One young American's experience during post-war occupation duty in Japan.

If the American forces could break through the Hürtgen Forest, there was a chance they could reach the Rhine near Cologne, threatening the German industrial region along the Ruhr River and possibly even force a crossing. 

A young New Zealander airman receives a Victoria Cross for his daring feats. 

Dr. Rana Mitter depicts how China held a critical role in the Pacific theater during the war as a key ally for the United States. The war's end, however, brought a devastating blow to American diplomacy as China ultimately fell to communism, forever changing the global balance of power in the emerging Cold War.

If the US and its western Allies wanted to win this war as rapidly as possible, they couldn’t sit around and wait: not for a naval blockade, or for strategic bombing to work, or for the Soviets.