Showa 1939-1944: A History of Japan continues award-winning author Shigeru Mizuki's autobiographical and historical account of Showa Era Japan. This volume covers the final moments of the lead-up to World War Two and the first few years of the Pacific War; it is a chilling reminder of the harshness of life in Japan during this highly militarized epoch. Mizuki writes affectingly about the impact on the Japanese populace of world-changing moments. On a personal level, these years mark a dramatic transformation in Mizuki's life, too; his idyllic childhood in the countryside comes to a definitive end when he's drafted into the army.