Jonathan Norton LeonardReseñas

The first and last paragraph of the Introduction "Throughout most of history Japan has been remote from us of the West and all but unknown-but when it has broken through its isolation to come to our attention, it has never failed to amaze us. When the Portuguese and then other Europeans first came to Japan in the middle of the16th Century, they found this feudal land reminiscent of their own and, appreciating the familiar, decided that the Japanese were most admirable of all Asian peoples. Later, when Japan, after more than two hundred years of self-imposed isolation, was "rediscovered" in the middle of the 19th Century, it soon astounded Europeans by its unique ability among all non-Western lands to close with speed the technological gap that had opened up between the West and the rest of the world." Behind Japan's great achievements lies a very special historical narrative. This is what Mr. Leonard tells with skill and grace, covering the period from Japan's Shadowy beginnings as a backward land on the edges of the civilized world, to the time when the pattern of its own cultural greatness had become well set by the early 17th Century. Edwin O. Reischauer U.S. Ambassador to Japan, 1961-1966

Haunting.

more a history of art in his time. many detailed descriptions of paintings not shown. needs an editor

The history of early Japan.

An excellent introduction to Meso American archaeology.

more interesting than i thought it would be.

A fairly good summary of the pre-Columbian civilizations in the Western hemisphere. However, if you want to discover the Incas and Aztecs, I suggest you read William Prescott's seminal works.

i didn't know any of this. my only other info about japan is movies and samurai movies. i enjoyed the overview of beautiful china and pagodas..

Disappointing. Instead of repeating it it would have been much better if the author inserted a little bit more information. History written about stops in the middle of the 19th century

This book came with the house and the spouse. The kids loved it when they were young and we are basically saving them for the next generation of curious minds.

A Time-Life history of Japan from about 500 A.D. to near-modern times. It's not a place or period of particular interest to me, but the good folk at Time-Life do their usual fine job of making an erudite topic as interesting as possible. I think the most interesting tidbit here was that the reason that Kabuki theater actors are always men (which I knew), is that in 1629 actresses were banned from the stage when the government found that many were doubling off-stage as prostitutes, and using highly suggestive performances to promote themselves.

Part of a series of Foods of the World cookbooks issued by Time life in the 80's. Recipes that we have tried seem to all be good Recipes:.

This series is a well-done Time-Life compendium of factual and illustrated material about various great ages of man, this volume covering ancient America (1000 B.C. to 1600). Too slim to be exhaustive, but the books are well-done and interesting,and the 1967 publishing date is not such a detriment to a history book.½