In the closing months of World War II in the Pacific, the Allies prepared for Operation Downfall - a massive planned invasion of the Japanese homeland. The invasion would never actually take place - the dropping of the atomic bombs assured that - but the question remains: just how devastating would this invasion have been?
We're joined by Paul Poast, an international relations professor at the University of Chicago. He discusses the strategy and the stakes for this planned invasion, and how it impacted the decision to drop the atomic bombs.
Produced by Dougal Patmore and James Hickmann. Edited by Dougal Patmore.
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