Inventing Japan [Paperback]

Ian Buruma (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2, 2005

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.

Editorial Reviews

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of 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 been a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Institute for the Humanities in Washington, D.C.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Phoenix (An Imprint of the Orion Pu (June 2, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0753819759
• ISBN-13: 978-0753819753
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,676,801 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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