"Many books have been written, and continue to be written, about the Second Worl
d War: military histories, histories of the Holocaust, the war in Asia, or colla
boration and resistance in Europe. Few books have taken a close look at the imme
diate aftermath of the worldwide catastrophe. Drawing on hundreds of eye-witness
accounts and personal stories, this sweeping book examines the seven months (in
Europe) and four months (in Asia) that followed the surrender of the Axis power
s, from the fate of Holocaust survivors liberated from the concentration camps,
and the formation of the state of Israel, to the incipient civil war in China, a
nd the allied occupation of Japan.
