No comments about The Graves of Tarim: Genealogy and Mobility across the Indian Ocean (California World History Library).

5 comments about Diary of Lady Murasaki (Penguin Classics).

1. Aside from the "tale of Genji" this is the only known writings of Lady Murasaki. The book is slim, as not much of her personal diary survived. However, it does have a good introduction, including a VERY helpful picture of a court lady in her dress. If you ever read any of these old court diaries, you come to appreciate a good picture like this because the women who wrote these books dwelled, almost obessivly on what they wore.

   The clarity and quality of the writing is this slim volume is very good, as good as what you will find in the pillow book of sei shonagon. This book is also a facinating read in conjuction with the latest novel by Liza Dalby "the tale of Murasaki". Anyone interested in Old Japanese litrature should had this title to their reading list.




2. First off, Although the book i s 91 pages long there is a 52 page introduction. The introduction by Bowring is very well done, especially for those who are unfamiliar with Heian era Japan, like me. Bowring gives adequate introductions to the architecture, dress, religion, and other things of culture at the time. Although the info he gives of Murasaki Shikibu is scant, he does give the reader all of the information that is known about the author of the Genji monogatari. The diary itself is a wonderful resource of Heian era Japan. Murasaki Shikibu gives wonderfully detailed descriptions of ceremonies, dress, and glimpses of daily lives of females in the court. Bowring adds wonderfully helpful footnotes to aid teh reader. Also the illustrations inb the book are wonderful for showing how the Heian lady dressed and how a Heian era mansion looked. Good little book.



3. And a companion piece ot the Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon. The world of courtiers and courtesans, intrigues, affairs.
   
   Daily soaps will never be exciting once you've read this book! WOW!



4. The Diary of Lady Murasaki is a very fine read, even by today's standards. Sadly short due to age, it still offers an amazing insight into court life of the time.
   
   The book's coverage of both important court events and the personal outlook of Murasaki herself on everything from fashion to her contemporaries is eye-opening to say the least. Great attention is paid to detail where she was able to remember any detail at all, and when she does not remember detail, she always made a note of why. Perhaps the most refreshing part of the book is the honesty in her observations. She seldom seems to mince words, which is not something that I would expect from anyone at all familiar with court politics.
   
   The book is especially valuable given the lack of other documents to come out of the period.



5. The diary of Lady Murasaki is the court diary of the author of the Tale of Genji - an 11th century masterpiece of japanese literature. Although Murasaki Shikibu has been dead for over 1000 years this diary brings to life Murasaki and the imperial court. It recounts an important period at court with the birth of Empress Shoshi's first son. We are given details into court ceremonies, life, fashion, and attitudes. Excellent read, especially if you're interested in Japan.

No comments about Before Taliban: Genealogies of the Afghan Jihad.

5 comments about Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan.

1. It's more of an academic book, with an apparently controversial thesis to defend, rather than something like David Halbarstam would write. So the firs third is pretty slow and arcane, with lots of details about Japanese politics, and history, with relevant Japanese terms tossed in. Things pick up when WWII starts. I missed an overview of Japanese culture, national psychology and interviews with people who lived through this time. But it's not that kind of a book. It's worth reading, I would recommend it for a very different perspective than you get on the History Channel, where they love to refight Midway over and over. Japanese war planners were tacticians, and overly optimistic, with their heads in the sand. None of them, nor the Emperor, served the people well.



2. Herbert Bix's book more than amply rewards the patient reader. Many of the previous reviews have focused on the emperor's responsibility for World War II, and that's certainly an important theme of Bix's superbly researched book. However, the conclusions the book draws are far from black and white. Instead, Bix lays out his version of the facts and lets those facts speak for themselves.
   
   It's an extremely effective means of rhetoric, and you will find, the closer you read, that Bix leaves oceans of ambiguity regarding the emperor's wartime role. Where Bix's arguments have the least flexibility is where he articulates, using sociology, history, and the personal upbringing of Hirohito, the point that the imperial role during and before the war was far more than symbolic. Yet his discussion of how the cabinet, the parliament, and the imperial advisers circumscribed and/or expanded that role shows that whether the emperor's role was great or small, it defies easy definition.
   
   This opaque method of wielding power is so intuitively correct for anyone who has studied Japanese politics, that it smacks of great truth. And whether you believe that the emperor was a tyrant, a figurehead, or something in between, Bix's sophisticated attempt to trace the myriad strands of power, politics, and battlefield outcomes illuminates Japanese politics and power in a way that no other modern history been able to do, at least in English.
   
   The personalities and events surrounding this extraordinary historical figure make for tantalizing reading. Many previous reviews have described the writing as boring, but it's nothing of the kind if you're interested in the details that made up war and pre-war decisions. Consensus, factions, deference to hierarchy, moving up through the ranks, and an incredible attention to the finest details are all characteristics that will be immediately recognizable to anyone who has lived in Japan for long. Bix's lifetime and intimate ties to Japan are reflected in his thinking and in his style. It's rich and rewarding, but certainly not low hanging fruit.
   
   If you're looking for a thoughtful and thought provoking view on the modernization of Japan, this book provides it. The relationship between Meiji and Showa is fascinating for its scantiness and for the profound impact that the grandfather had on the grandson. The description of the postwar imperial reign creates a cacophonous dissonance with Hirohito's earlier power and involvement in government that literally hearkens back to the occasional Roman emperors who left the seat of power to putter in their gardens.
   
   If you enjoy this book, regardless of your conclusions, even half as much as I did, it will have been worth every single penny.



3. A hnonorable attempt at writing a biography by using secondary resources to support his writings. The Japanese government does not allow people to review the emperior writngs, so we are left with other writings from his colleagues to make a analysis on his character.



4. I always find it fascinating when I reach a completely different conclusion than a noted awards organization like the Pulitzers. But after slogging through over half of Herbert Bix's book, "HIROHITO AND THE MAKING OF MODERN JAPAN," I cannot imagine how this book received much of any award.
   
   I guess at some level it is not a complete washout. The book is obviously meticulously researched. As a reference for academics, it will probably have real value. But in terms of simple readability, it is a disaster.
   
   For me, it seems Bix has been immersed in Japan and Japanese culture for way too long. Like a lot of experts, he tends to speak in a bit of a short hand without remembering that it makes it difficult for laymen to follow.
   
   For better or worse, most Americans are not terribly familiar with Japanese history and culture, especially as it relates to pre-WWII. So the huge cast of characters that Bix throws at you is overwhelming because most readers are not going to know who any of them are. His introductions to each of these characters tend to be very brief and there are so many of them (and so many names that are all alien to begin with) that it becomes almost dizzying. You are constantly flipping over to the index to figure out who someone is that hasn't been mentioned in 50 pages.
   
   Cabinets rise and fall with blinding speed and without much explanation for how or why. Japanese cultural points are raised without deep explanation and without reinforcement later in the text. And the prose itself is leaden. It is not a read so much as a slog. You endure it more than you enjoy it.
   
   More bothersome is that Bix has a clear agenda in the biography. His take? Hirohito was a conniving jerk who misled everyone about his role during the war. Other than being an upright family man, Bix's Hirohito is a Machiavellian slimeball constantly making poor choices and then finding ways to foist the consequences on others.
   
   Now for all I know, this may be totally accurate. But the text reads as almost seething in its anger. I have no issue with a writer presenting an opinion and a point of view. That is a role of the historian and the biographer--to interpret the facts and put them into context. But Bix never lets it go to simply tell the story of his subject. He is constantly slamming Hirohito. Again, his criticism may be sound. It probably is. But it so pervasive that at some point you begin to wonder whether or not Bix is presenting all the facts. Based on the enormous "notes" section of this book, he probably is, but at some point he just needed to tell the story. If the problems and hypocrisy in Hirohito's life are as pronounced as he says they are, that will likely come through to the reader without having to ham-handedly beat the man page after page. It reads less like a biography and more like a polemic.
   
   The only reason I am giving this any stars at all is because I feel I am obligated to give some credit to the sheer depth of research that is evident in the work. This is truly a scholarly effort in its research and I suspect the underlying source documents cited will make this a great reference for future scholars seeking information on the subject. But I found the writing itself to be bad and the Bix's anti-Hirohito agenda to just be overwhelming.
   
   This is an important story that needs to be told. But Bix's work is not the book that gets it done. Obviously, based on the accolades this book received from critics, other readers and Pulitzer committee puts me in the minority but I really am left wondering what book they read when they heaped their praise on this work.



5. My wife is Chinese, to this day there still exists a great deal of hate in China for Japan and her actions during the war. I say this to clarify I am no fan of Hirohito or Imperial japan.
   
   What I had hoped to get an objective review of Hirohito and his role before and during the war. Instead what I got from this book was a foaming at the mouth rabid attack Hirohito all in the first few pages. I really had thought people such as Bix might have grown out of fanatical Marxism.
   
   This is the only time I have thought about asking for a refund from Amazon for a book. I suppose I should have read the reviews of others before buying.

1 comments about Ethnic Nationalism in Korea: Genealogy, Politics, And Legacy (Studies of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center).

1. Ethnic Nationalism: Genealogy, Politics, And Legacy by Gi-Wook Shin (Director of the Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center) explores the roots, politics, and legacy of Korean ethnic nationalism. Descriptively analyzing the separation and differences in the communist north and democratic south of the Korean peninsula, Ethnic Nationalism addresses the general identity formation of the two Koreas. A core addition to academic library International Studies reference collections, Ethnic Nationalism is strongly recommended to the attention of political science, sociology, and cultural anthropology students studying the contrasts and similarities of North and South Korea through their collective history of anti-colonialism, civil war, authoritarian politics, democratization, territorial division, and globalization.

5 comments about Soong Dynasty.

1. I am too young to remember the hegira of the Kuomintang, but I've heard the story in one form or another all my life. I've met people on both sides who have vastly different views of the events and personalities of the time. One thing that is clear, though, and that is that Stillwell hated Chiang, which is expained in lucid detail in Tuchman's Stillwell and the American Experience in China, 1911-45. Seagrave takes the same view, namely that Chiang was a gangster who got to the top at a time when China was in chaos.
   
   Chiang's hagiography, as touted by the Mandarins in Taiwan is an example of the amazing curative powers of propaganda. (That is why you should turn off CNN if you want to be able to think.)
   
   This book is not just about Chiang, but about the Soong's, the family he married into. The story of Madame Chiang growing up as a young girl in Georgia, and learning to speak English with a southern accent is fascinating. The Soongs were bicultural and bilingual. They were also fantastically wealthy, and that combination helped them find their way to the top in the USA. Mrs. Chiang had unprecedented access to FDR during the time that the US was helping the Chinese fight Japan. The Chiangs used that access to extort huge sums of money from the Americans and they used it to enrich themselves while letting Mao and Cho carry the war.
   
   Madame Chiang's sister was married to Dr. Sun Yat Sen, about whom Seagrave has little good to say, but who has been considered the father of the republican revolution in China. Whether he was or not is a question that Seagrave discusses at length in the book.
   
   Another great book about Chinese history from a man who has spent much of his life in Asia. A great read.



2. A very intriguing look at the power behind the power in China before the Communist takeover. Justice was definitely denied for the Chinese people whose national bank reserves were looted by this family. What is more enraging to learn from this book is the blatant robbery of U.S. foreign aid cash by this Soong family and the Chiang Kaishek regime, which was the most corrupt government in the world. I guessed Harry Truman said it in the most poignant way: "..the Soong is nothing but a bunch of thieves.." And I agree with him. It is is sad that all the loots were never returned to the people of China. The Soong represented the worst of the Chinese in that era which were greed, power hunger, blind ambitions, criminal behaviors and worst of all China was run by the de facto criminal organization behind generalissimo Chiang Kaishek.



3. This book tells the story of Charlie Soong' children, each of whom connected with a part of China's transition into the modern world at the beginning of the 20th century. Wonderfully told.



4. Seagrave's view of pre-World War II Chinese history consists of equal parts of conspiracy and corruption. These elements are certainly present in Chinese history, but Seagrave's presentation is so biased, confused, and poorly documented that no one should accept his account without careful research.
   
   For conspiracy, the most notable claims are that the Kuang-hsu emperor was poisoned (116), that the Dowager Empress Tz'u-hsi was poisoned (116), that Yuan Shikai was poisoned (text on 162 says uremia, footnote on 480 says "Such medical diagnoses were suspicious at best. Was it ever possible, organically, for a Borgia to die a natural death?"), that Charlie Soong was poisoned (142-3): "The facts surrounding Charlie Soong's death are obscure... the possibility of foul play has always existed... Euphemistically, stomach cancer was as common in revolutionary Shanghai as lead poisoning was in Chicago and Marseille." Seagrave goes on like this for almost a page in an exceptionally tendentious passage. There is of course zero documentation for all of these claims.
   
   In a way though, these claims are almost trivial. It makes no difference to Seagrave's narrative whether these people were poisoned or not. A much more essential point is the central role that Seagrave claims the Green Gang played. Unfortunately, Seagrave's account of the Green Gang has many problems. Brian G. Martin, whose book "The Shanghai Green Gang: Politics and Organized Crime" is probably the best account of the Green Gang in English, says that Seagrave's account, "with its conspiratorial view of Chinese history in the 1920s and 1930s and of Jiang Jieshi's rise to power, sacrifices historical fact for sensationalist effect." (2)
   
   This is not an overstatement. One of the strangest things in "The Soong Dynasty" is how Seagrave identifies the well-known Green Gang boss Chang Hsiao-lin as a member not of the Green Gang, but of the "Blue Gang". The Chinese name of the "Green Gang" was "qing bang," with the word qing referring indifferently to both green and blue. Thus many early accounts of the Gang refer to them as the "Blue Gang." The Comintern representative Sneevliet regularly calls them this in his reports. The "Blue Gang" is the "Green Gang" and the "Green Gang" is the "Blue Gang." How Seagrave confused one gang into two I have no idea.
   
   Rather than rendering his account more difficult, however, this seems to open a door for Seagrave. Huang Chin-jung, Tu Yueh-sheng, and Chang Hsiao-lin were the Shanghai gangster troika, mentioned in numerous books. What Seagrave does is largely replace Chang Hsiao-lin, the Green Gang boss, with Chang Ching-chiang, one of the "four elder statesmen" of the Kuomintang, and a close advisor to Chiang Kai-shek. Thus Huang, Tu, and Chang Ching-chiang appear in various combinations throughout the book. Chang is an intimate of Tu (161), a business partner of Tu (163-4), a kidnapper like Tu and Huang (212), and so on. This is how Seagrave grafts Tu and the Green Gang onto Chiang Kai-shek and the KMT. Was Chang Ching-chiang really an important member of the Green Gang? He is mentioned in Brian Martin's book only once, as someone Tu and Huang were appealing to to continue the Shanghai purge in 1927. This is in contrast to Chang Hsiao-lin (Zhang Xiaolin), who occupies large chunks of Martin's book.
   
   Putting aside the conspiratorial events, the historical events Seagrave attempts to recount are so confused and contradictory that C. Martin Wilbur calls "The Soong Dynasty" "a travesty of a book from a historical viewpoint." (Wilbur's "China in My Life", p. 285). This is very bad for people who read "The Soong Dynasty" for history, rather than scandal or speculation.
   
   Anachronistic (or at least highly confusing) statements are a major part of this problem. A striking example is Seagrave's account of the Western Hills meeting (November 1925). He first quotes Isaacs' description of the goal of the meeting as being to "Ally with Chiang to overthrow Wang (Ching-wei)." Why overthrow Wang? According to Seagrave, Wang was "too weak to prevent a Communist coup. He had just convened a Second Party Congress that placed most of the critical departments of the southern government in the hands of the CCP and other leftists" (210). It seems to me a reasonable interpretation of this is that Seagrave thinks that first Wang convened the second party congress and then the Western Hills reactionaries decided to dump him. But the Second Party Congress was held in January 1926, after the Western Hills meeting. Why overthrow Wang? Try Wilbur's book "The Nationalist Revolution in China" (30-32). Wilbur gives a clear discussion of the factionalism facing the KMT at this point. Anachronisms aside, Seagrave is lost, complaining in his footnotes that these are "murky developments." (484)
   
   An even more startling discussion is Seagrave's account of the "First Shanghai Uprising" (217). Apparently Seagrave got this from Harold Isaacs' "Tragedy of the Chinese Revolution", but compare Seagrave with Isaacs (p. 131 of the 1961 edition), or even better, with "Missionaries of Revolution" by Wilbur and How (p. 328-329). Seagrave's account is simply wrong, adding in the Green Gang with no sources, misidentifying people, misunderstanding the circumstances, claiming "large numbers" of casualties and a blow to the Communists, where Wilbur and How list documents that give the casualties as 10 people killed, and Isaacs, the champion of the labor groups involved, dismisses the event with the remark "The incident passed almost unnoticed on the fringe of events."
   
   "The Soong Dynasty" does provide some interesting information in the earlier part of the book on Charlie Soong, father of the six Soong children. In particular, Charlie's success as a businessman and his work on behalf of Sun Yat-sen has been neglected, and there is still no extended account of these available today. Unfortunately, most of Seagrave's materials on these aspects is also poorly documented. Thus Seagrave claims that Soong joined the Hung-men Society ("the Red Gang") "shortly before the 1888 Chinese New Year celebration" (57), but gives no source for this. All of his comments about Charlie's activities and the Red Gang: that he was introduced by his brothers-in-law (58), that he printed the Gang's secret papers (57), that Gang members provided capital for his business ventures (60), that he bought the building for his printing shop through the Gang (61), that the steamship Charlie and his family fled to Japan on in 1912 was owned by the Gang (130), are all unsourced.
   
   It is a pity that Seagrave's book turns out to be so unreliable; it would be nice if there were one book that covered the people and events of this period, but I don't think there is one single work that does this. Wilbur's books are solid historical accounts, and Brian Martin's book has excellent documentation, though the Green Gang, like the Mafia, is murky water. As for the history of the Soongs, despite Seagrave's massive onslaught, the field remains barren.



5. Really, this is the worst sort of hatchet job by a man obsessed with Chiang Kai-shek and the evil he is thought to have done. Seagrave has written some truly awful stuff, generally based on one twisted bit of history, and generally made toxic by his loathing for CKS, the Soong family, Claire Chennault, and indeed anyone and anything associated with Nationalist China.
   
   For a more recent, scholarly, and honest portrayal of CKS and those who surrounded him, see the excellent The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China (Belknap Press), a recent biography by Jay Taylor, published by a division of Harvard University Press.
   
   As for this book, I give it two stars instead of the one it probably deserves, because as other reviewers have pointed out, it is an entertaining read. The same of course can be said by anything from Nora Roberts.

5 comments about The World of the Shining Prince: Court Life in Ancient Japan (Kodansha Globe).

1. This book is just what I needed after reading The Tale of Genji. Besides providing extremely detailed historical information on the time period, it is just a good read in general, being extremely well written. Ivan Morris also draws dozens of interesting parallels between Heian Japan and other societies throughout world history. I would definitely recommend this book.



2. Mr Morris is my hero! He manages to make an extremely complex subject a joy to read and study...Gosh, i wish other subjects could be this engaging. In the world of the shining prince everything has a protocol and a reason to been, Mr Morris manages to explain many important details that may, at first, be just tiny observations and passing glances in the story. This study book provides readers with tools to better understanding the kilometric "Tale of Genji"



3. This book really enhances, enlarges and clarifies one's understanding of Lady Muraski's world and though not necessary reading really enriches one's reading of The Tale of Genji.



4. I would recommend this book to anyone who is going to read "The Tale of Genji." Elegantly written, with discreet touches of humour here and there, it should help enormously in getting to grips with the superficially accessible, but actually wholly alien and remote world of the Heian court.



5. Ivan Morris wrote the essential guide to understanding the classical literature and culture of Heian Japan in this book.
   
   Everything you ever wanted to know about rarified, indeed *deified* Japanese court life in the 11th century A.D. is here. From directional taboos to de rigeur blackened teeth (and other fashion highlights) to bureaucratic hierarchies - it's all here, in engaging and accessible prose.
   
   We often think of the samurai ethos when we think of Japan, but the roots of Japanese culture developed in the 9th century, when imported Chinese concepts of governance and culture were assimilated. Morris describes how the Heian elite absorbed and transformed Chinese philosophy, and how Shinto beliefs operated in harmony with the teachings of Buddha.
   
   This is an enormously entertaining book, especially in its depiction of the politics and morality of the courtiers.

5 comments about The Sacred Willow: Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family.

1. Excellent book for history buffs or Viet Nam veterans or anyone who knows someone who was in Viet Nam. This book explains a lot about the culture and people of Viet Nam. I highly recommend it.



2. Mai's book is an excellent way for American readers to understand the Vietnam war as well as Vietnamese culture, especially how they have reacted to French colonization, the American war period and the difficult choices that had to made about who to side with. It's a unique and important book that's gripping and important.



3. I bought this book prior to a vacation in Vietnam. This is painless history! Although the book is long (nearly 500 pages) and very heavy to carry on an airplane, it was worth it. I learned so much about the historical differences that led to the Vietnam war and the succeeding political situations. I feel really prepared now for this trip in terms of understanding the context for my travels both to Hanoi and to Saigon.
   If you want to get an understanding of the history of this country from prior to the French occupancy to the Communist era, I would recommend this book.



4. I highly recommend this book for all young 2nd generation Vietnamese-Americans, like myself, who want to learn about their family's culture and past. This book should be included in any Asian American Studies class or curriculum.
   Well done, Mrs. Duong-Elliot! Thank you for writing such an insightful, moving and educational story about your family and Vietnam. Not only did I learn more about the Vietnamese people, but I learn more about who I am.



5. The Sacred Willow is a book about Vietnam and it's history portrayed by the life of one Vietnamese family. Unlike most books about the war in Vietnam, this book offers the views of the Vietnamese themselves instead of the views of foreigners. Another important aspect is the fact that Elliot shows the opinons and values of both the people who support and are against the Viet Minh. This is done by the views of her family and the views of her sister Thang, who leaves to fight for the Viet Minh. While studying abroad Elliot is able to get an outside perspective and begins to feel a connection to the Viet Minh, at least to the point that she understands why they are willing to fight.
   
   I did enjoy this book becuase it directly tied into my history class, but if it was not for that I do not know if I would of truely enjoyed it. The book is fascinating, since it gives American readers the views of the Vietnamese that we were fighting for in the Vietnam War. Another plus, is the reader does not have to be familiar with Vietnamese history beacuse Elliot does an excellent job describing the historical events. However, the book is a little dry, a very long read, and a little bias toward the Viet Minh (Elliot did grow up in a family that strongly despised the communists). I would probably only recomened it for modern history lovers, those who have an appreciation for Vietnam or the Vietnamese War. The book is definitely not for leisure readers.

5 comments about Japanese Design Motifs: 4,260 Illustrations of Japanese Crests.

1. Supposedly, there are about 2,000 Japanese family crests, with origins that reach back more than a millenium. And while I can't say whether this book contains all two thousand, it's nevertheless pretty comprehensive. They're presented in columns of black images--each image about 2" in diameter--and grouped by theme (e.g., crests depicting one cherry blossom, then crests based on 2 blossoms, then crests based on 3 blossoms, etc.).
   
   Like other Dover art books, this one is primarily for artists and designers, rather than for students of history/culture. (I used these images for stencilling, during an Anglo-Japanese makeover of our 1870s-era house--and discovered that "chinoiserie" abounds, but "japanesque" is rare. This book became part of an invaluable, and small, set of resources.)



2. I bought the book for my son and he loved everything about it. The illustrations are teriffic.



3. This book is simply the best. I found my maternal grandfather's mon and my paternal grandmother's crest in this book. It is quite comprehensive. Reading japanese kanji is a plus as you can then read descriptions next to appropriate mon. Graphic artists studying oriental design will find more than 4,000 designs that have existed for hundreds of years. There is inspiration aplenty for all artists.



4. It hadn't occurred to me that this could be a research source for geneaology, but i'm glad to see that it's useful for those searching for ancestral emblems. I appreciate this book as a source for small, clip art versions of Japanese graphic design.
   As any user of clip art knows, it only takes one application from a source to pay for the cost of the book and this one has more than paid its way.



5. Im in graphic design and using this book has helped me so much! Hundreds of pages bombarded with close to 3x3 thumbnails-so much info that it will probably take a very long time to actually notice each design. Some people dont like this book because all designs are set into a limited palette of insignias. The point is not to look at what the overall shape of the thumbnail is but at the specific contours, combinations. There's a variety from organic to geometric shapes. Some designs look modern, others ancient, others are used today i.e. radiation symbol. All of these designs come from an Asian background which is so design and logo-oriented that it most definitely helps you find that "swoosh" or certain attitude you're looking for. Overall, Dover books have great graphics!

5 comments about Japan at War: An Oral History.

1. This book should be read alongside "The Good War", by Studs Terkel, in every high school. Sometimes it seems as if Americans would rather stick to the bright and sunny WWII fairy tales that Hollywood specializes in rather than learn the true story. Please, don't let John Wayne re-write our history. Millions of ordinary people were caught up in this cataclysmic event, and yet the world barely remembers their ordeal. This is real history. Perhaps the most valuable aspect of this book is that it reminds that -"ism"s can quickly turn poisonous if they approach the simple lives most people lead as insignificant.
   
   As a side note, this book is anything but dry and scholarly in tone. It is shocking. Once you begin to accept the reality of what it conveys, it is hard to put down.



2. Pacific War experiences related by those who lived it on the Japanese side. Excellent and moving accounts of what the disastrous war was like "on the other side." Helps us see that all people are human beings, not the caricatures and stereotypes portrayed in propaganda of either side.



3. How do I describe in words the emotion this book evokes. It simply can't be done. Of all the books I have read on this era of Japanese history, this one had the most impact by far. Oral histories are valuable because they reveal the side of history you don't hear about in dry history books, they reveal the human side of tragic events in this case. Anyone interested in learning about Wartime Japan must read this book.



4. I rarely go all in for history books of this type. As an academic it is not in my nature to suspend or withhold criticism. Oral histories typically suffer from a certain blindness to strategic considerations, and end up being little more than advocacy for personal preferences held by the author, disconnected from the reality of the people, places and times of historical events under examination. That is NOT the case with Haruko Taya Cook and Peter Cook's "Japan At War: An Oral History".
   
   In the case of the Cooks' "Japan At War: An Oral History," I have no criticism or suggestion for how it could have been made better, save for my lingering wish that there was more to read of it. The interviewees' stories of personal experiences during the war are well told, well edited, well organized and well chosen. At the same time, the authors preserve an overall context in the strategic picture of what was happening at that time and why.
   
   Without hesitation, I rank it as one of my all-time favorites, and whole-heartedly recommend it to anyone interested in history, World War II, Japan, the Far East, or human frailty, vice, cruelty and endurance.



5. This book will make you laugh out loud, angry, or simply awed by the twists of the human spirit- both good and evil. The stories are exceptional and I cannot praise the Cooks enough for creating this document! If you are a student of history, much less, a student of Japanese history, this book should be on your shelf.