Japan A Concise History [Hardcover]

Milton W. Meyer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0847677710 | ISBN-13: 978-0847677719 | Publication Date: 1993 | Edition: 3rd Edition

This popular introduction to Japan offers readers an authoritative and up-to-date overview of 2,000 years of Japanese history. Approximately half of the text deals with pre-Meiji Japan, the period before 1868. The second half narrates domestic and relevant foreign events since 1868. Milton W. Meyer's concise explanations of Japanese traditions, religion, history, economics, politics, and relations with the West provide an invaluable aid for understanding contemporary Japanese society and values.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Meyer succeeds in compacting a truly impressive mass of information. The format he uses features brevity, but never paucity of data. He manages to incorporate useful Japanese phrases for specialists without wasting the general reader's time with detailed explanations. His chapter on contemporary politics shows all his strengths. (George M. Wilson )

Product Details

• Hardcover: 342 pages
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 3rd Edition edition (1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0847677710
• ISBN-13: 978-0847677719
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,468,430 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview--just as the title says, January 10, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Japan: A Concise History (Littlefield Adams Quality Paperbacks) (Paperback)

This is an excellent, concise history of Japan. The emphasis is on the major historical events. I was glad to see the inclusion of cultural, artistic and religious milestones as well. There are summaries and datelines at the ends of each chapter as well as a glossary, all of which are quite useful features, especially if this book is to be used as an adjunct to formal study; I found it extremely handy in helping me organize the facts mentally. This is a history clearly written by a Nipponophile. There is an emphasis on the post-Meiji history, which is probably not inappropriate. Any insights into the Japanese psyche and philosophy can be inferred generally from historical events, but the treatment is not exhaustive. This book delivers what it says: a concise history of Japan. For those who want to know the essentials of Japanese history start here. For those who want to know what makes Japan as a people tick psychologically, you'll need more detail, however.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too dry for my taste, October 23, 2001

By 

Mark Seemann (Copenhagen, Denmark) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Japan: A Concise History (Littlefield Adams Quality Paperbacks) (Paperback)

As a casual history reader, I found this book way too dry. Although it delivers on its premise, namely sketching out a history of Japan, it was a relief to finally put the book down after having read it.

This book I bought for the dual purpose of being entertained and learn something in the process, but it could only fulfill the latter requirement. It may be unfair to ask of a book to be engaging and still tell a whole country's history in under 300 pages, so I'm probably unfair - the book just reads too much like a textbook, and that wasn't really what I had hoped for.

Not knowing too much about Japanese history from other sources, I can't comment on the accuracy of the text, but there's an annoyingly high frequency of simple spelling errors, etc.

Lastly, there's only one map of Japan in the Southeast Asian setting, and it's buried deep inside of the book. I really missed a map of Japan in the book!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dry and disjointed, December 3, 2005

By 

D. Laurence Meixner (Camarillo, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Japan: A Concise History (Littlefield Adams Quality Paperbacks) (Paperback)

To cut to the chase, this book is quite poorly written and does not serve its purpose well at all. The writing is extraordinarily dry, essentially like being at a *really* bad powerpoint presentation, as in: Here's a fact. Here's another fact. Here's another fact.... There is no insight gluing the facts together, and no craft of writing to integrate the sentences into a coherent whole. Just one "bullet point" after another.

Although this weakness had been implied by a couple of prior reviews, as a serious student of Japanese language and culture and an avid reader, I figured I could overcome. But it is simply not sensible to spend one's time plowing through such a book, which is in any case unlikely to result in anything remembered (I made it less than halfway before giving up).

In addition to the incredibly dull writing, the book lacks the insight of a Japan specialist. The author has written books on India, Pakistan, China, Philippines, and so on. Japan is a complex topic, and the depth of coverage betrays the fact that Japan is "just one" of his areas of study. It is always best to go with a true expert.

Finally, one notices that there are no positive reviews from newspapers or magazines, or even other authors, on the book itself. It is published by a relatively obscure publisher, and appears to have been written in quite a rush. This is not a work built to stand the test of time.

I will return this book to amazon for a refund (I very seldom do this), and will try a different author. To those that come after, I offer a strong warning that the quality of this book is unlikely to provide what you are looking for.