Modern Japan is exactly what the title suggests — a general history of Japan from the Meiji restoration in 1868 to the present. Hane provides a very readable account of the political and military history, along with good coverage of social, economic and cultural history. The coverage of recent history is fairly brief, with only 80 pages covering the entire post-war period, so those who want a description of the Japanese "economic miracle" should look elsewhere.

I don't know enough about Japanese history to evaluate Modern Japan as a history of Japan, but as general national histories go it is pretty impressive. The select bibliography at the end is separated into different sections by subject, making it easy to find further reading on any particular topic.

October 1993

External links:

- buy from Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk

Related reviews:

- Mikiso Hane - Premodern Japan: A Historical Survey
- books about Japan + Japanese history
- more modern history
- books published by Westview Press