The Burning Mountain Alfred Coppel 1984

The Burning Mountain Alfred Coppel 1984

A Novel of the Invasion of Japan

After the Nazi collapse and surrender in April of 1945, Japan stood as the last enemy the final, formidable foe. In July, on the desert beyond Los Alamos, New Mexico, the test of an untried, secret weapon, an atomic device, failed.

A sudden electrical storm struck and impaired the bomb, postponing for months any future test which might even prove this theoretical weapon useless.

Forced to the final campaign of World War II, the U.S. mounted Operations Olympic and Coronet the invasion of the Japanese homeland, Resistance by the defenders was expected to be fierce, even suicidal. Estimates of casualties ran conservatively into the millions.

The Japanese had drawn up detailed defense plans. They had been astutely analytical, visualizing the American intention as if they had the strategy of Olympic and Coronet before them. The world was poised for the bloodiest confrontation in all history.