Disclaimer: I have the Kindle version of this book; I can't rate the quality of the physical version.
The content of this book is wonderful. The author writes in a beautiful language that is engaging and far more interesting than an ordinary history textbook. Part of the enjoyment of reading this book is doing so through the words of a 19th century author, with its political incorrectness intact. Griffis does a remarkable job telling the story of Japan as impartially as possible, taking the context of the Japanese condition into consideration and not imposing a Western morality on his subject, while writing in a way that takes into consideration the book's Western audience. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in Japanese history.
As far as quality of this particular ebook goes, I am not satisfied whatsoever. There are very few typos (though I noticed two or three), which is commendable considering than many older texts are full of glaring errors. The table of contents and footnotes are all linked, which makes browsing and reading very easy. However... there are two glaring problems I have with this ebook:
First, the author makes reference to a large number of pictures in the book: prints, paintings, and even illustrations he commissioned specifically for this book. He refers to them in a number of locations in the book, even so far as explaining the importance of the image to the reader. However, they are almost completely missing!! There are only 2 pictures in the Kindle version of this book. It is implied by the writing that there should be many many more pictures, and I wonder where they all went!
Second, this is only *half* the actual book! Griffis' The Mikado's Empire is a two-volume book, and this version only includes the first volume. In addition, there were supplementary chapters written extending his narrative up to the beginning of the 20th century; but this text includes some, but not all, of the supplementary chapters.
I might expect such a glaring omission from one of the 99 cent versions of this ebook, but the Kindle version is a costly $10 (for a public domain text, nonetheless!). I would hope and expect the publishers would include all of the pictures in the book for such a high price, as well as the full text!
Consider that this is a public domain book -- text AND pictures. You can find free PDF, ePub, etc. editions of this text in its entirety at Google Books or OpenLibrary. Unless the publishers take the time to fix the glaring omissions from this book, do not reward them with your money.
I hope the publishers will come out with an update that adds the pictures to this book. I would rate this 5 stars instead of 1 if these problems are fixed.
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![The Mikado's Empire: A History of Japan from the Age of Gods to the Meiji Era (660 BC - AD 1872) (Stone Bridge Classics) by [William Griffis]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41HHwjhGJpL._SY346_.jpg)
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