History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne

Average customer rating:

Princess Masako Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne
"Prisoner of The Chrysanthemum Throne"--A Bogus Story
Heartbreaking.
Princess Masako
Sob Sister Stuff

Princess Masako: Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne
Ben Hills
Manufacturer: Tarcher
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Women | Specific Groups | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

Non-US Legal Systems | Perspectives on Law | Law | Subjects | Books

All Deals | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Biographies & Memoirs | Blowout Books | Stores | Books

Nonfiction | Blowout Books | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Ella: Princess, Saint and Martyr
The Women of Windsor: Their Power, Privilege, and Passions
On Royalty: A Very Polite Inquiry Into Some Strangely Related Families
William's Princess: The Love Story that will Change the Royal Family Forever
Life with the Queen

ASIN: 1585425680

Customer Reviews:

Princess Masako Prisoner of the Chrysanthemum Throne.......2007-10-21

the very real story of a princess who is not living happily ever after, why do all royal families seem to attempt to strip princesses-in-training, expecting them to relinquish their creative minds, goals and imagination, all attributes that would enable them to serve a royal family, as well as a country to their highest potential...did they not learn anything from the tragedy of the loss of Princess Diana, who was finally beginning to breathe again...

"Prisoner of The Chrysanthemum Throne"--A Bogus Story.......2007-08-19

First of all,as a Japanese,I will not sit here and watch as an affair of my country is terribly distorted and misunderstood.Let me start by pointing out the most important fact unbeknownst to Western people:The majority of the Japanese people DO NOT sympathize with Princess Masako any more,because we already know the truth all too well.

Although we used to regard her in the early days as an efficient but "unfortunate" princess just as this book claims to be,now almost every Japanese inwardly thinks that she is just a loathesome,power-hungry upstart with gilded academic backgrounds and a seemingly remarkable diplomat's career who married into a highest and noblest family she never really belonged to.We also think that she should be deprived of her title and dismissed from the Imperial Family as soon as possible--not because she is a "modernized" woman who is alien to our society,but simply because she is not doing her duty at all.In fact,also unbeknownst to overseas media,she keeps on betraying the people's expectation for her to live up to her title by refusing to attend almost all the public functions out of faked sickness,seeking only fun,squandering the taxpayers'money without a reflection.

In other words,all she ever does is to pretend that she's so "mentally ill" that she needs "a long rest" and to "shop till she drops" on the people's back as she goes on needless vacations.(For example,she immensely enjoyed her visit to Tokyo Disneyland with her husband and daughter by riding various attractions this March,and shortly after it was reported in the media,there appeared many weblog entries denouncing her act.)
As you know,a real patient of depression or of any other mental illness is never able to go out not only to work,but also to play however hard he or she wants to.Even though there is yet no clear evidence that her illness is false,there is a revealing fact that the Princess has never undergone a thorough mental health check by a third-party doctor,nor has her doctor in charge officially held a press conference to announce the proper diagnosis to this day.With all the inappropriate behaviour of the Princess above in mind,we have come to a conclusion that she is an utterly ineligible Crown Princess,a Marie Antoinette-like tax-spender,a sheer disgrace to our nation and to "the Chrysanthemum Throne" in the true sense of the term.

So the point here is as follows:She is no "prisoner" to be "liberated" at all;all we have here is one delinquent who would universally be dismissed should she be a princess of some Western country,and that Japanese traditions or "the way of the Kunaicho(the Imperial Household Agency)" has nothing to do with the so-called "unfairness" of the way she has been treated.We only think of her as we naturally do,and the Imperial Household Agency has been only doing its job.
Suppose an agency of Royal or Imperial affairs did not try to admonish a troublemaker in the Family,or it did not try to defend their lord in the face of a malicious slander,then of what use would it be?Naturally,if it takes the above actions when needed, that would be NO "violation of human rights" or "violation of freedom of speech" as the author Ben Hills alleged regarding the treatment of Princess Masako and the Kunaicho's protest against his book.
Therefore,all the author's accusations against the Kunaicho and the other members of the Imperial Family are groundless,because those accusations are made on an unsound premise that they should be blamed for their own unique "inhumanity" and "feudalism" that never really exist in this particular case.Needless to say,a tradition should never be judged from an insufficient research or a subjective,narrow-minded viewpoint like the author's,especially when the allegations are untrue.

Finally,please DO NOT ever be deceived by this bogus story of some Imperial oppression of a well-intended,"liberated" individual which never took place,not only for our sake,but also for your own sake,because this is apparently a book of propaganda full of intentional errors designed to undermine Japan's and the Imperial Family's reputation.With Japan being a former Axis and a defeated nation of WWII,it is not uncommon for the rest of the world to demonize the Emperor or the Imperial system of Japan by deliberately depicting it as a thoroughly inhumane existence despite its now-pacifistic nature.So,all wise and conscientious readers out there, stay open-minded,for an ignorant,unsuspecting "good intention" misled by malice could lead to true unfairness such as racism and destruction of a culture that is different from your own.

Heartbreaking........2007-07-27

For a young woman who could have conquered the world to be buried under ridiculous, unreasonable tradition which has no place in this modern world.

Princess Masako.......2007-06-01

Part of the book is interesting, but mostly disappointing me.
Not only many parts are coming from gossip news papers, but also author is influenced by his wife, Mayu Kanamori, notorious anti-Japanese Korean left-wing journalist. She always against the Royal family and the contents of the book seems following her idea.

Sob Sister Stuff.......2007-05-31

I realize Hills didn't have a whole lot of authenicated material for this book, but some of the inaccuracies - well, really! Kids dressing in gangsta clothes in the 70s?!? That's what Hills maintains when Masako first started school in the US.

I was constantly puzzled by the author's efforts to appear unbiased. 'Poor Masako,' was one message. 'Her family background is somewhat suspect, and her father is a social climber. tee hee,' was another (and snide) message. The different in height between the Crown Prince and Crown Princess was also noted. To what end? Hills see-saws back and forth between trying to appear a legitimate, serious author and a gossip columnist.

I wish Hills had spent some time explaining, for us gai-jins, the role and upbringing of the woman in Japanese society. Until very recently, all Japanese female names ended in 'ko,' which means 'child' - Keiko, Masako, Aiko, etc. While this may sound minor, it is indicative of how women are perceived in Japan. (My former husband, who spent a lot of time in Japan, was once chided by a Japanese man for being too polite to women.) It would, I think, help to explain Masako's difficulty in her, IMHO, schizophrenic life.

All in all, if such a book had to be written, I should prefer to have Kitty Kelley tackle the subject. She, at least, is a zippy writer, and this book definitely lacks zip.

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)

Average customer rating:

Check and see
Suprise! Suprise!
Prescient St Augustine?
Something of a disappointment
Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy..

History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2 (Chronology)
Anatoly T Fomenko
Manufacturer: Delamere Resources LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Assyria, Babylonia & Sumer | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

Historiography | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

Medieval | World | History | Subjects | Books

German | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Russian | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Chinese | Classics | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Mythology & Folklore | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Controversial Knowledge | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

History | Religious Studies | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Celtic | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Magic & Wizards | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

History | Fashion | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Children's Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Fiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Religion & Spirituality Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Science Fiction & Fantasy Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
History: Fiction or Science? Astronomical methods as applied to chronology. Ptolemy's Almagest. Chronology III
They Cast No Shadows: A Collection of Essays on the Illuminati, Revisionist History, and Suppressed Technologies
Discovering the Mysteries of Ancient America: Lost History And Legends, Unearthed And Explored
Before the Pharaohs: Egypt's Mysterious Prehistory

ASIN: 2913621066

Product Description

`History: Fiction or Science? Chronology 2` is the second volume of the most explosive and astounding tractate on history ever written - however, every theory it contains, no matter how unorthodox, is backed by rock solid scientific data. The book is easy and pleasant to read; it is well-illustrated, contains hundreds of charts, graphs and illustrations, copies of ancient manuscripts, and countless facts attesting to the falsity of the chronology used nowadays. You will be amazed to discover: - That the chronology universally accepted today and taken for granted is simply wrong; - That ALL methods of dating of ancient sources and artefacts known today are erroneous or non-exact; - That there is not a single document that could be reliably dated earlier than the XIth century; The Author refers to the Middle Ages as the Antiquity and proves mutual superimposition of the Second and the Third Roman Empire, both of which become identified as the respective kingdoms of Israel and Judah. Furthermore, he asserts that the famous reform of the Occidental Church in the XI century by Pope Gregory Hildebrand was the reflection of the XII century reforms of Byzantine emperor Andronicus who in his turn identifies with Jesus Christ. The Trojan war counted by Homer happened only as late as of the XIII century A.D. and the great poet actually lived in XIV century A.D. No stone in history of Antiquity is left unturned. Literally. This book is the beginning of a major correction to the chronology we live with.

Customer Reviews:

Check and see.......2007-06-21

I don't care what other people say of this book. Those affirmig it's fake, they hadn't ever read it. Or have some special reasons to do so. "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..." This book won't make you feel comfortable. It'll make you feel free. It'll make you feel you're "not the only one" to feel you'd been lied to for centuries.

Suprise! Suprise!.......2007-03-22

Here is a serie of books which turns "the whole world" upside down. I learned a lot of it and I hope that a new book from A.T. Fomenko will follow very quick. A absolute must for everybody who is interested in history or even a little bit from it.

Prescient St Augustine?.......2006-02-05

We can so far divide the New Chronology into the following three parts:

a) The verifiable theory that proves consensual chronology wrong with the aid of astronomy, statistics and mathematics;

b) The new chronology hypothesis based on a new understanding of known historical facts and the most likely logical explanation of the most obvious inconsistencies inherent in the official version of history;

c) The history conjectures, that is experimental historical reconstructions based on assumptions that the authors believe to make sense in the light of their research and linguistic parallels - void of ironclad factual support to date.

Fomenko's theory complies with the most rigid scientific standards as a whole:

It gives a coherent explanation of what we already know.

- It is consistent: independent lines of inquiry all lead to the same conclusion.

- The predictions it makes are confirmed empirically.

Fomenko goes by the following axioms:

- Chronology is the basis of history;

- Human evolution has always been linear, gradual and irreversible;

- The "cyclic" nature of human civilization is a myth, likewise all the gaps, duplicates, "dark ages" and "renaissances" that we know from consensual history;

- The accumulation of geographical knowledge as reflected in cartography is a gradual and irreversible process;

- The chronological distance between a given manuscript and the events described therein is proportional to the amount of distortions it contains;

- There is no "useless" information in authentic ancient sources.

Why the mainstream historians do not shower mathematician Academician Dr.Prof Fomenko with thanks and laurels?

The Russians:

Because Fomenko asserts that there was no such thing as the Tartar and Mongol invasion followed by three centuries of slavery, providing a formidable body of documental evidence to prove his assertion. The so-called "Tartars and Mongols" were the actual ancestors of the modern Russians, living in a bilingual state with Arabic spoken as freely as Russian. The ancient Russian state was governed by a double structure of civil and military authorities. The hordes were actually professional armies with a tradition of lifelong conscription (the recruitment being the so-called "blood tax"). Their "invasions" were punitive operations against the regions that attempted tax evasion. Fomenko proves that Russian history as we know it today is a blatant forgery concocted by a host of German scientists brought to Russia by the usurper dynasty of the Romanovs, whose ascension to the throne was the result of coup d'état, charged with the mission of making their reign look legitimate. Fomenko proves Ivan the Terrible to be a collation of four rulers, no less. They represented the two rival dynasties - the legitimate rulers and the ambitious upstarts. The winner took it all! Over some 30 years of controversy, Russian historians have made a most remarkable transition - they were initially accusing the young mathematician Fomenko of anticommunist dissident activity and attempts to deface the historical legacy of Soviet Russia; nowadays the middle-aged mathematician is accused of adhering to "pro-communist Russian nationalism" and defacing the proud historical legacy of Great Russia.

The Westerners:

Because Fomenko blows consensual Russian history to smithereens, successfully removing a crucial cornerstone from underneath the otherwise impeccable edifice of World History. Fomenko adds insult to injury, wiping out one by one the Ancient Rome (the foundation of Rome in Italy is dated to the XIV century A. D.), the Ancient Greece and its numerous poleis, which he identifies as the mediaeval crusader settlements on the territory of Greece, and the Ancient Egypt (the pyramids of Giza become dated to the XI-XV century A. D. and identified as the royal cemetery of the Global "Mongolian" Empire, no less). The civilization of the Ancient Egypt is irrefutably dated to the XII-XV century A. D. with the aid of the ancient Egyptian horoscopes cut in stone. He was the first one to decipher and date all such horoscopes, coming up with mediaeval dates in every case. English historians rage at the suggestion that the history of Ancient England was de facto a Byzantine import transplanted to the English soil by the fugitive Byzantine nobility. To reward the English historians who consider themselves the true scribes of World History, the cover of the present book portrays Tintoretto's Jesus Christ crucified on the Big Ben.

The Chinese:

Because Fomenko wipes out the Ancient History of China outright. No such thing. Full point. The compilation of the so-called Ancient Chinese History is reliably datable to the XVII-XVIII century only. It is perfectly recognizable as the Ancient European history, reworked and transcribed in hieroglyphs as yet another historical transplantation, this time performed on the Chinese soil by the loving Jesuit hands. The Chinese are the next in line to go berserk. Chinese history is inevitably bound to get both more ancient and more eventful, proportionally to the growing involvement of China in the world affairs. Chinese historians will keep on finding valid proof of prehistoric Chinese spaceflights until the Politburo orders them to shut up.

The Arabs:

Too bad. Islam with all its key figures is datable to XV-XVI century A. D. Arabic historians may find consolation in the crucial historical role of the Ottoman Empire in the XVI-XVII century. The trouble is that this empire was initially a Christian state, with Hagia Sophia identifiable as Temple of Solomon, according to Fomenko! We can only guess if the acquisition of Alexander the Great (a Macedonian and a Christian) as the founder of the Muslim World Empire will make Fomenko's theories more acceptable to the Arabic mainstream. He certainly does not spare any holy cows at all, claiming The Stone of Qa'Aba in Mecca to contain the lost Arch of the Covenant.

The Divinity:

Despite of reiterated statement that his theory is all about chronology and not Religion, Fomenko stirs up a whole condominium of wasp nests. His collection of anathemas, fatwa, and other condemnations from all parties concerned is already considerable. Little wonder, considering that the history of religions à la Fomenko looks as follows: the pre-Christian period (before the XI century and JC), Bacchic Christianity (XI-XII century, before and after JC), JC Christianity (XII-XVI century) and its subsequent mutations into Orthodox Christianity, the Catholicism, Islam, Buddhism, and so on.

According to Fomenko we know strictly NOTHING about the events that predate the X century A. D.

St Augustin was prescient when he spoke unto us: "be wary of mathematicians, particularly when they speak the truth."

Something of a disappointment.......2005-09-09

After having read the first volume of this expected series of 7 volumes I was triggered by the thesis of these authors that ancient Greek and Roman history did in fact take place in the Middle Ages. So I started studying medieval history of the Middle East - also known as Islamic history - to find out if the opponents of the ancient Greeks and Romans - the Acheamenid Persians, Sassanids, Scythians, Egyptians, etc. - also have their duplicates in medieval history. My search was disappointing: none of the many medieval Islamic dynasties seemed to correspond to the ancient middle eastern rulers.

However, I did find a close correspondence between Herodotus' Persian kings and medieval events:

- the defeat and capture of an Anatolian king - the Lydian Croesus - by the Persian conqueror Cyrus is identical to the defeat and capture of another Anatolian king - sultan Bayezid - by the Asian/Mongol conqueror Tamerlane;
- the Persian conquest of Egypt by the cruel tyrant Cambyses reds almost exactly as the Ottoman conquest of Egypt by Selim the Grim (note the nickname!);
- Darius the Lawgiver of the Persian Empire looks very much alike to Sulayman the Magnificent, the Lawgiver in Islamic history;
- Xerxes, whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by the Greeks at the naval battle of Salamis, looks like Selim II (the Sot) whose main claim to fame is to be defeated by a Spanish-Italian alliance at the naval battle of Lepanto.

I should have expected Fomenko et al. to arrive at similar conclusions, however, they claim that the Persian kings are the alter egos of the Angevin kings of Sicily whose biographies do not contain the exploits of the Persian kings.

The similiarities I indicate lead to the conclusion that Herodotus must have written his Histories at the close of the 16th century. But this is extremely late, given that Herodotus is "the Father of History", so therefore all other "ancient" histories must have been fabricated even later. Yet, the founders of modern chronology - Scaliger and Petavius - laid their foundations also at the close of the 16th century and had the full corpus of ancient histories already at their disposal.

It seems to me that Fomenko has to address these inconsistencies, maybe in the forthcoming 5 volumes?

Another critique of their book is that the correspondencies between different rulers are often based on a superficial comparison of the biographies; upon a more thorough comparison many details appear that do not correspond at all.

Finally, the authors rely heavily on the works of Gregorovius (1821-1891!!) - his medieval histories of Rome and Athens - as the source of medieval history; these works are - at least in the West - hoplessly outdated and have been superceded by more up-to-date works (for instance, Julius Norwich's trilogy on Byzantine history is not even cited).

Romulus courts Helen, Paris founds Rome, Moses goes to Troy.........2005-07-30

If you agree with Fomenko that Roman chronology is basically the foundation of the entire edifice of global chronology; you would also certainly agree that despite its numerous gaps and inconsistencies, Roman history is the best-documented field of ancient history, and thus a reference scale. But how well is the actual date of the Eternal City's foundation known?

Firstly, Rome is supposed to have been founded by the Trojans who had to flee after the fall of Troy. Some claim Rome to have been founded by Aeneas and Ulysses shortly after Troy had fallen; others are of the opinion that there was an entire dynasty that ruled for 500 years between the fall of Troy and the foundation of Rome.

Well, that's just an innocent 500 years long misunderstanding compared with what heretic Fomenko says, asserts, proves in his second volume: Second Roman Empire, Third Roman Empire, Biblical Kingdom of Israel, Biblical Kingdom of Judah, Holy Roman Empire are stories about basically same events, written from different points of view at different times. The underlying events have actually taken place during xii-xv cy. These histories have been written and perfected by multitude of highly talented humanist and clerical writers of xiii-xvi cy disguised as "ancients" with glorious names like Homer, Pluto, Thucydides etc..Chronology 2.0 beta..

Historians are kindly invited to report the bugs.

Windows for the Crown Prince: Akihito of Japan

Average customer rating:

Windows for the Crown Prince -- Akihito of Japan

Windows for the Crown Prince: Akihito of Japan
Elizabeth Gray Vining
Manufacturer: Tuttle Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Look Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books

Look Inside Nonfiction Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 0804816042

Customer Reviews:

Windows for the Crown Prince -- Akihito of Japan.......2000-06-13

Windows for the Crown Prince - Akihito of Japan by Elizabeth Gray Vining 1952, 1989.

How much influence can one person have? The author is asked to serve as the private tutor of English for the Crown Prince by the Emperor of Japan in the post WWII era. He lives a life very isolated from the rest of the real world. Her Quaker background and her desire to help him see the "outside" world beyond palace walls helped shape the man who is the figurehead leader of Japan today. Her inside look at the life of the young future leader gives an interesting and informative look at Japan and its people at this time period. A delightful book for people who enjoy history, culture studies, memoirs and Japanese society. Easy to read and enjoy.

The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune
Average customer rating:

Tedious

Kurosawa and Mifune - seminal Japanese cinema

Warning: Not a Biography

Its all about films....

Terrible as Biography

The Emperor and the Wolf: The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune
Stuart Galbraith IV
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Movie Directors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Direction & Production | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Look Inside Reference Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Films of Akira Kurosawa, Third Edition, Expanded and Updated

Something Like An Autobiography

The Warrior's Camera

Waiting on the Weather: Making Movies With Akira Kurosawa

Red Beard - Criterion Collection

ASIN: 0571199828

Book Description

The first -- and long overdue -- English-language biography of two of the world's great cinema figures.

Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune made sixteen feature films together, including Rashomon, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, Yojimbo, and High and Low -- all undisputed masterworks of world cinema. Kurosawa's films inspired blockbuster remakes and influenced directors like George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martin Scorsese. Meanwhile, Mifune virtually invented the roaming warrior rogue, a character adapted with great success by actors like Clint Eastwood, Sean Connery, Bruce Willis, and countless others. Their impact on the international film world is undisputable, yet at the very height of their abilities, Kurosawa and Mifune went their separate ways. After Red Beard in 1965 they would never work together again -- nor would they ever achieve the same level of success apart as they had together.

The Emperor and the Wolf is an in-depth look at the life and work of these two luminaries of cinema. Full of behind-the-scenes details about their tumultuous lives and stormy relationships with the studios and each other, it is also a provocative look at postwar American and Japanese culture and the different lenses through which the two societies viewed each other.

Customer Reviews:

Tedious.......2006-05-25

The subtitle of this book, The Lives and Films of Akira Kurosawa, is completely deceitful. There is nothing biographical in this book about either one of its main protagonists. It is rather a chronicle of the Japanese film industry, not without interest in itself. However, the voluminous facts, tid-bits of information about every minor actor, director, script-writer, and film composer, as well as the synopsis of every film mentioned, makes for increbibly tedious reading. While the book has its merit as a source of information, not much credit should be given to the author other than for his ability to put together facts that are available from a number of sources. Meanwhile, reading all these capsules of data will leave you dry when it comes to the lives of Kurosawa and Mifune. The author tells us nothing about how they lived, felt, thought, behaved,what motivated them; probably because he doesn't know himself. A simple gathering of public facts, none researched by the author himself because their sources are many and widely available, especially on the internet, do not make for a worthy book!

Kurosawa and Mifune - seminal Japanese cinema .......2006-02-01

Galbraith's combined biography of Akira Kurosawa and Toshiro Mifune has a wealth of knowledge, or, more accurately, a lot of data. Though Emperor/Wolf has reams (848 pages at close to 3 pounds) of information, what it doesn't have is a life of its own. The material covered by Galbraith could have been assembled by researching web sites, magazine and newspaper articles. You read much about Kurosawa and Mifune but you never come to know the men as living beings. Everything is written just outside of any emotional involvement. I never felt their rage or joy and so I was never enraged or joyful. I never felt any emotional contact with the protagonists. It was as though Kurosawa and Mifune were being disected in an operating theatre and I was high above behind glass. I couldn't smell the blood of battle, hear the applause, cry at their deaths. The book was soulless; a compendium that could be used as an overview for further, smaller more intimate writings. Though it seems obvious to connect these two cinema powerhouses, on second thought, it is a failed premise because of the bodies of work by each man exclusive of the other, and dooms the effort.

Warning: Not a Biography.......2004-07-11

I read the warnings about this book, but I am such a film buff, Kurosawa fan, Mifune fan and all-around nerd, that I did not heed them. First thing, this book is not a biography of Mifune or Kurosawa. It should be retitled and repackaged as the "Films of Kurosawa and Mifune". This is really a filmography with extensive plot summations and notes on production. The author includes his opinion of each movie, as if I care what his opinion is. There is very little information about either of these greats. The excuse is that the war destroyed most of the documents pertaining to their early years. That does not explain the lack later on of any information about either of them. For instance, the author writes that scandal plagued Mifune in his later years, but does not go into any more detail than to mention that he had a mistress. I was very disappointed in this book and do not feel as if I learned one thing about Kurosawa or the great Toshiro Mifune.

Its all about films...........2004-02-12

I think many reviewers didn't read the subtitle of the book, "Lives and Films of....." I don't think this book was meant to be a complete kiss and tell biography of Kurosawa and Mifune, this is a book which chronicled their cooperative efforts together in making films that became great classics and their relationship with and against each other. This is a book on relationship between two giants of the Japanese film industry. It was not meant to be a total biography as so many reviewers seem to have wanted.

The book gives very good background material to both men but its always about the relationship between the two. After both men split up after Red Beard, the author took pains to how see each one of them dealt with their careers afterward. Kurosawa continued to have success while Mifune drifted into period films, TV shows and his achievements suffered greatly. The book also gives a great understanding on how Japanese film industry worked, how it declined and basically how it fell apart in the face of Hollywood. Even the author expressed mixed surprised how waves of American films in a foreign nation like Japan, completely converted the Japanese audience into their own as they abandoned their own film industries into Third World status.

I thought the book was well written, well researched and explained the relationship and the films made by both Kurosawa and Mifune. But for anyone looking for a true biography, look some place else, for film historians like myself, this book is a must read.

Terrible as Biography.......2004-01-30

This book was quite disappointing. Most of my criticisms have already been mentioned by other reviewers, but I must emphasize that this book gives almost no sense of Kurosawa or Mifune as individuals and very, very little insight into their relationship. I was truly amazed that such a long book could fail to provide any nuanced sense of the personalities it is supposedly about. The book reads more like an annotated filmography, with endless details about minor actors and plot summaries of Japanese films that American fans will almost certainly never be able to see. I might refer to the book occasionally as a reference, but it is deadly dull reading. Not only is it not a good biography, it provides very little insight about Kurosawa's filmaking. There is some interesting historical stuff about the Japanese film industry, but that's about the only good thing I can think of to say about the book.

Average customer rating:

Biased perspective - "History" by Objective
Overrated
An Enjoyable Bio on an Interesting Figure
Hirohito's Life Revealed
stating the obvious: that Hirohito was in the loop

Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan
Herbert P. Bix
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Political | Leaders & Notable People | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II
The Making of Modern Japan
Khrushchev: The Man and His Era
A Modern History of Japan: From Tokugawa Times to the Present
War Without Mercy: Race and Power in the Pacific War

ASIN: 0060931302
Release Date: 2001-09-04

Amazon.com

To many, Emperor Hirohito of Japan is remembered as a helpless figurehead during Japan's wars with China and the U.S. According to the received wisdom, he knew nothing of the plan to bomb Pearl Harbor and had no power to stop atrocities like the Rape of Nanking. The emperor was the mild-mannered little man who traipsed with Mickey Mouse in Disneyland and who brought peace through surrender, certainly not "one of the most disingenuous persons ever to occupy the modern throne." Herbert Bix's charged political biography, however, argues that such accepted beliefs are myths and misrepresentations spun by both Japanese and Americans to protect the emperor from indictment. Since Hirohito's death in 1989, hundreds of documents, diaries, and scholarly studies have been published (and subsequently ignored) in Japan. Historian Bix used these sources to develop this shocking and nuanced portrait of a man far more shrewd, activist, and energetic than previously thought. Caught up in the fever of territorial expansion, Hirohito was the force that animated the war system, who, acting fully as a military leader and head of state, encouraged the belligerency of his people and pursued the war to its disastrous conclusion. To the very end, Hirohito refused to acknowledge any responsibility for his role in the death of millions as well as the brutalities inflicted by his forces in China, Korea, and the Philippines. In fact, he worked with none other than General MacArthur to select his fall guys and fix testimony at the Tokyo War Crimes Trials--the emperor trying to protect the throne at all cost, the U.S. acting to ensure control of the Japanese population and the military by retaining Hirohito as a figurehead.

Not surprisingly, this hefty work of scholarship is making waves, as Americans and Japanese reconsider their roles in WWII and its aftermath. By placing Hirohito back in the center of the picture and puncturing the myths that surround him, Bix has effectively asked the Japanese to come out of their half-century repression of the past and face their wartime responsibility. Without doing so, he implies, the monarchy will forever impede the development of democracy. For those interested in Japan's wartime past and its influence on the present, this is fascinating, if lengthy, reading. --Lesley Reed

Book Description

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize

In this groundbreaking biography of the Japanese emperor Hirohito, Herbert P. Bix offers the first complete, unvarnished look at the enigmatic leader whose sixty-three-year reign ushered Japan into the modern world. Never before has the full life of this controversial figure been revealed with such clarity and vividness. Bix shows what it was like to be trained from birth for a lone position at the apex of the nation's political hierarchy and as a revered symbol of divine status. Influenced by an unusual combination of the Japanese imperial tradition and a modern scientific worldview, the young emperor gradually evolves into his preeminent role, aligning himself with the growing ultranationalist movement, perpetuating a cult of religious emperor worship, resisting attempts to curb his power, and all the while burnishing his image as a reluctant, passive monarch. Here we see Hirohito as he truly was: a man of strong will and real authority.

Supported by a vast array of previously untapped primary documents, Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan is perhaps most illuminating in lifting the veil on the mythology surrounding the emperor's impact on the world stage. Focusing closely on Hirohito's interactions with his advisers and successive Japanese governments, Bix sheds new light on the causes of the China War in 1937 and the start of the Asia-Pacific War in 1941. And while conventional wisdom has had it that the nation's increasing foreign aggression was driven and maintained not by the emperor but by an elite group of Japanese militarists, the reality, as witnessed here, is quite different. Bix documents in detail the strong, decisive role Hirohito played in wartime operations, from the takeover of Manchuria in 1931 through the attack on Pearl Harbor and ultimately the fateful decision in 1945 to accede to an unconditional surrender. In fact, the emperor stubbornly prolonged the war effort and then used the horrifying bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, together with the Soviet entrance into the war, as his exit strategy from a no-win situation. From the moment of capitulation, we see how American and Japanese leaders moved to justify the retention of Hirohito as emperor by whitewashing his wartime role and reshaping the historical consciousness of the Japanese people. The key to this strategy was Hirohito's alliance with General MacArthur, who helped him maintain his stature and shed his militaristic image, while MacArthur used the emperor as a figurehead to assist him in converting Japan into a peaceful nation. Their partnership ensured that the emperor's image would loom large over the postwar years and later decades, as Japan began to make its way in the modern age and struggled -- as it still does -- to come to terms with its past.

Until the very end of a career that embodied the conflicting aims of Japan's development as a nation, Hirohito remained preoccupied with politics and with his place in history. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan provides the definitive account of his rich life and legacy. Meticulously researched and utterly engaging, this book is proof that the history of twentieth-century Japan cannot be understood apart from the life of its most remarkable and enduring leader.

Customer Reviews:

Biased perspective - "History" by Objective.......2007-02-21

I've read this book twice, and came to the same conclusions as Mr. O'Neil (before reading his review). Bix seems to almost bend over backwards to paint leftist and communists in idealized light, akin to the current vogue iconization of Che' as a liberating hero. Never understood why most intellectuals can't see communism/socialism as the same thing as facism - move far enough to the left and you meet the far right.

Anyhow, to provide an Abstract for the books thesis: Factions in the US governement - lead by left-hating McArthur - used Hirohito after the war as a tool to suppress communism in Japan and help Chaing-Kai-Shek fight against Mao. This was accomplished by white-washing the evils of Hirohito, who was a key architect of not only WWII, but also of brutal suppression of communist liberators seeking only democracy for Japan.

And don't forget to throw in unreferenced purgoratives that support your thesis ... my favorite is this one: a government minister said "Hirohito wept when he heard the judgement against Tojo." No reference is given, no name, no context or location. Its just a cheap shot akin to Michael Moore journalism. And there are NUMEROUS such examples of this in the book.

A better title of the book would be .. "Too bad Mao's revolution couldn't have spread successfully into Japan: Darn that Hirohito and his right-wing enabler McArthur."

Overrated.......2006-07-29

Perhaps I had too many expectations of this book, because it won a Pulitzer Prize and other awards. I enjoyed the wording and style employed by the author; the sentences and paragraphs were both very fluid and readable. My main complaint with this book is that I do not feel that I learned much by reading it, i.e., I do not believe the factual information to words ratio (facts/words) was high enough for me to recommend it to someone else. In some parts of the book, it seems that the author attempts to employ a written form of filibusters. Usually after reading a few pages or chapters of a non-fiction book, I have to sit back to take in all the information. This book never necessitated such a pause in my reading. In short, I believe this book may be interesting to those few people extremely interested in Hirohito's role during and after World War II. But, I believe most people will agree that the best one-word summary of this book would be as follows: Overrated.

An Enjoyable Bio on an Interesting Figure.......2006-07-16

I actually found this one in a bookstore while I was in Japan, then bought it over here in the states. Hirohito is probably not read about much here, but he should be because his life impacts Asian thought and politics to this day.

While everyone knows that Hitler was responsible for the death of probably 12 million during the holocaust, few people realize that Hirohito was responsible for the death of 20 million people. Therefore, Korea, and China still harbor feelings due to WWII.

Bix explains how Hirohito escaped war crimes trials. This is what makes the book somewhat controversial. Bix maintains that Hirohito played an active role in the Asian agression by Japan before and during WWII, rather than just being a mere figurehead. He also spends quite a bit of time covering the contributions that McArthur made in rebuilding Japan after WWII.

Bix's writing style is pleasant. Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan seems very well researched. This book is the place to start if you want to understand U.S. - Japanese relations.

Hirohito's Life Revealed.......2005-10-06

This book explicitly tells of Hirohito's life from a newborn Crown Prince to an Emperor on his deathbed. It shows how his upbringing had a serious impact on his decisions in the war and how he dealt with the consequences of those decisions after the war. As a child, he was given the best education according to Japanese custom. He spent most of his life away from his father and grandfather, since they were both busy men. He witnessed the glorious aftermath of the Russo-Japanese war and believed that this was the standard that should happen for the War of Greater East Asia.
In the war, most people perceived him as a puppet being operated by a group of military advisors. This is blatantly wrong. He played an active role in what happened and didn't happen in the war. He knew about the treatment of POW's and Chinese civilians but did little to stop this. The delay of the surrender was also his fault, as he sought a way out that would leave him and his regime intact.
After the war was concluded, The Japanese people felt as though they had to protect their emperor's innocence even after all that he had done. As the blame was placed on General Tojo, who accepted his death as willing as anyone else in history, and his cabinet, Hirohito escaped with no blame placed on him. The emperor then began to rebuild and recreate Japan as a peaceful nation with economic power to rival the western countries. This book is an excellent account of Hirohito's life and what influenced him to do what he did. I recommend this book to history or Japan fans so they can learn the emperor's story.

stating the obvious: that Hirohito was in the loop.......2005-10-01

Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine houses the souls of 2.4 million Japanese soldiers, most of whom fell in the Pacific War in the service of the late Emperor Hirohito, the subject of this rather acrid biography by Herbert P. Bix, who was a history professor at Tokyo's Hitotsubashi University when he published this tome.

The book has a simple thesis. The late emperor Hirohito was centrally involved in planning and prosecuting the Pacific war and should be held accountable even now for it. As part of this process, Bix would also like Yasukuni Shrine, one of Japan's three most important Shinto shrines, stripped of whatever militaristic and nationalistic symbolism it possesses. Bix is undoubtedly a good historian. But is he right? And is he fair? Probably not.

When 360 Japanese planes sank 90% of America's Pacific fleet moored in Pearl Harbour on Sunday, 7 December 1941, the Japanese bit off more than they could ever chew. The attack, which was modeled on the British attack on the Italian fleet a few months earlier, sank five battleships, two cruisers, three destroyers and two other naval vessels moored at Pearl Harbour. A further one hundred and seventy five planes were destroyed on Hickman Airfield. Only 28 Japanese planes were lost. Unfortunately for the Japanese, the Pacific Fleet's three aircraft carriers had not been in port and were not hunted down afterwards. These three aircraft carriers, joined by two others, eventually spearheaded the American counter attack. Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto's string of early successes ended only six months later at the Battle of Midway.

Even though Japan's navy was in the ascendant for only six months, the picture, even in the immediate aftermath of Pearl Harbour, was bleak. An early attack on Ceylon was repulsed by the wily cat and mouse tactics of the largely obsolete British Far Eastern fleet under Admiral Sir James Somerville; he engaged in hit and run tactics against a superior Japanese flotilla. As a consequence, Britain only had to defend India in Burma. Japan, in other words, was already getting boxed in. They would have to fight the war on ground chosen by their enemies. The war, even then, was unwinnable.

Unlike the Allies, Japan did not have a viable strategy. Despite Bix's attempts to paint Hirohito out as Nippon's supreme commander, he was no Eisenhower or MacArthur. He was the Emperor of a nation run by a bunch of feuding fools, who rushed headlong into a war they could never hope to win.

The Japanese of that generation paid a terrible price for their leaders' folly. Over 100,000 Tokyo citizens were incinerated from March 9-10 1945, when the United States Air Force carpeted the city with incendiary bombs. Even as Truman announced Japan's unconditional surrender, Tokyo was flattened by a further 1,000 planes, just, one supposed, to let the world know who was boss - unsurprisingly enough, given the scale of Japan's devastation, all 1,000 planes returned safely to base to celebrate VJ Day. By then, a third of Hirohito's surviving subjects were homeless, 65% of all Tokyo residences were destroyed - 89% of Nagoya was in ruins. Over 500,000 Japanese troops had been dragooned into Siberian slave camps. Some 2 million others had also died - Yasukuni houses a goodly number of those sad souls, whose lives were cut short by the madness that then gripped Japan's leaders. But at least the madness of that war ended.

Hirohito's surrender was a cruel awakening for himself as well as for all his subjects and only a fool would say that the trauma is over for the relatives of all the fallen. The protests by Japan's wartime victims, which rocked Britain on Emperor Akihito's recent visit, is evidence enough of that. Korea, China and the Philippines provide plenty more.

Bix is not a fool. He is a Harvard-trained historian, who includes almost 100 pages of largely superfluous footnotes in this massive tome. Yet the Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal report was much bigger. And, unlike Bix, most historians and lawyers agree that it was a travesty of justice. Bix produces plenty of well-worn evidence against Hirohito, as well as some new findings as befitting his scholarly calling. But does it matter? Probably not, unless you are a professional historian. And if you are, you should probably give Stalin's judge a more prominent role than Bix does. You should also extend to the independent stance adopted by Radhabinod Pal, India's representative, more respect than Bix does. You should also give the British - and the Poles - more credit than Bix does for Hitler's defeat. They, not FDR, were Hitler's most implacable enemies; they were the only two nations which engaged in the fight without stint from start to finish. One only has to recall Churchill's most famous speeches to agree that no one was more implacably opposed to Hitler than he was.

Perhaps that is a mere quibble to be expected from reading a book as vast as this one. However, there are several more. Although, for example, Bix presents a strong case against Hirohito, the author's most striking snippet of evidence favours the defense, not the prosecution. His first picture of the former emperor shows Hirohito as a brave and bonny babe waving the Rising Sun flag on his first birthday. That flag was to haunt the little boy ever since. It was to be almost his only companion.

He had few others. When he was only three months' old, he was taken away from his seventeen-year-old mother. He had no childhood games or friends. He was not allowed access even to his own brothers. His only companion was General Nogi Maresuke, the hero of Japan's formative 1905 Russian war, who committed hara kiri when the little boy was only seven. Aside from his wife, the Empress Nagako, his only social outlet was reviewing his assault troops from his pedigree white charger. Because the little boy grew up to have a strange, long, lonely and somehow unfulfilled life, perhaps he should be allowed, like those in Yasukuni, to sleep in peace. He'll be doing somersaults if Bix has his way.

Although Bix has done a good stitch-up, it is akin to another book on Diana or the Queen Mother. There is nothing major here that John Dower or other historians have not already told us. Although the book does shed valuable light on the past, throwing stones, however deservedly, at a revered emperor does not lead to parity of esteem. The challenge is to rise above the partisan venalities of history and to put an end not only to all wars but to their causes as well.

The Japanese, Hirohito's direct descendants included, have a key role to play in that process. Japan's challenge is to make amends for the grave mistakes of the past. Japan's politicians must chart the future. And to do that, they must learn the lessons and dynamics of history so that Japan and her neighbours never have the nightmare of war revisit them. This big book will be a very small but very important help in that regard.
Following Bix' award, this book was widely available in Japan. Whi says the Japanese do not have a sense of humor?

Average customer rating:

Excellent work on earliest royal history
Excellent

The Emergence of Japanese Kingship
Joan Piggott
Manufacturer: Stanford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Ancient | History | Subjects | Books

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Literature & Fiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Nihongi: Chronicles of Japan from the Earliest Times to A.d. 697 (Tuttle Classics of Japanese Literature)
Sacred Texts and Buried Treasures: Issues on the Historical Archaeology of Ancient Japan

ASIN: 0804728321

Book Description

This is the first comprehensive study of the sources and nature of classical Japanese kingship and state formation. To draw new insights from the rich body of extant documents and artifacts from early Japan, the author employs the analytical tools of recent Western historiography and anthropology, constructing an “archeology of kingship” that begins by exposing the roots of Japanese monarchy in third-century chieftaincy.

The book then traces sovereignty and polity through a series of temporal cross sections, analogous to an archaeologist’s trenches, to reveal artifacts from seven historical epochs, including an array of chieftains, kings, and sovereigns variously styled as Son of Heaven, Polestar Monarch, and Heavenly Sovereign. These sacral and increasingly courtly rulers (both men and women) first presided over confederate chieftaincies, then expansive coalescent polities, and eventually the archipelago’s earliest state formation, Nihon.

The book culminates in an account of the reign of the mid-eighth-century monarch Shomu, who represented the zenith of classical Japanese kingship and was supported by a bureaucracy of more than 7,000 people. Shomu’s opulent Chinese-style palace and the unprecedented, monumental Temple of the Great Buddha at Todaiji were replicated in smaller scale by provincial headquarters and temples, all of which functioned as ritual stages for articulating Shomu’s cultural hegemony. Although the forms of classical Japanese kingship—court, fisc, dynasty, and realm—continued to develop in subsequent centuries, all assumed their basic form in the age of Shomu.

The author has sought to counter the ahistoricity that characterizes much scholarship concerning early Japanese kingship and to broaden the geographical and disciplinary contexts within which Japanese kingship has been examined. As long as evidence was limited to certain myth-histories compiled in the eighth century, which traced the rule of Heavenly Sovereigns and their realm of Nihon back to prehistory, ahistoricity was inevitable. The author suggests that only when such narratives are reread in the light of evidence from archaeology, continental history, and comparative ethnohistorical research can new scenarios be formulated to trace the emergence of paramount rule.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent work on earliest royal history.......2002-09-02

Joan Piggots' scholarship is excellent. Pulling from a wide array of sources, covering everything from shipping tags attached to merchandise delivered in payment of tribute to the quasi-legendary early chronicles, to written works of law, literature, and religion, archaelogical artefacts and tomb burials, as well as previous works of historical scholarship, she presents an exhaustive and authoritative analysis of a frequently overlooked period in Japanese history, the 3rd through 8th centuries.

Piggott's work focuses on the emergence of the nascent Japanese nation-state, from its indigenous roots with a tennou ('sovereign' ) who was a chief among clans to its period of heavy Chinese borrowing and transformation into a 'modern' (for the era) nation headed up by a Chinese-style Emperor. Adopting a metaphor of archaeological trenches, she describes and analyzes seven major periods of development, discusses the various problems associated with research in that particular period, the known information, and conflicting points of view, while cogently and persuasively arguing her own viewpoint.

Her historical scholarship is impeccable and her writing style is clear and readable -- a great boon to anyone who has wrestled with some of the more obscure writings on the same topic. In short, she makes a significant addition to body of knowledge in the English language regarding a little known era of Japanese history.

Excellent.......1998-03-27

It is rare to find a work that is both good history and well written; Piggot's examination of the emergence of kingship in a country where 'the gods have not yet died' is an important expansion of our understanding of archaic Japan in particular and sacral kingship in general.

Average customer rating:

not recommended.
History for the casual reader
Interesting insights, but lacks focus
Good book, but the title doesn't fit
A 'must' for any who would understand the evolution of modern political relations between the two nations

American Shogun: A Tale of Two Cultures
Robert Harvey
Manufacturer: Overlook Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Military & Spies | Professionals & Academics | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Look Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

LeMay (Great Generals)
Kingfish: The Reign of Huey P. Long
The General and the Jaguar: Pershing's Hunt for Pancho Villa: A True Story of Revolution & Revenge
The End of the Old Order: Napoleon and Europe, 1801-1805 (Napoleon and Europe)
LBJ: Architect of American Ambition

ASIN: 1585676829

Book Description

The author of A Few Bloody Noses confronts the engima of MacArthur's struggle against--and rebuilding of--twentieth-century Japan.

Customer Reviews:

not recommended........2007-02-27

This book is a just another run-of-the-mill book to gather some quick $ and 5 mins fame. Besides lacking genuine insight on the subject, Robert Harvey hasn't done a better research in getting some of the facts mentioned in the book straight. For example, after the ending of Korean war for over 50 years, anyone who is adequately read on that piece of history knows that the commander of the Chinese force is actually Marshal Peng DeHuai, not Marshal Lin Piao, as it was presented in Harvey's book.
For a better narrative on the relationship and interation between Gen. McArthur and Hirohito and the making of modern Japan, read the books: 1) Hirohito, and the making of modern Japan. written by Harvard scholar Herbert P. BIX. and 2) Emperor Hirohito and Showa Japan by Stephen S. Large. At least they have notes attached to the book for scholarly research and presentation.

History for the casual reader.......2006-12-26

The first thing that comes to mind, where are the footnotes? Robert Harvey's American Shogun: General MacArthur, Emperor Hirohito and the Drama of Modern Japan examines the lives of General Douglas MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito, and how these two men were significant to American and Japan history. Robert Harvey does not explore unknown territory. Most of the material in this book has already been studied and examined by other writers and historians. What is unique about this book?

Harvey attempts to intertwine the stories of MacArthur and Hirohito as two monumental actors of World War II history. However, the book oversimplifies and overemphasizes certain aspects of each of the men's histories, and their roles in shaping or creating a particular historical event in which they were the participants. As an observation, the events and their intricate details tend to take over the narrative, which were posed in the discussions of the atrocities in Nanking, Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, post-war Japan, and the Korean War. What did MacArthur and Hirohito think about at the time these events occurred? MacArthur's story surpasses Hirohito's, and throughout the book one wonders, what happened to Hirohito and what did he do during World War II? His name disappears amongst the mass information. In addition, at times, the bulk of the book reiterates what has been mentioned before in other books, such as William Manchester's American Caesar and Herbert Bix's Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan as well as John Dower's Embracing Defeat, which provides an overall assessment of post-war Japan; Harvey specifically states the these books were the inspiration to his research.

American Shogun may interest history readers who may want general insight about MacArthur and Hirohito. Possibly to compensate for the lack of notes, Harvey provides a good bibliographical list where readers may further inform themselves. Little do we read about the activities that occurred before and after the Pacific War, but Harvey offers a little insight for those who want to understand this part of history.

Interesting insights, but lacks focus.......2006-10-02

I found this book worthwhile reading for the author's interesting and, at times, startling insights into the events and characters he describes. But, the coverage of the events leading up to and during the war in the Pacific are often at odds with the facts and the logical conclusions of anyone familiar with the details of the actual events.

Also, the book's editors know absolutely nothing about WWII and performed poorly in correcting obvious errors. For example, B-52 airplanes are mentioned twice within the text, but these eight engine jet bombers wouldn't make an appearance until the late 1950's. Possibly the author meant B-25's, although in one instance I doubt that MacArthur had any B-25's and certainly never employed B-52's. In another instance, the author has MacArthur starting his invasion of Leyte after his successful invasion of Luzon. In reality, it was just the reverse. In defending the controversial Philipine campaign in 1942, the author has MacArthur's forces outnumbered when in fact the Japanese were initially outnumbered when they invaded Luzon after Pearl Harbor. The editing and factual errors that went uncorrected were amatuerish and make the reader lose confidence in the author's research and/or honesty of presentation.

However, despite the poor scholarship and atrocious editing, the author almost redeems himself with very interesting insights into the Japanese character. For example, the author's description of how it was impossible for the Japanese to understand the Americans and their incredibly unique 2,000 year old culture was masterful. His explanation of how the Japanese viewed the August,1945 bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a very sophisticated piece of psychological analysis, if true.

The book over-reached in trying to develop three separate themes: biographies of Hirohito and MacArthur, the Pacific war and the occupation of Japan after the war. I had hoped the book would focus more on the occupation years and what MacArthur and the Americans did and how Japan reacted. He does this for a third of the book, but he often fails to give a coherent picture of the events and his conclusions alternate dizzyingly between praise and condemnation of American actions.

His description of WWII is the weakest section of the book. I'd recommend the reader disregard the author's treatment of events and motives and consult other, more reputable histories of these years. For example, MacArthur's initial defense of the Philipines was considered poor generalship, despite the author's effusive praise. MacArthur made the mistake of organizing a beach front defense agaist the Japanese landing and the Japanese simply landed elsewhere without opposition. A majority of Japanese casualties weren't caused by MacArthur's forces, but rather by malaria, dengue fever and malnutrition. MacArthur treated our Australian allies with contempt and misused their fighting qualities. In his inter-sevice rivalry with the Navy, he advocated ambitious but logistically impossible plans such as the 1942 invasion of New Britain and capture of Rabaul.

The author obviously likes MacArthur, although he tried hard to perform an even-handed analysis of MacArthur's character. Where this plan failed was the author's propensity to skip over or understate some of MacArthur's outrageous and egotistical actions. For example, he dismisses in one sentence MacArthur's acceptance of the Medal of Honor after his escape from Correigidor. Awarding America's highest medal to someone for a successful escape was an insult to those left behind to die and suffer starvation and torture by the Japanese. The author isn't an American and perhaps failed to grasp this important nuance. To shine a praiseworthy light on MacArthur's WWII military campaign, the author is forced to understate or leave unmentioned several blunders and emotional judgments on MacArthur's part. The author never mentions MacArthur's mistake in trying to repel the Japanese on the beach when so many landing sites were available within the Philipines - how this can be considered brilliant military strategy is difficult to understand. And, he neglects to mention that the MacArthur publicity machine portrayed this non-existent beach defense as a furious battle was a complete lie.

In summary, the author excels in insights into motives and psychological analysis. While his insights and analysis may not be true, he did a workman like job and there is no way to factually determine if such nebulous things as motives can be accurately determined. Still, the author tries hard and I liked and admired his reasoning. Buy this book for these qualities, but if you want a conventional history, I'd recommend something else.

Good book, but the title doesn't fit .......2006-07-09

I picked this up thinking it was about the occupation of Japan. The occupation is less than 1/3 of the book. While the book's a good read, it sprawls beyond the subtitle too.

Harvey is at his best when describing the colorful life of MacArthur and the social/political/economic state pre-war Japan. At times the text bogs with no point to the larger story, for instance, over 10 pages on a family during the bombing of Nagasaki. The Philippine part while lengthy, could be justified because it shaped MacArthur. The Korean saga, while interesting, is far too long for a book called "Shogun" about the "drama of modern Japan". These are a few examples where more focus would improve the book.

The emperor's restoration is an example of Harvey at his best. He brings to bear all opinion of the time, including a reasonably popular one in Japan, for abdication in favor of his son. The emperor's staying in place, (only to build his own celebrity and undermine MacArthur), and the effect that protecting the emperor from prosecution had on the war crimes trials, left me with two new perspectives.

One is a new understanding of Koizumi's visits visits to the Yasukuni shrine. I had thought these visits were merely to appease a right wing, but I see them in a wider context. The war crimes trials, the post-war behavior of the emperor (not divine, but descended from the sun), and the forces at work to discredit MacArthur, provide substance to the view that the Japanese military was responding and not aggressing.

The other is that I now understand why so many young Japanese have never heard of MacArthur. I teach and have recently taught perhaps 200 Japanese students, who are late teens to early 30's. It's unusual when a student recoginzes his name. Given the forces above, which provide context for the recent text book controversy, it's pretty clear that this piece of history is not accessible to the average citizen.

(Amazon advertizes this book as a "two for" with a bio on Huey Long. I puzzled over this strange mix. Perhaps the Amazon marketers have read the book. Harvey quotes FDR is as saying MacArthur and Long are the most dangerous men in America.)

A 'must' for any who would understand the evolution of modern political relations between the two nations.......2006-05-23

During the years leading up to Pearl Harbor, Japan was becoming the most industrialized state in Asia while the US was emerging from its depression years and becoming a global power. Today's partnership between the two was forged by Pearl Harbor events and the reconciliation of the two nations afterward - a relationship cemented by the experiences of two leaders of the times: General MacArthur and Emperor Hirohito. AMERICAN SHOGUN: GENERAL MACARTHUR, EMPEROR HIROHITO AND THE DRAMA OF MODERN JAPAN surveys these two men and how a popular American hero and a Japanese monarch came together to bring two great nations together. It surveys events of war, peace, and eventual friendship and is a 'must' for any who would understand the evolution of modern political relations between the two nations.

Diane C. Donovan, Editor
California Bookwatch

In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army (Studies in War, Society, and the Militar)

Average customer rating:

Filling a major gap
Indispensible to understanding of Pacific War
Indispensible to clear understanding of Pacific War
Research on the Japanese Army is a bit behind the times
Research on the Japanese Army is a bit behind the times

In the Service of the Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army (Studies in War, Society, and the Militar)
Edward J. Drea
Manufacturer: University of Nebraska Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

Look Inside History Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Macarthur's Ultra: Codebreaking and the War Against Japan, 1942-1945 (Modern War Studies)
A Gathering Darkness: The Coming of War to the Far East and the Pacific, - (Total War:New Perspectives on World War II, 3)
Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway
Soldiers of the Sun: The Rise and Fall of the Imperial Japanese Army
Touched with Fire: The Land War in the South Pacific

ASIN: 0803266383

Book Description

Japan’s war in Asia and the Pacific from 1937 to 1945 continues to be a subject of great interest, yet the wartime Japanese army remains little understood outside Japan. Most published accounts rely on English-language works written in the 1950s and 1960s. The Japanese-language sources have remained relatively inaccessible to Western scholars in part because of the difficulty of the language, a difficulty that Edward J. Drea, who reads Japanese, surmounts.

In a series of searching examinations of the structure, ethos, and goals of the Japanese military establishment, Drea offers new material on its tactics, operations, doctrine, and leadership. Based on original military documents, official histories, court diaries, and Emperor Hirohito’s own words, these twelve essays introduce Western readers to fifty years of Japanese scholarship about the war and Japan’s military institutions. In addition, Drea uses recently declassified Allied intelligence documents related to Japan to challenge existing views and conventional wisdom about the war.

Customer Reviews:

Filling a major gap.......2006-09-22

While there has been quite a few histories of individual battles of the Pacific War, there have been few studies of the Imperial Japanese Army. This is not only in striking contrast to the various studies of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen SS, but even in comparison with the Imperial Japanese Navy (Evans and Peattie's Kaigun comes to mind).

Drea's book is an admirable effort to start filling in some of those blanks. His essay on General Adachi, for example, provides interesting background into how a typical Japanese officer's career went; in this case, an officer who was not heavily politicized.

Similarly, his discussion of how Japanese recruits underwent training provides important background into the mindset of soldiers. This is indispensable in understanding the IJA as an institution and organization.

Indispensible to understanding of Pacific War.......2003-01-02

Good English-language materials on the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) in World War II are disappointingly rare. With the passing of Alvin Coox, Edward Drea is definitely the foremost Western authority. This volume collects a number of very valuable articles that he published in the 1980s and early 1990s. While recent work has brought clarification and amendment in some details, the value of his judgments and perspectives remains undimmed.

A unique and very valuable feature is the many direct comparisons between the U.S. Army and IJA, which do a great deal to illuminate both forces.

The articles are: "Tradition and Circumstances: The Imperial Japanese Army's Tactical Response to Khalkhin-Gol, 1939"; "The Development of Imperial Japanese Army Amphibious Warfare Doctrine"; "Imperial Japanese Army Strategy and the Pacific War (1941-1945)"; "An Allied Interpretation of the Pacific War"; "U.S. Army and Imperial Japanese Army Doctrine during World War II"; "'Trained in the Hardest School'"; "Adachi Hatazo: A Soldier of His Emperor"; "A Signals Intercept Site at War"; "Leyte: Unanswered Questions"; "Japanese Preparations for the Defense of the Homeland"; "Intelligence Forecasting for the Invasion of Japan: Previews of Hell"; "Chasing a Decisive Victory: Emperor Hirohito and Japan's War with the West (1941-1945)". Every one is very worthwhile.

This book is all but indispensable to a clear understanding of the Pacific War. The publishing of a more affordable paperback edition is very welcome.

Will O'Neil

PS. Virtually the only other comprehensive work in English on the Japanese Army in World War II is _Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War_, by Saburo Hayashi and Alvin Coox. (It is out of print and hard to find, but a text file is available on the Web.) Virtually anything written by Alvin Coox on the subject is well worth reading, and particularly his article "The Pacific War" in Vol. 6 of _The Cambridge History of Japan_, and of course his masterful book, _Nomonhan: Japan Against Russia, 1939_ (available from Amazon). For an understanding of the Japanese Army as an institution, see Leonard Humphreys, _The Way of the Heavenly Sword: The Japanese Army in the 1920's_ (also available from Amazon) as well as Shin'ichi Kitaoka, "The Army as a Bureaucracy: Japanese Militarism Revisited," _J. Mil. Hist._, 57/5: 67-86. And by all means be sure to remain on the lookout for further work by Edward Drea.

Indispensible to clear understanding of Pacific War.......2003-01-02

A unique and very valuable feature is the many direct comparisons between the U.S. Army and IJA, which do a great deal to illuminate both forces.

This book is all but indispensable to a clear understanding of the Pacific War. The publishing of a more affordable paperback edition is very welcome.

Will O'Neil

PS. Virtually the only other comprehensive work in English on the Japanese Army in World War II is _Kogun: The Japanese Army in the Pacific War_, by Saburo Hayashi and Alvin Coox. (It is out of print and hard to find, but a text file is available on the Web.) Virtually anything written by Alvin Coox on the subject is well worth reading, and particularly his article "The Pacific War" in Vol. 6 of _The Cambridge History of Japan_. For an understanding of the Japanese Army as an institution, see Leonard Humphreys, _The Way of the Heavenly Sword: The Japanese Army in the 1920's_ (available from Amazon) as well as Shin'ichi Kitaoka, "The Army as a Bureaucracy: Japanese Militarism Revisited," _J. Mil. Hist._, 57/5: 67-86.

Research on the Japanese Army is a bit behind the times.......2001-07-13

This book is a welcome addition to anybody's library on WW2 Japan but as always, the information is not quite up to date. That has always been the problem with books on the Japanese Army because only a limited number of wetern historians can actually understand Japanese. The book says, for example, that only 60 type 3 tanks were built during the war when the newest research suggests that over 200 rolled off the production lines. Also the photo of Lieut.General Adachi does not show him as a General but as a Colonel. Still, better than what usually hits the market with "The author has read the Japanese official history" on this or that battle with the author thanking his Japanese interpreters elsewhere in the book.

Research on the Japanese Army is a bit behind the times.......2001-07-12

Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912

Average customer rating:

Necessary? I think so.

Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912
Donald Keene
Manufacturer: Columbia University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Historical | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

Japan | Asia | History | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Culture of the Meiji Period (Princeton Library of Asian Translations)
The Making of Modern Japan
Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion: The Creation of the Soul of Japan (Asia Perspectives: History, Society, and Culture)
The Emergence of Meiji Japan (Cambridge History of Japan)
Animated Classics of Japanese Literature - The Sound of Waves, Parts 1 & 2/ Growing Up

ASIN: 0231123418

Book Description

When Emperor Meiji began his rule, in 1867, Japan was a splintered empire, dominated by the shogun and the daimyos, who ruled over the country's more than 250 decentralized domains and who were, in the main, cut off from the outside world, staunchly antiforeign, and committed to the traditions of the past. Before long, the shogun surrendered to the emperor, a new constitution was adopted, and Japan emerged as a modern, industrialized state.

Despite the length of his reign, little has been written about the strangely obscured figure of Meiji himself, the first emperor ever to meet a European. Most historians discuss the period that takes his name while barely mentioning the man, assuming that he had no real involvement in affairs of state. Even Japanese who believe Meiji to have been their nation's greatest ruler may have trouble recalling a single personal accomplishment that might account for such a glorious reputation. Renowned Japan scholar Donald Keene sifts the available evidence to present a rich portrait not only of Meiji but also of rapid and sometimes violent change during this pivotal period in Japan's history.

In this vivid and engrossing biography, we move with the emperor through his early, traditional education; join in the formal processions that acquainted the young emperor with his country and its people; observe his behavior in court, his marriage, and his relationships with various consorts; and follow his maturation into a "Confucian" sovereign dedicated to simplicity, frugality, and hard work. Later, during Japan's wars with China and Russia, we witness Meiji's struggle to reconcile his personal commitment to peace and his nation's increasingly militarized experience of modernization. Emperor of Japan conveys in sparkling prose the complexity of the man and offers an unrivaled portrait of Japan in a period of unique interest.

Customer Reviews:

Necessary? I think so........2007-08-01

It's difficult to take an entire man's life and fit it into over 700 pages, but that's what Donald Keene attempts in this book.
I think overall the book is very well written, thought provoking and thoroughly researched. It focuses on Meiji's life while attempting to understand Meiji through other's views and poems Meiji has written through his life. It's guesswork, but educated guesswork.
I think it is a valuable book to have and looks into probably one of the more jarring transitions in Japanese History. Though it is cautious as to not award Meiji with full credit for the modernization of Japan, it does make a very nice attempt to view the man, his life and his actions during this time.
Don't look for much in the realm of action in the Sino-Japanese War or the Russo-Japanese War as they are discussed in the chapters, but not to any great detail.
I think it is a necessary addition to any respectable Japanese History Library.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books