The complete history of Japan's attempt to carve out a vast empire from India to the south Pacific. Starting in 1931 with the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, HP Willmott reveals how Japan planned to challenge the established colonial powers and why her forces were able to inflict such shattering defeats on the British and Americans in 1941-2. Vivid accounts of the world's greatest sea battles follow, as the US Navy avenged Pearl Harbor at the battle of Midway and drove across the Pacific to liberate the Philippines and destroy the Imperial Fleet. All are brilliantly illustrated with state-of-the-art graphics.