This is the story of a little-known Soviet-Japanese conflict that influenced the outbreak and shaped the course of the Second World War. In the summers of 1937, 1938, and 1939, Japan and the Soviet Union fought a series of border conflicts. The first was 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 aircr.

Includes maps of: Manchuria and Environs int he 1930s; Locale of Changkufeng Incident July-August 1938; Nomonhan Disputed Border; Nomonhan, May 28-29; July 1-3 Japanese Offensive; August 20-10 Soviet Offensive

List of maps --The Legacy of the Past -- The Global Context -- Changkufeng -- Nomonhan : Preliminaries -- Nomonhan : A Lesson in Limited War -- Nomonhan, the Nonaggression Pact, and the Outbreak of WW II -- Nomonhan Casts a Long Shadow.