18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Big Book About A Little War, May 12, 2002
Denis and Peggy Warner's The Tide at Sunrise: A History of the Russo-Japanese War, 1904-5 is an excellent history of this pivotal event in Asian, and world, affairs. Drawing on the histories of two distinct antagonists, Russia and Japan, as well as military, political, and diplomatic events, it is vividly descriptive, balanced, and prophetic. The Warners start with the assumption, that readers wrongfully would dismiss the brief war as insignificant, and convincingly prove, how this little war changed the world. From the evocation of Pearl Harbor in the first chapter, the book still resonates today, post 9/11.
The Russo-Japanese War, along with the American Civil War and World War One, showed how much technology had changed military science. Additions, such as machine guns and naval plating, made traditional tactics obsolete and deadly. Japanese officers also outperformed their Russian opponents, and fortune persistently favored the Japanese, in the form of freak weather patterns and unforeseen logistical planning. The book provides a useful introduction to the unfortunate journey of the Russian Baltic Fleet defeated at Tsushima. Appalling descriptions of the interactions of bodies and modern weapons, as well as the effects of the Manchurian winter, add color to dry tactics. The narrative structure of the writing, alternating from the Japanese to the Russian side, highlights the flow of events and the errors in judgment in a war before modern communication and satellites, but with torpedoes and siege guns.
There is also the discussion of the Japanese use of irregular forces. From the intelligence activities of Colonel Akashi in St. Petersburg, which facilitated revolution, to the indigenous, Manchurian Chunchus cavalry and secret society agents acting as agents provocateurs, the Japanese excelled at efficiently marshalling their limited resources. On the other hand, the Russian armies never realized the true loyalties of their Chinese laborers. The crass anti-Semitism of many Russian leaders also rebounds to the Japanese advantage, when Jewish financiers loan money for a cash-strapped Japan.
On the diplomatic front, the book delineates the consequences of the war for the rest of the century. The Japanese, who considered the peace brokered at Portsmouth humiliating, resented the United States. Not appeased by gaining territorial control of Korea, Japan continued to dream of a Manchurian empire and control of China. The United States lost influence in the entire region, not just diplomatically, but economically as well. And, Korea ceased to exist. A new generation of Asian leaders raised Japan as a beacon for their own anti-colonial dreams.
Although the first introductory section is excellent, the epilogue chapter is dated. However, the book is well annotated, with a good index, maps, bibliography, and photographs.
Along the way, the book presents poignant portraits of various leaders and lesser characters on both sides, from Count Witte to Marquis Ito. The book really begins in Japan with the Meiji Restoration and the failed reforms in Russia. The war highlights the condition of two countries in a situation brewing for generations. Tide At Sunrise demonstrates, how an excellent book can make much out of a little war.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fabulous book!, January 19, 2004
By A Customer
This is one of the best history volumes I have ever read; the
closest I can come in comparison is "The Washing of the Spears: The Rise and Fall of the Zulu Nation," by Donald Morris. It is
a comprehensive account of the conflict, packed with details and
analysis, and almost impossible to put down once started. It is
of special interest with the centennial of the conflict and the
fates of the nations involved over the past century. An almost
unbelievable tale of heroes, scoundrels, soldiers, and politicians. You will treasure this book....
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely Perfect, February 7, 2007
This is how history should be written. The Warner's have perfected the historical narrative to a fine art. They have the perfect combination of the attention to detail, the global view, biographical details on the major participants, and proper attention to military and political events.
There area also the explosion of a few myths: of course the Japanese were daring and intelligent, the Russians were largely incompetent and out-generalled by the Japanese. Basic trends in the Japanese descent in eventual barabarity in their treatment of prisoners was here as well. Japanese DID treat their prisoners well once they were captured, but in the heat of battle they were not so generousl. Many of these myths about the "gallant little Japanese" were purposefully fostered by the British press and butressed by interesting supportive stories from the British military liaison officers.
Japan was not as efficient as she is often protrayed. There was serious lack of fast manuevre warfare in many cases. General Nogi was a pain to not only his troops, but the entire effective Japanese military hierarchy. Generals Oku, Kuroki, Kodama and even the plodding Oyama were much more effective in accomplishing their tasks and regarded Nogi as a pain to be disposed of.
The Japanese did not really effectively bottle up the Russian Fleet in their initial attack. In fact no ships were sunk in the initial attack on Port Arthur. The Russians were really bottled up only in their own mind, but they still managed to effectively throw a continuous scare into the Japanese and Togo did avoid seriously pressing the Russians until he allowed the Army bombardment to effectively sink the Russian Far Seas Fleet.
Togo found his backbone when the Baltic Fleet steamed to its doom at the straits of Tsushima. The Warner's dedicate a lot of time on the travels of the fleet: its firing on British fishboats at Dogger Bank, its time spent in Madagascar and its eventual journey to be seriously out-maneuvred and sank at Tsushima. The maps on this part of the battle are however sparse and I could not help but to have wished that they included more narrative on the sea battle.
I very much enjoyed this book and looked forward to reading chapters every night. Very much a top-rated study on this war. Sources are balanced with very much original work translated from Japanese and Russian and Chinese. All done in a way that engages the reader with a lively and well-paced style.
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