Japanese Private Kikujiro Shimura needed to pee and started World War II.

[cmmngrnd]

1. A tangential note about oil wars. "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power"

Thirty-ish years ago I heard about a book called "The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power"and even though I'm a reader of history thought "How boring."

A couple of years later I stumbled on documentary series on PBS. I had turned to the station in the middle of an episode and found it gripping, thrilling, and all the other superlatives. Of course, it was the PBS version of the book. I eagerly watched the rest of the series and recommend it. I've never read the book, but it's probably pretty good.

It's not just the hot wars, but all the geopolitical maneuvering that had oil at the root. Really eye opening.

More directly related to your topic, I also recommend "The Pacific War: 1941 - 1945" by John Costello for a comprehensive view of the war from pre-war planning to the surrender. The focus is on the US-Japan conflict, so it does not cover Japan-China conflict mentioned in your post in any depth.

And of course there's always Gordon W. Prange's "At Dawn we Slept" and "Miracle at Midway."