Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun
Common Sense Note
Hampered by inadequate illustration, this book still manages to make an historical action, largely motivated by trade opportunities and diplomatic ambition, both exciting and understandable.
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: S. K. List
Had they landed on another planet in 1853, Americans could scarcely have encountered a culture more alien to their own than that of nineteenth-century feudal Japan. Rhoda Blumberg brings this strangeness to life, spelled out in such details as exotic banquet menus, table manners, and jarringly different social customs.
Kids will learn even as they laugh at comments such as Perry's after a Japanese commissioner hugs him hard enough to crush his epaulettes: "Oh," the commodore said, "if they will only sign the treaty he may kiss me."
Drawing on contemporary documents, journals, ships' logs, and early biographies, Blumberg has produced a thorough treatment of a little-known but pivotal event in world history. Her lucid writing, immediate in tone and easily accessible to bright youngsters, springs from deep knowledge and research.
Unfortunately, the excitement young readers will find in the spirited text is dampened by underwhelming illustrations. Although the pictures themselves are well chosen and fascinating, they are often poorly reproduced. The book is otherwise well designed, but the grace of Blumberg's approach, her superior scholarship and skillful writing, are undermined by the book's poor picture quality.
Even so, beguiled by tales of samurais excitedly riding a toy railroad bestowed by the Americans, of Dutchmen made to jump and dance to amuse the shogun's court, of the Japanese fashion for black-painted teeth, youthful history hounds will eagerly gobble up this excellent account.
Plot Summary:
America's nineteenth-century courtship of Japan thrust the isolated Land of the Rising Sun reluctantly into the midst of world affairs. Through deft depictions of personalities, clearly explained events, and colorful sidelights, this excellent history paints a vivid picture of U.S. Navy officer Matthew Perry's historic diplomatic mission.
Related Books:
John R. Robertson's Japan Meets the World: The Birth of a Superpower charts the nation's history from its first contact with the Western world in 1543 to the present.
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Sexual ContentBrief references to sailors' sexual interest in ladies ashore. |
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ViolenceReports of swordplay, official punishment and humiliation, and ritual suicide. |
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