asia

Pretty much every English speaker who studies Japan acquires a copy of Sansom. Consequently, if you are interested in Japan, you probably already have a set. I am giving this collection four stars instead of five simply because its scholarship is now a bit dated and it is not the Cambridge History of Japan. But, who can afford the Cambridge History? I wish I could. In terms of being affordable, this is most likely still the best introduction to Japanese history around in English.

The dilema for me, as an undergraduate History student, has been finding books that are factual and historically accurate and yet readable enough to hold my interest and not so incredibly dry or overburdened with place names and characters. Often the books that are most readable are based primarily upon anecdote, rather than real historical evidence, even if the author has clearly done his/her homework.

Sansom manages to stay comfortably within these two extremes. His writing style is quite enjoyableyet his representation of the facts rarely wavers. Another essential element, in my opinion, is that the ootnotes be within the text itself, and not collected at the end of each chapter or at the back of the book. Sansom does an excellent job of this as well, citing sources on the spot.

Overall a wonderful work, especially in a field so poorly represented in scholarly works--in English, at least.

Of the few books in English on the subject of ancient Japan, Sansom's book is still probably the best. Although much research of late in Japan has turned upside-down people's view of the ancient Japanese world, from the start of human civilization in Japan to the begings of the Japanese nation, Sansom's overview still serves as the best introduction to date to most of the subjects leading up to the split of the nation in the 14th century. Not easy to read strait through, but a good reference for stories you may have heard about and want to know more details regarding. Random page-flipping also highly recomended.