Within forty years of the end of the Second World War, Japan was transformed from a nation in defeat to one of the most successful economic forces in the world. In this book, Paul Bailey draws on the most recent research to analyse the significance of the American Occupation (1945-52) as well as the later political, social and economic factors that contributed to postwar recovery.

Paul J. Bailey is a Senior Lecturer in East Asian history at the University of Edinburgh. His previous publications include China in the Twentieth Century (Blackwell, 1988).