Alvin Coox

Alvin David Coox, (pronounced "cooks"; March 8, 1924, Rochester, New York – November 4, 1999, San Diego, California)[1] was an American military historian and author known for his award-winning book, Nomonhan: Japan Against Russia.[1] Coox told colleagues that his book on Nomonhan was a result of 35 years of research and more than 400 interviews.[1] Nomonhan was a "nearly forgotten moment in history," wrote John H. Boyle in his review in the Journal of Asian Studies.Coox "reconstructed the Japanese folly at Nomonhan in all of its political, military, and human dimensions to produce a masterful study that will stand as a model of scholarship for military historians."He showed that the Japanese army "did not know and did not want to know about enemy capabilities," and that the Japanese decision makers were so shaken by the defeat that they turned their strategic emphasis away from the Soviet Union in the north to opportunities in the south.
RochesterNew YorkSan DiegoCaliforniaNew York UniversityHarvard UniversityJohns Hopkins UniversitySan Diego State UniversityNomonhan IncidentManchuriaSamuel Eliot Morison PrizeJournal of Asian StudiesHonan, William H.The New York Times