Additional atomic weapons would have been used against Japan. Cities such as Kokura and Niigata were already on the short list of targets, and more would have been added.

This novel tells what could have occurred if the coup had succeeded, and the United States been required to invade Japan.

To simplify matters, I have given all Japanese names and relevant terms in the American manner and have ignored any references to dates that might be different because of the international date line.

My major sources for the planned invasion were The Invasion of Japan by John Ray Skates, Downfall by Richard Frank, and Code-Name Downfall by Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen, all of which give great detail and were invaluable resources. Also, Mr. Truman's War by J. Robert Moskin provided marvelous insights into the issues, personalities, and motives of the people involved, while The Fall of Japan by William Craig detailed the attempted coup.

– Robert Conroy

Prologue

The Son of Heaven sat cross-legged and stoic on the simple bamboo mat that covered the stark concrete floor of the shelter. His head and shoulders were covered by a fine layer of dust, and his nostrils recoiled at the smell of smoke that carried the sickly sweet stench of burning flesh. He felt as if he were suffocating, but he willed himself to remain calm. This squalid room was almost all that remained of an empire that, only a few short years earlier, had encompassed half the world.

The bomb shelter had been constructed to provide him and a select handful of others in the government and the Imperial family with a degree of safety from the incessant rain of American bombs.