“The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere... offers a lucid, dynamic, and highly readable history of Japan’s attempt to usher in a new order in Asia during World War II.”

“Yellen describes in his deep empirical analysis, showing mastery of the archival record in Japan and the long stretch of Japanese secondary scholarship, how Japan was attempting to shape its own new world order…. The delicious banquet that [he] serves up is the complex and at times completely incongruous definition of the sphere.”

“Yellen presents a different narrative of the demise of Japan’s empire and makes an important contribution to World War II studies.”

“Outstanding... This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the inner workings of the Japanese empire and its enduring legacy in Southeast Asia.”

“We had to wait forty-four years, but Yellen’s The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: When Total Empire Met Total War was worth the wait. In his masterful account regarding the Co-Prosperity Sphere, Yellen argues that it was nothing more than ‘a failed dream’—an incoherent vision that was contested and an idea that never coalesced into a coherent policy.”

“Military officers will find much to ponder in this well-written book—how idealism can come athwart reality and even the best-laid plans can go astray, how allies may prove illusory, and how victory does not mean peace.”

“No English-language monographs have explored the Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere — Japan’s wartime effort to impose a new regional order — from the vantage point of Japanese high policy. Jeremy Yellen has admirably filled this gap, offering innovative insights into Japan’s abortive effort to redefine the international relations of East and Southeast Asia from the late 1930s to 1945.”

“[Yellen] has filled a gap in the historiography with a well argued analysis grounded in extensive archival research (conducted on three continents) and a broad range of the relevant English and Japanese secondary literature... Students and specialists alike will find his book to be a valuable resource and, hopefully, a springboard for further research into a lamentably understudied subject of great significance for postwar development of the region. ”

“Yellen offers a useful examination of the changing and contested meaning of Japan’s proclaimed ‘Co-Prosperity Sphere.’… [His] work helps inform about an important but opaque aspect of World War II history that influenced the receding of Asian empires after that war.”

“This study suggests that Japanese thinking during the war was not so different from that of other ambitious powers throughout history, which believed they were helping other peoples by dominating them.”

“A fascinating new study of Japanese decision-making during the Pacific War. Based on research in archives from seven countries and print media in five capitals, it gives ample voice to Japanese subject peoples, offering a powerful corrective to the standard dismissal of colonial leaders as mere ‘collaborators.’”

“The research foundation of this book is splendid. Yellen’s familiarity of very recent work, especially by Japanese scholars, is impressive. His work in primary archives is deep and broad.”

“There is no comparable study in the English language. Yellen’s readable approach makes this book an excellent teaching tool for courses on the Pacific War. It will also appeal to general readers interested in learning more about Japan’s challenge to the Western Powers.”