Items related to Japan in Peace and War

Dower, John W. Japan in Peace and War ISBN 13: 9781565840676

Japan in Peace and War - Hardcover

 
9781565840676: Japan in Peace and War
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 
More than any historian of his generation, John Dower has changed the way we view our relations with Japan. In his prize-winning War Without Mercy, Dower showed the depth of the racial antagonism that gave the war in the Pacific its particularly violent and brutal tone. In Japan in War and Peace, he examines unexplored continuities and connections in Japanese politics, economics, and society at large.
Drawing on decades of experience and research, Dower highlights resemblances between wartime, postwar, and contemporary Japan. He argues persuasively that the origins of many of the institutions responsible for Japan's dominant position in today's global economy derive from the rapid military industrialization of the 1930s and not from the post-Occupation period, as many have assumed. The brilliant lead essay, "The Useful War," sets the tone for the volume by incisively showing how much of Japan's postwar political and economic structure was prefigured in the wartime organization of that country.
Japan in War and Peace goes beyond the popular images of Japanese culture - whether the idea of the "fanatical nation at war" or the mystified vision of a postwar "economic miracle" - to examine the tensions within Japanese society that have shaped its outlook toward the rest of Asia and the West. These pathbreaking essays also deal with such subjects as Japanese wartime cinema, Japan's own hapless attempts to build an atomic bomb, the social upheaval revealed in the secret wartime records of the Thought Police, and the dynamics of the postwar U.S. Occupation of Japan.
Dower's final essays frankly discuss the stereotypes that Japan and the United States used to demonize each other during the war, which to this day play a role in their relations as allies.
This new book from one of the foremost American observers of contemporary Japan is essential reading for all people attempting to understand a nation that has emerged as one of the superpowers in a fast-changing world.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:
"Here, Dower offers a collection of essays on Japan and its complex relations with the U.S. over the past half century." —"Kirkus Reviews"
From the Back Cover:

'Japan in War and Peace' examines subjects as diverse as Japanese wartime cinema, the country’s attempts to acquire the atomic bomb, the social upheaval revealed in the wartime records of the Thought Police, the social effects of American occupation and, in ‘The Useful War’, how Japan’s post-war economic success was prefigured in the country’s wartime organisation. The book goes beyond the popular images of Japanese culture – whether the idea of a ‘fanatical nation at war’ or mystified vision of a post-war ‘economic miracle’ – to reveal previously unexplored continuities in Japanese politics and economics and the profound tensions within society at large that have shaped its outlook toward the rest of Asia and the West.

“Few scholars combine as well as Dower the close and meticulous study of the fine detail of the historical record with long shots from unexpected angles and into hidden thickets...his writing [is] informed by a commitment to social movements, a sympathy for those who are outside the circles of power and privilege, and a disdain for orthodoxy...Dower has a profound understanding and empathy for Japan and a strong independent moral sense.”
GAVAN McCORMACK, 'TLS'

“Dower’s essays devastate the myth promoted by Japanese propaganda, of ‘one hundred million hearts beating as one’ in loyalty to homeland and emperor. He is sensitively alive to the subtlety and humanity of Japanese films which – in contrast to Hollywood tub-thumbing – treated war as kind of natural disaster and extolled the purity of spirit of ordinary people. He points to deep divisions in society which frightened the rulers of Japan’s militaristic police state – between conservatives and modernises, between middling and big businessmen, and, above all, between rich and poor.”
ANGUS CALDER, 'Scotland on Sunday'

“A showcase of essay-writing by one of the premier scholars of modern Japanese history...lucidly written, extremely enlightening and carefully researched...this book offers a shining example of the historian as essayist. As a perceptive and passionate essayist, John Dower has something to say, and as a historian he uses his superb research and writing skills to say it well. And as for bringing these concise and cogent essays together in one text, we who study and teach Japanese history stand to benefit greatly.”
WAYNE McWILLIAMS, ' Journal of Asian Studies'

“Admirable...thoughtful, informative and well written...[these essays] foster a better and more sympathetic understanding of the Japanese and their culture.”
EDWARD CHANCELLOR, 'Literary Review'

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherThe New Press
  • Publication date1994
  • ISBN 10 1565840674
  • ISBN 13 9781565840676
  • BindingHardcover
  • Number of pages288
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781565842793: Japan in War and Peace

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9781565842793
Publisher: The New Press, 1995
Softcover

  • 9780006863465: Japan in War and Peace

    Fontan..., 1996
    Softcover

  • 9780002556026: Japan in War and Peace

    Harper..., 1995
    Hardcover

  • 9780788155642: Japan in War and Peace : Selected Essays

    DIANE ..., 1999
    Hardcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Stock Image

Dower, John W.
Published by New Pr (1994)
ISBN 10: 1565840674 ISBN 13: 9781565840676
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldBooks
(Austin, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New Copy. Customer Service Guaranteed. Seller Inventory # think1565840674

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 21.82
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.37
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Dower, John W.
Published by New Pr (1994)
ISBN 10: 1565840674 ISBN 13: 9781565840676
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
GoldenWavesOfBooks
(Fayetteville, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Fast Shipping and good customer service. Seller Inventory # Holz_New_1565840674

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 22.33
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.17
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Dower, John W.
Published by New Pr (1994)
ISBN 10: 1565840674 ISBN 13: 9781565840676
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Wizard Books
(Long Beach, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: new. New. Seller Inventory # Wizard1565840674

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 23.10
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 2.77
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Dower, John W.
Published by Brand: New Pr (1994)
ISBN 10: 1565840674 ISBN 13: 9781565840676
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Front Cover Books
(Denver, CO, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: new. Seller Inventory # FrontCover1565840674

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 23.87
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 3.41
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Dower, John W.
Published by New Pr (1994)
ISBN 10: 1565840674 ISBN 13: 9781565840676
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
The Book Spot
(Sioux Falls, SD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Hardcover. Condition: New. Seller Inventory # Abebooks415191

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 48.12
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Dower, John W.
Published by New Pr (1994)
ISBN 10: 1565840674 ISBN 13: 9781565840676
New Hardcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
BennettBooksLtd
(LOS ANGELES, CA, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New. In shrink wrap. Looks like an interesting title! 1.6. Seller Inventory # Q-1565840674

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
£ 48.43
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: £ 4.20
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds