“ Black Snow brilliantly vivifies the horrific reality of the most destructive air attack in history, against Tokyo on the night of March 9-10, 1945. James Scott deftly employs sharply etched portraits of individuals of all stations and nationalities to survey the global, technological, and moral backdrop of the cataclysm, including the searing experiences of Japanese trapped in a gigantic firestorm. This riveting account illuminates an historical moment of profound contemporary relevance.” ―Richard B. Frank, author of Tower of Skulls: A History of the Asia-Pacific War: July 1937–May 1942 Seven minutes past midnight on March 10, 1945, nearly 300 American B-29s thundered into the skies over Tokyo. Their payloads of incendiaries ignited a firestorm that reached up to 2,800 degrees, liquefying asphalt and vaporizing thousands; sixteen square miles of the city were flattened and more than 100,000 men, women, and children were killed. Black Snow is the story of this devastating operation, orchestrated by Major General Curtis LeMay, who famously remarked: “If we lose the war, we’ll be tried as war criminals.” James M. Scott reconstructs in granular detail that horrific night, and describes the development of the B-29, the capture of the Marianas for use as airfields, and the change in strategy from high-altitude daylight “precision” bombing to low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing. Most importantly, the raid represented a significant moral shift for America, marking the first time commanders deliberately targeted civilians which helped pave the way for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki five months later. Drawing on first-person interviews with American pilots and bombardiers and Japanese survivors, air force archives, and oral histories never before published in English, Scott delivers a harrowing and gripping account, and his most important and compelling work to date. 24 photographs and 3 maps "Powerful and compelling narrative history.... Scott vividly describes the horrific impact of the inferno on the city and its residents." ― Lawrence D. Freedman, Foreign Affairs "Riveting and broadly researched.... Scott is a formidable historian of the Pacific War ... [and] talented as both reporter and storyteller.... This book is required reading for anyone with even a passing interest in World War II and the Pacific Theater." ― Bob Carden, Boston Globe "Compelling and ambitious.... Through the strength of his archival research and interviews with Japanese survivors, Scott puts readers in the hell that was Tokyo that day as the payloads from 279 B-29s set off ferocious fire storms that swept through a city where homes became fuel for the inferno." ― Hal Bernton, Seattle Times " Black Snow is a tour de force of military history that aptly captures the terror, fear, anxiousness, and apprehension on all sides of the conflict in the Pacific. Scott is an exceptional writer with a keen eye for dazzling detail and gripping, suspenseful story-telling. A prize-worthy book, it will appeal to both the lay reader and the scholar." ― Henry Richard Maar II, Journal of Military History "James Scott tackles a controversial subject with gripping, fresh details.... Black Snow is destined to become a benchmark for students of the Pacific war to fully comprehend the profoundly difficult tactics employed by the United States to finally close the doors on the mighty Japanese war machine." ― Stephen L. Moore, Proceedings "Tells us with great insight and detail what went into America’s thinking more than 75 years ago when it decided to target Japan’s citizens in World War II.... Today, the issues Scott has so skillfully raised in Black Snow are most visible in the war of aggression Russia is waging against Ukraine." ― Nicolaus Mills, Daily Beast "What’s truly excellent about this book is the arc of it, the well-plotted background behind the method and the madness of the decision to firebomb civilians.... While there are certainly more aspects of World War II which would benefit from Scott’s gifts, this feels like a well-earned culmination." ― Jonathan Sanchez, Charleston Post & Courier " Black Snow is fine history and gripping narrative. I recommend it to all interested in World War II, military history, military innovation and the ethics of war." ― Brig. Gen. John Brown, ARMY Magazine "James M. Scott brings to life with painstaking detail and humanity the terror and plight and hopes of Japanese citizens in their cities, and US pilots in the air―their duties, their misgivings, their conflicted reactions, their sense of victory, and their moral survival off that victory. You realize you’ve never read this story before in this way, with these long views of history and such collar-grabbing intensity. Black Snow raises profound questions about how peace is made during one of America’s most turbulent periods on the world stage, and it speaks clearly to us today. You won’t put it do