Wilbur Smith Quotes
A man follows the path laid out for him. He does his duty to God and his King. He does what he must do, not what pleases him. God's truth, boy, what kind of world would this be if every man did what pleased him alone? Who would plough the fields and reap the harvest, if every man had the right to say, 'I don't want to do that.' In this world there is a place for every man, but every man must know his place.
Smith, Wilbur. Birds of Prey. Macmillan, 1997.
This testimony turned out to be a tactical error. The main purpose of Tojo was to protect Emperor Hirohito from responsibility for the war. See {587277}. But by admitting that he never disobeyed even the Emperor’s wishes, he made it clear that he had implemented the Emperor’s desired policies. Therefore, Hirohito must have been responsible. After this testimony there was some delay and he changed his testimony claiming that once he disobeyed the Emperor when he took the nation to war. Few believed this second version, but it was sufficient to keep Hirohito from being charged—which despite many calls for his trial, General MacArthur also did not want the Emperor brought to account as the institution was making the occupation of Japan very easy.
Wilbur Addison Smith is a South African (Zambian-born) novelist specialising in historical fiction about the international involvement in Southern Africa across four centuries, seen from the viewpoints of both black and white families.
