Book excerpt: The end to the Japanese war in August 1945 came as a complete surprise to the forces in the field. Preparations had been in hand for the assault on Okinawa, planned for November 1945. The initial momentum to establish an occupying force on the main islands came from the American government. Yet a desire for a positive British presence in Japan, backed up by other battle-hardened Commonwealth nations, provides this narrative with the conflict between MacArthur and what were his allies, for political pretensions as a major power in the Far East.