This book contains three pieces by Norman - "By Way of a Preface: The Shrine of Clio," "Japan's Emergence as a Modern State," and "Feudal Background of Japanese Politics." "The Shrine of Clio" was written in 1955 as a brief introduction to Norman's historical essays, Kurio no kao, which was published only in Japanese in 1956. This charming piece serves as a valuable source in revealing Norman as a historian, intellectual, and man. "Japan's Emergence as a Modern State" was originally written as Norman's Ph.D. dissertation at Harvard and was first published in 1940 by the Institute of Pacific Relations. This is probably the most important and certainly the best known historical work by Norman.