The Modern History of Japan - Hardcover

Gordon, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0195110609 ISBN 13: 9780195110609

Publisher: OUP USA, 2003

Synopsis

This is an exploration of Japanese history from the last days of the Tokugawa shogunate to the beginning of the 21st century. The author shows how Japanese modernization transformed the country from semi-colony to world power.

About this title

Review:

"Gordon has woven a narrative whose grand scope touches bases with all the diverse parts of that history. We see in his history a bold and sensitive mind at work that teachers and students will respect and admire. It is an impressive accomplishment."--Tetsuo Najita, The Boston Globe"Recommended for anyone interested in getting a deeper understanding of Japan's successes and failures as it has sought to become a modern state and society."--Foreign Affairs"In this superb book--by far the best in its genre--Andrew Gordon provides a richly detailed and engagingly analytical perspective on the past 200 years of Japan's history. "--Japan Times"Andrew Gordon's subject in A Modern History of Japan is nothing less than the promise and trauma of modernity itself, in all its turbulence, diversity, and global interconnectedness. The dire costs and revolutionary accomplishments of this on-going struggle at all levels of Japanese society emerge dramatically in this grand--and vividly illustrated--new overview."--John W. Dower, author of Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War Two"A masterful synthesis. From the grand sweep of geopolitics to the intimacies of the home and workplace, Andrew Gordon offers a comprehensive introduction to Japanese history and historiography alike. The people occupy center stage in this national narrative; women and workers, mass culture and popular imperialism are revealed throughout as integral to the shaping of modern Japan. At the same time, Gordon's nuanced prose conveys the continuing debates in the field, while his vivid illustrations not only document daily life but consistently invite the reader to contemplate the power and politics of imagery in a modern society. A tremendous resource."--Karen Wigen, author of The Making of a Japanese Periphery, 1750-1920"To grasp the historical issues, outsiders need a reliable interpretive narrator such as Gordon, a Harvard University history professor. Opening with the decline of the shogunate in the 1800s, he delicately untwines the internal and foreign pressures that culminated in civil war and the 'restoration' of the emperor in 1868."--Booklist "Gordon has woven a narrative whose grand scope touches bases with all the diverse parts of that history. We see in his history a bold and sensitive mind at work that teachers and students will respect and admire. It is an impressive accomplishment."--Tetsuo Najita, The Boston Globe "Recommended for anyone interested in getting a deeper understanding of Japan's successes and failures as it has sought to become a modern state and society."--Foreign Affairs "In this superb book--by far the best in its genre--Andrew Gordon provides a richly detailed and engagingly analytical perspective on the past 200 years of Japan's history. "--Japan Times "Andrew Gordon's subject in A Modern History of Japan is nothing less than the promise and trauma of modernity itself, in all its turbulence, diversity, and global interconnectedness. The dire costs and revolutionary accomplishments of this on-going struggle at all levels of Japanese society emerge dramatically in this grand--and vividly illustrated--new overview."--John W. Dower, author of Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War Two "A masterful synthesis. From the grand sweep of geopolitics to the intimacies of the home and workplace, Andrew Gordon offers a comprehensive introduction to Japanese history and historiography alike. The people occupy center stage in this national narrative; women and workers, mass culture and popular imperialism are revealed throughout as integral to the shaping of modern Japan. At the same time, Gordon's nuanced prose conveys the continuing debates in the field, while his vivid illustrations not only document daily life but consistently invite the reader to contemplate the power andpolitics of imagery in a modern society. A tremendous resource."--Karen Wigen, author of The Making of a Japanese Periphery, 1750-1920 "To grasp the historical issues, outsiders need a reliable interpretive narrator such as Gordon, a Harvard University history professor. Opening with the decline of the shogunate in the 1800s, he delicately untwines the internal and foreign pressures that culminated in civil war and the 'restoration' of the emperor in 1868."--Booklist "Gordon has woven a narrative whose grand scope touches bases with all the diverse parts of that history. We see in his history a bold and sensitive mind at work that teachers and students will respect and admire. It is an impressive accomplishment."--Tetsuo Najita, The Boston Globe "Recommended for anyone interested in getting a deeper understanding of Japan's successes and failures as it has sought to become a modern state and society."--Foreign Affairs "In this superb book--by far the best in its genre--Andrew Gordon provides a richly detailed and engagingly analytical perspective on the past 200 years of Japan's history. "--Japan Times "Andrew Gordon's subject in A Modern History of Japan is nothing less than the promise and trauma of modernity itself, in all its turbulence, diversity, and global interconnectedness. The dire costs and revolutionary accomplishments of this on-going struggle at all levels of Japanese society emerge dramatically in this grand--and vividly illustrated--new overview."--John W. Dower, author of Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War Two "A masterful synthesis. From the grand sweep of geopolitics to the intimacies of the home and workplace, Andrew Gordon offers a comprehensive introduction to Japanese history and historiography alike. The people occupy center stage in this national narrative; women and workers, mass culture and popular imperialism are revealed throughout as integral to the shaping of modern Japan. At the same time, Gordon's nuanced prose conveys the continuing debates in the field, while his vivid illustrations not only document daily life but consistently invite thereader to contemplate the power and politics of imagery in a modern society. A tremendous resource."--Karen Wigen, author of The Making of a Japanese Periphery, 1750-1920 "To grasp the historical issues, outsiders need a reliable interpretive narrator such as Gordon, a Harvard University history professor. Opening with the decline of the shogunate in the 1800s, he delicately untwines the internal and foreign pressures that culminated in civil war and the 'restoration' of the emperor in 1868."--Booklist "Gordon has woven a narrative whose grand scope touches bases with all the diverse parts of that history. We see in his history a bold and sensitive mind at work that teachers and students will respect and admire. It is an impressive accomplishment."--Tetsuo Najita, The Boston Globe"Recommended for anyone interested in getting a deeper understanding of Japan's successes and failures as it has sought to become a modern state and society."--Foreign Affairs"In this superb book--by far the best in its genre--Andrew Gordon provides a richly detailed and engagingly analytical perspective on the past 200 years of Japan's history. "--Japan Times"Andrew Gordon's subject in A Modern History of Japan is nothing less than the promise and trauma of modernity itself, in all its turbulence, diversity, and global interconnectedness. The dire costs and revolutionary accomplishments of this on-going struggle at all levels of Japanese society emergedramatically in this grand--and vividly illustrated--new overview."--John W. Dower, author of Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War Two"A masterful synthesis. From the grand sweep of geopolitics to the intimacies of the home and workplace, Andrew Gordon offers a comprehensive introduction to Japanese history and historiography alike. The people occupy center stage in this national narrative; women and workers, mass culture andpopular imperialism are revealed throughout as integral to the shaping of modern Japan. At the same time, Gordon's nuanced prose conveys the continuing debates in the field, while his vivid illustrations not only document daily life but consistently invite the reader to contemplate the powerandpolitics of imagery in a modern society. A tremendous resource."--Karen Wigen, author of The Making of a Japanese Periphery, 1750-1920"To grasp the historical issues, outsiders need a reliable interpretive narrator such as Gordon, a Harvard University history professor. Opening with the decline of the shogunate in the 1800s, he delicately untwines the internal and foreign pressures that culminated in civil war and the'restoration' of the emperor in 1868."--Booklist

Book Description:

Textbook

About this edition

• Publisher: OUP USA
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0195110609
• ISBN 13: 9780195110609
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400