Imperial Japan and the World, 1931-1945: Critical Concepts in Asian Studies

Focusing on Japan during the time period 1931-1945, this four-volume set comprises 95 previously published selections, each volume devoted to a theme, as follows: politics, foreign policy and diplomacy; economics and finance; and social, cultural and intellectual factors. Within each volume, half the selections are devoted to contemporary essays and half to historical essays, thus giving readers access to what politicians and commentators were saying in Japan and in the English-speaking world at the time, and what historians have said since then. Best (international history, London School of Economics) provides a general introduction explaining that he has included opinions spanning the political spectrum, "from conservative sympathizers with Japan such as the British journalist Malcolm Kennedy, to left-wing critics, such as Freda Utley and T.A. Bisson." The front matter includes a chronological table of the reprinted pieces which shows the earliest to have been published in 1932, and the most recent in 2005. Among the sources: Pacific Affairs, Contemporary Japan, Asiatic Review, Far Eastern Survey, Public Opinion Quarterly, Amerasia, Journal of Military History, and Pacific Historical Review, among others. The selections have been typeset (rather than reprinted in facsimile), and so an index could be prepared--a feature frequently absent from collections of reprints--and certainly a substantial enhancement to the usefulness of the reference. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)