military advisor, some one-eyed civil war vet who encouraged Japan's modernization and militarization.

Great historian. His book The China Mirage is remarkable as well. I don't think any other book I've read on Asian history had such an impact except perhaps Bernard Fall's work on Vietnam.

Haven't read the one you mentioned. Thanks for the reference.

No doubt imo that Japan modeled its modern imperialism on the western examples. In fact, the two things modernization and imperialism were felt to go together. Among other examples Ito Hirobumi studied the so called Cromer model English imperialism provided in Egypt. German militarism and state organization was also the subject of great interest in Japan. The problem now is that some of the current crop of LDP leaders are nostalgic about this period and in denial of the excesses in their violent history. I think the description in the linked article of the significance of the Yasukuni Shrine to the Japanese militarist ideology is significant because currently it is undergoing a political and social revival since the advent of the Abe administration.

I'll provide one other tidbit. I was traveling and grabbed this book from a free pile to give me something to read on vacation:

https://www.amazon.com/Education-Wandering-Man-Louis-LAmour/dp/0553057030/ref=asc_df_0553057030?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80814158254528&hvnetw=o&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584413735811657&psc=1

I'm not much of a fan of his work and with his description of his reading habits I'm a bit surprised he never produced any more notable works. But the value of this book is primarily the bibliography in the back. He had a fascination with Asian history and read many books that I would doubt if they were still available.

Thanks for the input on Louis. I probably shouldn't admit that I probably read at least ten of his books when I was young. Later, I gave my collection of dog eared paperbacks to my son, who loved them.

I recall reading Last of the Breed in 1987 out of curiosity a bit later in life because of the aircrew survival story in Russia. So I'm guessing this is his last book you mentioned Education of a Wandering Man. I will ask my son for his copy, I never read it.

I started reading Imperial Cruise. I also watched one of Bradley's lectures on the book. The Roosevelt episode with Baron Kentaro Kaneko, the Taft Katsura agreement, the Portsmouth Treaty, is all in The China Mirage too.

This is one of my favorite pictures from that era:


(JTBC News- 11.19.2019) Alice Roosevelt riding a stone horse statue at the Memorial for Empress Myeongsong, acting as if she were "riding a carousel at an amusement park." The Empress had been assassinated by the Japanese in 1895 because she opposed Japanese dominance of Korea. The picture is from the Cornell University Library collection and is displayed in a relatively recent news broadcast highlighting the lack of political sensitivity of contemporary US diplomats and military leaders.