RENT TEXTBOOKS

Japan in World History

ISBN: 9780195368086 | 0195368088

Format: Paperback
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Pub. Date: 2/4/2010

Why Rent from Knetbooks?

Because Knetbooks knows college students. Our rental program is designed to save you time and money. Whether you need a textbook for a semester, quarter or even a summer session, we have an option for you. Simply select a rental period, enter your information and your book will be on its way!

Top 5 reasons to order all your textbooks from Knetbooks:

We have the lowest prices on thousands of popular textbooks
Free shipping both ways on ALL orders
Most orders ship within 48 hours
Need your book longer than expected? Extending your rental is simple
Our customer support team is always here to help

Summary Table of Contents Author Biography

"Here is a marvelous compact history of Japan from earliest times to the present focusing on Japan's relationships with the rest of the world. In lively prose rooted in observations by people who lived the history, the work highlights the contributions of a wide range of acetors: women as well as men, commoners as well as elites"--Publisher supplied summary.

Japan in World History will address the entire scope of Japanese history, beginning with Japan's prehistoric culture and ending with a look at Japan in the wor... MOREld today. The majority of large scale history books on Japan, by contrast, focus on the modern era, and those that cover the entire scope of its history are not written for general readers and do not focus on Japan's international engagement. This work will stand apart for its narration of traditional historical developments through the perspective of interactions and comparisons with the broader world. For two millennia, events on the Japanese archipelago have been influenced by Japan's location as a set of islands off the eastern coast of Eurasia, the world's largest land mass. Japanese historians have talked often about the impact of an 'island mentality' on the nation's self-image, while nationalists have discussed Japan's uniqueness, specialness, or independent development. Even the most balanced historians often see Japan's historical development in terms of alternating patterns of interaction with, and isolation from, the rest of the world. That pattern of undulating interaction will form a central focus of this history of Japan, from its earliest eras to the present. Japan in World History will examine the governmental patterns that always have grounded traditional historical accounts, along with the nature of both elite and (as the centuries unfolded) more plebeian cultural life. It also will look at the role of religion in national life, at the nation's intellectual and philosophical developments, and at military and economic institutions. And it will pay attention to several of the themes that have become increasingly important to our attempts to understand the past: gender, environment, and the experiences of ordinary people. In addition to this traditional treatment, Huffman's central focus will be Japan's role in the broader world: early on, its relative (though never total) isolation from the continental land mass to its west; later, its relations with the China-dominated regions of eastern and southeastern Asia; and eventually, its connections with the entire globe. This focus will take the work in two directions. At times, the text will consider primarily Japan's interactions with other nations: diplomatic interchanges, cultural and intellectual borrowing, economic exchange (including piracy), and military, as well as colonial, incursions. At other times, the focus will be on comparisons-on the ways in which ancient Japan adapted Chinese institutions, for example; how its responses to imperialism compared with and contrasted to those of other nations; points of connection between medieval Japanese samurai and European knights, the fact that Japan did not have an industrial revolution until the late nineteenth century. A central theme of all of this will be the repeating pattern in which periods of assimilation, then withdrawal or independence, followed times of intense interaction with other nations.

Here is a page-turning, compact history of Japan from earliest times to the present, with a focus on its often tempestuous, often creative relationships with other countries. The book ranges from Japan's prehistoric interactions with Korea and China, to t

... MORE

Editors' Preface
Preface
Before the Brush (to 645 CE)
Emperors and Aristocrats: Rule by Law and Taste (645-1160)
Warriors: The Long Rise (1160-1550)
Peace--And its Benefits (1550 to 1850)
The Nation Transformed (1850 to 1905)
Engaging the World, for Good and for Ill (1905 to 1945)
A New Kind of Power (After 1945)
Chronology
Notes
Further Reading
Websites
Acknowledgments
Index
Introduction
Japan's Emergence (to c. 600 c.e.)
The Aristocratic Era (600-1160)
Years of War (1160-1550)
Peace and Relative Isolation (1550-1868)
Entering the Modern World (1868-1912)
At War with the World (1912-1945)
Japan in the Postwar World (1945- )
Chonology
Notes
Further Reading
Web Sites
Index
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

James L. Huffman is H. Orth Hirt Professor of History Emeritus at Wittenberg University.

Please wait while this item is added to your cart...