rice farmers with no technology or military skills. Of course, this came back to haunt them through the death of thousands upon thousand of American troops. These generals would not take the Japanese seriously, even when there were ambushes and raids on the American camps, even as going so far as to punish the men who would wake them up to give them information concerning the Japanese military movements.
  
  The nationalism that the Japanese showed made the patriotism of the American revolutionaries look like hatred for their country. The willingness to die a thousand deaths, and never to retreat was both the reason for the success and the reason for the defeat of the Japanese military. As always, Carlin is able to weave all the historical information together to form a fascinating account for us. War of course, as it has been said, is an amazing and entertaining thing for anyone who has never experienced it firsthand.
• 
  Itai

  Terrific and horrific. Carlin tries to trace the origins of Japanese fanaticism in the second world war. Starting with the war with China and the rape of Nanking. From there he continues to Pearl Harbor, the initial success of Japan on the pacific front, and its eventual unconditional surrender.
  
  
  So much of what's described here was new to me, most of the history I've been taught focused on the European front, so this was a lesson about the common omissions in history. Furthermore, the atrocities committed by the Japanese were unknown to me. Learning about them was both fascinating and nauseating.
  
  As always, Carlin is a skillful storyteller, painting the historical canvas with mastery. Recommended for any history buff, especially those interested in Japan. But be warned, as usual with Carlin - the descriptions are detailed and graphic, he is not for the faint of heart, or even for those accustomed to war tales.
• 
  Emmett

  Only a 26-hour long podcast could cast WW2 in the Asia Pacific in all its harrowing brutality and variety of experience on all sides. Only words upon words upon words in a continuous stream can come close (and yet also tell of its limits!) to a full account of key political calculations and mistakes, the various military engagements and horrific acts committed in Malaya, New Guinea, Io Jima, Nanking; be a hapless spectator to senseless killing, mass suicides, acts of depravity and bravery and desperation, recreate the conditions of jungles and mountains and unrelenting tropical weather and terrain; feel and think what they must've thought when the atomic bomb was successfully invented (a supernatural weapon to rival and surpass the colossal scale of natural disasters), and pause a while to reflect on what could have been at every step if there could be an alternative, any alternative.
• 
  Terry Earley

  I listened to Carlin narrate his book over many weeks as I cleaned house. Japan was such a unique culture, which the Western world certainly did not understand. He answered many of my "why" questions about the War in the Pacific.
  
  As a contrast to that, I am currently reading "Glimpses of an Unfamiliar Japan" by a Western Buddhist scholar in about 1850, who traveled in Japan for a couple of years without ever finding a person who raised their voice in anger or was rude in any way. Supernova starts by describing the 19th Century Japan immerse in a warrior culture. It made me wonder what changed.
• 
  George Rolls

  Is this a book? No. While technically a podcast series, Supernova in the East is an over 25 hour long deep dive into the Pacific Theatre of WWII that's just as informative as a book.
  
  I'm therefore counting it towards my yearly goal.
  
  Dan Carlin is as fantastic as always, giving us the gritty, bloody reality of the war against Japan. Aside from the narrative, what makes these podcasts truly enticing (and horrifying) is the anecdotes littered throughout. Some of these left me sick to my stomach.
  
  The extremes to which soldiers and civilians endured combined with the unique national character of Imperial Japan created a truly terrible war.
  
  Make peace everyone.
• 
  Avvai

  Technically a podcast but I love that this is on Goodreads since it sure felt like an audiobook because it's like 27 hours long. Loved this series on Japan and its role in the Asia Pacific side of things during WW2. I knew the bare minimum going into this (only knew Pearl Harbour, Hiroshima and Nagasaki happened) but I had no idea of the who, what, where, why how. It took me a few months to finish it and it helped that I was in Japan while listening to this. I learned sooooo much and it sparked an interest in learning more and getting deeper knowledge by reading some of the core sources Dan Carlin cites quite a bit from.
• 
  Kevin

  This is an in-depth look at the war in the Pacific. I was a graphic look at the situation of the Japanese, Chinese, Australians, Americans, and Pacific Islanders during this horrible period of history. Dan Carlin does a phenomenal job telling this story. It is so obvious he has a love for history that I share myself. A warning about this work, it contains the retelling of several events that are very difficult to hear. Dan is very good at evoking emotions from relating anecdotes from the histories he covers.