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The Cambridge history of Japan, volume 6: The twentieth century
BOOK NOTES
Politics from the Middle Ages until the Early Twentieth Century. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press (260 pp., cloth, $40). These seven essays offer an analytical survey of a long period of regional history, not to provide detailed support for one theory or another, but to illustrate the complexity of the conditions of backwardness from one era or country to the next. The dynamism of a few parts of Western Europe was the exception. Eastern Europe's slow, uneven progress was the norm. The authors note how the interaction of ecological, political, and economic forces stymied growth in Eastern Europe long before regular interaction with Western markets. Western political development, with its 19th century state system and regional interventions, had even more of an impact on Eastern European development. Local elites were forced to harness nationalist impulses and build new state structures. This volume contains much valuable exploration of Eastern European sources and local historical contexts, but some of the effort to divorce politics and economics is not compelling, especially in so brief a form. Duus, Peter (1988) The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 6: The Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (866 pp., cloth, $89.50). Cambridge University Press has inaugurated the first large-scale survey work on Japanese history in English since the classic three-volume work by Sansom (1958--63). With the appearance of volumes two and five in 1989, three in 1990, and four in 1991, the series may set a Cambridge record for timely completion. Volume six presents 14 chapters which synthesize much recent and classic scholarship, both Japanese and Western. The emphasis is on the development and nature of formal institutions and state action; many issues of social and cultural importance receive limited coverage. While one does not expect theoretical creativity in such surveys, there needs to be a more consistent effort to present and organize major academic debates. Yet it is difficult to both cover such a large subject and reach a wide audience, and this volume is an approachable, often appealing, and lively presentation. Eakin, Marshall (1990) British Enterprise in Brazil: The St. John d'el Rey Mining Company and the Morro Velho Gold Mine, 1830--1960. Durham, NC: Duke University Press (334 pp., cloth, $47.50).
1477
There have been few long-term case studies of foreign capital in the Third World and even fewer on the impact of foreign capital on a local community over time. Eakin has combined comparative and country studies with rich archival material to treat both the company and the town of Nova Lima. He creates quite likely the most detailed such study in the literature. The firm's long-term ability to prosper from the largest gold mine on the continent stemmed from its adaptability to varied political and economic conditions, technological innovation, low political profile, geographic isolation, operation of a secondary industry, and political networking. Some Brazilians gained, but despite the evolution from slavery to a militant, unionized labor force, social injustices continued. There is more material on the firm and on national and international contexts, and less on social issues, but Eakin has done much to keep the coverage balanced. This is a rich and impressive book.
Esherick, Joseph and Mary Rankin (Eds.) (1990) Chinese Local Elites and Patterns of Dominance. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press (468 pp., cloth, $55). With growing awareness of the crucial role of local institutions in effective development, practitioners may wish to see how new research on past experiences confirms or refutes prevailing approaches. The 13 essays in this collection note the classical portrait of the Chinese gentry as officeholders, but go on to paint a wider range of elites, resource contraints and ruling strategies from the 14th to early 20th century. Local elites used education, landholding, and social and cultural symbols to reproduce control. In modern times, commerce has also been used in that effort. The original case material treats six of G. W. Skinner's eight original macroregions, accounting for great variations in political economy, ecology, level of social strife and more. Cores, peripheries, and frontiers within specific regions of China are also examined to add subregional context. In the last two centuries the growth of commerce, the rise of military elites, and the expansion of the public sphere afforded elites greater power as patrons or brokers, but often reduced social legitimacy. But the system, if not specific families, endured. The great value of these regional studies is their mingling of the personal, the cultural, and the political to show local politics as far more than an extension of central rule.
Politics from the Middle Ages until the Early Twentieth Century. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press (260 pp., cloth, $40). These seven essays offer an analytical survey of a long period of regional history, not to provide detailed support for one theory or another, but to illustrate the complexity of the conditions of backwardness from one era or country to the next. The dynamism of a few parts of Western Europe was the exception. Eastern Europe's slow, uneven progress was the norm. The authors note how the interaction of ecological, political, and economic forces stymied growth in Eastern Europe long before regular interaction with Western markets. Western political development, with its 19th century state system and regional interventions, had even more of an impact on Eastern European development. Local elites were forced to harness nationalist impulses and build new state structures. This volume contains much valuable exploration of Eastern European sources and local historical contexts, but some of the effort to divorce politics and economics is not compelling, especially in so brief a form. Duus, Peter (1988) The Cambridge History of Japan, Volume 6: The Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (866 pp., cloth, $89.50). Cambridge University Press has inaugurated the first large-scale survey work on Japanese history in English since the classic three-volume work by Sansom (1958--63). With the appearance of volumes two and five in 1989, three in 1990, and four in 1991, the series may set a Cambridge record for timely completion. Volume six presents 14 chapters which synthesize much recent and classic scholarship, both Japanese and Western. The emphasis is on the development and nature of formal institutions and state action; many issues of social and cultural importance receive limited coverage. While one does not expect theoretical creativity in such surveys, there needs to be a more consistent effort to present and organize major academic debates. Yet it is difficult to both cover such a large subject and reach a wide audience, and this volume is an approachable, often appealing, and lively presentation. Eakin, Marshall (1990) British Enterprise in Brazil: The St. John d'el Rey Mining Company and the Morro Velho Gold Mine, 1830--1960. Durham, NC: Duke University Press (334 pp., cloth, $47.50).
1477
There have been few long-term case studies of foreign capital in the Third World and even fewer on the impact of foreign capital on a local community over time. Eakin has combined comparative and country studies with rich archival material to treat both the company and the town of Nova Lima. He creates quite likely the most detailed such study in the literature. The firm's long-term ability to prosper from the largest gold mine on the continent stemmed from its adaptability to varied political and economic conditions, technological innovation, low political profile, geographic isolation, operation of a secondary industry, and political networking. Some Brazilians gained, but despite the evolution from slavery to a militant, unionized labor force, social injustices continued. There is more material on the firm and on national and international contexts, and less on social issues, but Eakin has done much to keep the coverage balanced. This is a rich and impressive book.
Esherick, Joseph and Mary Rankin (Eds.) (1990) Chinese Local Elites and Patterns of Dominance. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press (468 pp., cloth, $55). With growing awareness of the crucial role of local institutions in effective development, practitioners may wish to see how new research on past experiences confirms or refutes prevailing approaches. The 13 essays in this collection note the classical portrait of the Chinese gentry as officeholders, but go on to paint a wider range of elites, resource contraints and ruling strategies from the 14th to early 20th century. Local elites used education, landholding, and social and cultural symbols to reproduce control. In modern times, commerce has also been used in that effort. The original case material treats six of G. W. Skinner's eight original macroregions, accounting for great variations in political economy, ecology, level of social strife and more. Cores, peripheries, and frontiers within specific regions of China are also examined to add subregional context. In the last two centuries the growth of commerce, the rise of military elites, and the expansion of the public sphere afforded elites greater power as patrons or brokers, but often reduced social legitimacy. But the system, if not specific families, endured. The great value of these regional studies is their mingling of the personal, the cultural, and the political to show local politics as far more than an extension of central rule.