" Casts a searchlight on the last eleven weeks of the gigantic convulsion we call World War II and vividly portrays the effect of high-level decisions that made the choice initially to end the war by amphibious assault on Japan -- a holocaust from which we were saved by the fateful decision to drop the atomic bomb. The lesson is that power on the sea and liberty are inseparable."-- From the back cover.

Re-enter Halsey -- Hit the enemy: get those planes! -- The waters of Japan -- Destination: Tokyo -- Battleship shock -- The ultimatum -- The hunter and the hunted -- The hunter strikes -- The halsey fury -- The tragedy of delay -- Alarums and excursions -- The day of the big bang -- Days of August -- The second bomb -- Agony -- Waiting -- The struggle for decision -- Plot -- The smell of defeat -- Death and honor -- Margin of safety.