>>297796> what was the last text you read?Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, my life, my husbando.
No, I'm kidding, but history is really just limited to being a hobby for me so I can't really say I've read many historical texts. I am aware though of historiography and how it's important to identify biases and trends the author of that time period may have followed. The one text I can only say that I've read recently is concerning the atomic bomb (yes yes I know, pleb mainstream WWII pop history that I never want to see in /his/, but it should answer your question, and it's the one subject I'm comfortable answering with regarding historiographical contribution). It was Tsuyoshi Hasegawa's Racing the Enemy, and he argues for the revisionist school of thought (that the atomic bombs were unnecessary for Japanese surrender) as opposed to the traditional school of thought (which argued that the atomic bombs were necessary for Japanese surrender). He argues that it was the Soviet invasion of Manchuria coupled with the American firebombing of over 60+ Japanese cities that led to surrender.
I can't say I really agree 100% agree with Hasegawa, but he definitely does give more detail on how the upper echelons of the Japanese government operated, as well as punctuating their fear of complete and total diplomatic isolation when the Soviets invaded. Sheds more light on the decision-making on the Japanese side to surrender instead of just giving the atomic bomb all the credit.
