The Modern History of Japan Author:W.G. Beasley Japan's emergence as a world power from self-imposed national seclusion; the dramatic events of the twentieth century that saw Japan at war with the allied powers; the first target of nuclear bombardment; occupied for the first time in its history by a foreign power; and finally, the astonishing speed and vigor of Japan's economic growth... more » since 1960 -- all are discussed here in Professor Beasley's highly informed modern history of Japan.
In this judicious and scholarly study, the author deals with the involved and complex events, the plots and counterplots which led to the overthrow of the shogunate in the 1860's; tracing from there the social economic and political factors relating to Japan's present position as the third largest industrial nation in the world.« less