Inventing Japan - Hardcover

Ian Buruma

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1842126873 ISBN 13: 9781842126875

Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2003

Synopsis

The story of modern Japan, from first 'opening' to the West with Admiral Perry's Black Ships in 1853, through World War II, to Japan's emergence as a Western-style democracy and economic power at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.

About this title

About the Author:

Ian Buruma was born in the Netherlands to a Dutch father and English mother in 1951. Though educated in both Holland and Japan, Ian Buruma spent a great portion of his life in Asia. He has written such books as "God's Dust: A Modern Asian Journey", "Behind the Mask" and "The Wages of Guilt: Memories of War in Germany and Japan." His novel, "Playing the Game," is a fictional biography about the life of an Indian prince who played cricket in Britain. Buruma has been a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Institute for the Humanities in Washington, D.C.

Review:

"Buruma is very good at crisply making plain the falseness of many assumptions about Japan." -- ANTHONY THWAITE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH "As a biography of a nation which impinges upon every level of our society it is admirably cogent reading." -- MARTIN BOOTH LITERARY REVIEW "Buruma's early chapters are particularly good, written with characteristic equanimity and clarity." TLS "Buruma has provided a timely reflection on the unresolved conflicts at the heart of this modern state." THE TIMES "Ian Buruma's concise history is an excellent introduction. Buruma is the Westerner who understands Japan best. He has all the natural gifts historians need." SUNDAY TIMES "A vigorous polemical essay that has annoyed some nationalists and should provoke many more." THE SCOTSMAN

About this edition

• Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1842126873
• ISBN 13: 9781842126875
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 170