Avoiding the easy cliches, 29 Dec 2008
This account of the 1944-45 World War II battles against Japan is something of a tour de force by Max Hastings. Drawn from interviews and the papers of those who participated, it presents both sides of the story, but without falling in to moral ambivalence. Even more importantly, it does not look at the decisions made at the time solely from hind sight - it looks at them within the context in which they were made.

Many of the things that happened then become more explicable - not necessarily condonable, but certainly explicable, include Japanese actrocities against those they conquered, and the much debated decision to drop the atom bomb.

Two things which I hadn't previously understood became clear from a reading of this book. The first was that all of the people involved at a high level with the dropping of the bomb failed to understand the qualitative difference between conventional and nuclear explosive. They all thought it was just a biggesr and better version of what the B-29 bombers were already doing to Japanese cities. The second was the extent to which high ranking Japanese military and civilians privately knew the war was lost, but were, because of the warrior cult of bushido, were unable to express unable to express this publically.

Hasting's conclusion, is that, in spite of the fact that the bombing and the submarine blockade having already massively reduced the ability of the Japanese to produce war materiel, the Russian invasion of Japanese occupied China and Korea, and the dropping of the atom bomb were bnecessary to force the Japanese surrender. The atom bomb was necessary to convince the civilians in government that they should surrender, the Russian invasion to force the army to face the fact that it had lost.

Not everyone will agree with this idea, but it is well argued, and cannot be ignored.

Recommended


A Contender for 'Book of the Year', 29 Dec 2008
A few years ago I read Armageddon and thought it was excellent. So a couple of months ago I bought Nemesis and set it side for my 'Christmas read'. I was looking forward to this (in my own sad way!) - but was at the same time wondering if my fond memories of Armageddon would raise my expectations too much and that I might be left disappointed.

The first two or three chapters did have me a bit concerned - so if you you do buy this book note that these chapters are 'big picture', setting-the-scene build ups. Politics and warmongering are considered on a vast scale and although this was no doubt necessary I couldn't get 'involved' and felt a bit cold towards it all. But then the author swoops down from painting this expansive panorama and focuses in on the action. And it is absorbing, exciting, real and enlightening - in turn and at the same time.

In fact I would say that perhaps the genius of this author is his ability to take the reader on a tour where you seem to zoom in on small (but relevant) detail one moment and then soar up through the levels and focus on the big players, personalities, decisions and scenarios. We are presented with 'fox hole' stories and with company, platoon, battalion, corps and army group manoeuvres and strategies. We see the view from all sides, including the much-suffering local, regional and national populations. We are presented with factions inside pretty much all of the involved governments and with the differing national psyches and how these affected behaviours and decision-making. We are treated to excellent descriptions of land, sea and air operations and battles, including valuable insights into kamikaze operations and motivations.

There is no poor chapter - everything is tightly and expertly written. I often found myself wondering at the sheer effort that must have gone into collating such an enormous body of evidence and transforming it into such a readable, well-knitted work.

The sense of physical, geographical achievement as the US forces moved to retake the Philippines and then grind their way towards the Japanese Homeland is highly tangible - at times almost breathtaking - and even if you know the story it still grips.

For those of you worried about prior knowledge, fear not. Mr Hastings assumes nothing and at the same time manages to present the story in an intelligent and highly non-patronising manner.

I read a lot of books and often judge them (crudely) by the extent to which I start wondering how many pages are left compared to worrying how many pages have gone. This book fell well into the latter category. It ranks as one of the best books I have read in a while (and I get through a lot)and surely cements Max Hastings well into position as one of the leading historical authors of our time.

Could be better, 26 Nov 2008
I was a little disappointed with this book. I bought it thinking it would be as good a read as 'Armageddon' by the same author. But here I was wrong. It seems that the author has tried to fill up a long book rather quickly without paying too much attention to the overall readability. He does cover the Japanese point of view too, which is interesting but I think he has included too many personal interviews with survivors. It must be fascinating for someone who lived through it all, who can piece it all together today - but I was left a little confused and just about managed to finish reading the book. Not easy reading.

Essential history that all should know., 26 Nov 2008
An extremely good read, the battle for Japan has not received the same level of historical coverage given to the European Western and Eastern fronts, but this book certainly rectifies that. A compelling, informative and justifiably horrific book, it pulls no punches and serves no political or historical masters. For truth and honesty about the events and the figures that drove them you'll have to go a long way to better this book. Cannot praise highly enough. You should bookend your WWII historical collection with this and it's older brother 'Armageddon-Max Hastings' about the battle for Europe.Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1944-45

BRITISH PACIFIC FORCE?, 14 Aug 2008
At the Winchester Festival, reviewing his book, Hastings made a misguided and alarming remark, "that the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, other than Taranto Raid, played no significant part in WW2". It is therefore no wonder that he has omitted to include in his book the British Pacific Forces's successful attack on the Japanese oil refineries at Palembang (Samatra) in January 1945. Four British fleet carriers with 244 aircraft embarked disabled the refineries that were supplying Japan precious aviation fuel. He has also failed to document one of two VC's won my Fleet Air Arm pilots during WWII - Lt Gray with his plane on fire, pressed home his attack and sank a Japanese destoyer. Glancing through the book Hastings does not do justice to the Royal Navy in the Far East during 1944-45 period, until he educates himselve on the Fleet Air Arm's war effort, I will stay clear of his books. Question for you Max, which allied torpedo bomber aircraft sank more enemy shipping (by tonnage) then any other aircraft acting in the same role during WW2? Clue it is the same aircraft that disabled the Bismarck's steering, enabling the Royal Navy to sink it.

Avoiding the easy cliches, 29 Dec 2008
This account of the 1944-45 World War II battles against Japan is something of a tour de force by Max Hastings. Drawn from interviews and the papers of those who participated, it presents both sides of the story, but without falling in to moral ambivalence. Even more importantly, it does not look at the decisions made at the time solely from hind sight - it looks at them within the context in which they were made.

Many of the things that happened then become more explicable - not necessarily condonable, but certainly explicable, include Japanese actrocities against those they conquered, and the much debated decision to drop the atom bomb.

Two things which I hadn't previously understood became clear from a reading of this book. The first was that all of the people involved at a high level with the dropping of the bomb failed to understand the qualitative difference between conventional and nuclear explosive. They all thought it was just a biggesr and better version of what the B-29 bombers were already doing to Japanese cities. The second was the extent to which high ranking Japanese military and civilians privately knew the war was lost, but were, because of the warrior cult of bushido, were unable to express unable to express this publically.

Hasting's conclusion, is that, in spite of the fact that the bombing and the submarine blockade having already massively reduced the ability of the Japanese to produce war materiel, the Russian invasion of Japanese occupied China and Korea, and the dropping of the atom bomb were bnecessary to force the Japanese surrender. The atom bomb was necessary to convince the civilians in government that they should surrender, the Russian invasion to force the army to face the fact that it had lost.

Not everyone will agree with this idea, but it is well argued, and cannot be ignored.

Recommended


A Contender for 'Book of the Year', 29 Dec 2008
A few years ago I read Armageddon and thought it was excellent. So a couple of months ago I bought Nemesis and set it side for my 'Christmas read'. I was looking forward to this (in my own sad way!) - but was at the same time wondering if my fond memories of Armageddon would raise my expectations too much and that I might be left disappointed.

The first two or three chapters did have me a bit concerned - so if you you do buy this book note that these chapters are 'big picture', setting-the-scene build ups. Politics and warmongering are considered on a vast scale and although this was no doubt necessary I couldn't get 'involved' and felt a bit cold towards it all. But then the author swoops down from painting this expansive panorama and focuses in on the action. And it is absorbing, exciting, real and enlightening - in turn and at the same time.

In fact I would say that perhaps the genius of this author is his ability to take the reader on a tour where you seem to zoom in on small (but relevant) detail one moment and then soar up through the levels and focus on the big players, personalities, decisions and scenarios. We are presented with 'fox hole' stories and with company, platoon, battalion, corps and army group manoeuvres and strategies. We see the view from all sides, including the much-suffering local, regional and national populations. We are presented with factions inside pretty much all of the involved governments and with the differing national psyches and how these affected behaviours and decision-making. We are treated to excellent descriptions of land, sea and air operations and battles, including valuable insights into kamikaze operations and motivations.

There is no poor chapter - everything is tightly and expertly written. I often found myself wondering at the sheer effort that must have gone into collating such an enormous body of evidence and transforming it into such a readable, well-knitted work.

The sense of physical, geographical achievement as the US forces moved to retake the Philippines and then grind their way towards the Japanese Homeland is highly tangible - at times almost breathtaking - and even if you know the story it still grips.

For those of you worried about prior knowledge, fear not. Mr Hastings assumes nothing and at the same time manages to present the story in an intelligent and highly non-patronising manner.

I read a lot of books and often judge them (crudely) by the extent to which I start wondering how many pages are left compared to worrying how many pages have gone. This book fell well into the latter category. It ranks as one of the best books I have read in a while (and I get through a lot)and surely cements Max Hastings well into position as one of the leading historical authors of our time.

Could be better, 26 Nov 2008
I was a little disappointed with this book. I bought it thinking it would be as good a read as 'Armageddon' by the same author. But here I was wrong. It seems that the author has tried to fill up a long book rather quickly without paying too much attention to the overall readability. He does cover the Japanese point of view too, which is interesting but I think he has included too many personal interviews with survivors. It must be fascinating for someone who lived through it all, who can piece it all together today - but I was left a little confused and just about managed to finish reading the book. Not easy reading.

Essential history that all should know., 26 Nov 2008
An extremely good read, the battle for Japan has not received the same level of historical coverage given to the European Western and Eastern fronts, but this book certainly rectifies that. A compelling, informative and justifiably horrific book, it pulls no punches and serves no political or historical masters. For truth and honesty about the events and the figures that drove them you'll have to go a long way to better this book. Cannot praise highly enough. You should bookend your WWII historical collection with this and it's older brother 'Armageddon-Max Hastings' about the battle for Europe.Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1944-45

BRITISH PACIFIC FORCE?, 14 Aug 2008
At the Winchester Festival, reviewing his book, Hastings made a misguided and alarming remark, "that the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, other than Taranto Raid, played no significant part in WW2". It is therefore no wonder that he has omitted to include in his book the British Pacific Forces's successful attack on the Japanese oil refineries at Palembang (Samatra) in January 1945. Four British fleet carriers with 244 aircraft embarked disabled the refineries that were supplying Japan precious aviation fuel. He has also failed to document one of two VC's won my Fleet Air Arm pilots during WWII - Lt Gray with his plane on fire, pressed home his attack and sank a Japanese destoyer. Glancing through the book Hastings does not do justice to the Royal Navy in the Far East during 1944-45 period, until he educates himselve on the Fleet Air Arm's war effort, I will stay clear of his books. Question for you Max, which allied torpedo bomber aircraft sank more enemy shipping (by tonnage) then any other aircraft acting in the same role during WW2? Clue it is the same aircraft that disabled the Bismarck's steering, enabling the Royal Navy to sink it.

A fable for the twentieth century, brimming with pain and sorrow, 04 Dec 2008
This haunting personal odyssey through the political and social convulsions of twentieth century China should carry a health warning: This book will linger in the mind for months to come. Jung Chang recounts through personal memoirs and memories the turbulent and tragic lives of her grandparents and parents in Manchuria early in the century as the country desperately tries to shake off the brutality of the feudal warlord government. But no sooner had the Kuomintang arrived to unify most of China than the hapless population of Manchuria fell under the nightmare of Japanese occupation. Several years later and the brief and cruel `liberation' by the Russians is followed by the Kuomintang-Communist civil war. During the Japanese occupation many people had sided with the Kuomintang nationalists rather than the Communists as they appeared at the time to be in a better position to kick out the foreign oppressors. However, they were to pay for that allegiance once the Communist Party was in power.
The author was born into the People's Republic of China in Sichuan province. Her parents had been enthusiastic activists and supporters of the Communists but it didn't take long for the great socialist utopia under Mao Zedong to degenerate into an unutterably crass and barbaric regime hell-bent on manipulating, controlling and terrorising the population. Their actions cloaked in totalitarian doublespeak, Party officials invent, hunt down and persecute `class enemies', `counterrevolutionaries', `rightists' and `capitalist-roaders' in an endless cycle of murderous campaigns. Jung's parents, like millions of others, see their fortunes rise and fall with these campaigns at the whim of the Party because of their family's early association with the Kuomintang. They are periodically denounced, threatened, beaten, tormented, paraded, imprisoned and exiled, suffering every humiliation that could be inflicted on an individual. That suffering, told with an astonishing lack of bitterness forms the backdrop to Jung's early life.
As Mao's grip tightens his obsession with demonstrating the superiority of communism over capitalism results in the catastrophic Great Leap Forward when the labour of almost the entire workforce is directed towards producing steel while the countryside implodes resulting in an apocalyptic famine and the deaths of an estimated 30 million people. Incredibly, propaganda blamed this on bad weather and after a slight drop in his popularity Mao begins to engineer his own demonic cult of the personality, his deification coming easily to a culture that had been used to worshipping emperors as quasi-gods. Now Mao was to set about destroying the Party, the last impediment to his total personal power. The battered and impoverished Chinese people, desperately trying to recover from the horror of the Great Leap Forward, now had the Cultural Revolution unleashed upon them. During this collective spell of insanity Mao's Red Guards, consisting largely of schoolchildren and students on the rampage, were whipped into a frenzy to turn upon, humiliate, beat and destroy their teachers and consequently all education. In an attempt to edit the past out of existence, China lost almost its entire written heritage along with its religious and historical sites, statues, temples and old towns, everywhere destroyed. Eventually, with everyone denouncing everyone in order to survive the country had been turned into a `moral wasteland of hatred' and there was nowhere left to go.
This exquisite and powerful book follows the author and her siblings through these terrifying phases and is a compulsive page-turner written in clear, delicate English and brimming with pain and sorrow. I doubt if there has been a more honest and poignant portrayal of daily life under a totalitarian regime, where terror pervades every stratum of society, every family, every thought and deed.




The most amazing history lesson I have ever had!!, 22 Oct 2008
I've never felt so sad to reach the end of a book in all my life. This book is truely amazing and is well and truely the best book I've ever read! I even had the urge to start reading it all over again as soon as I'd finished.

Wild Swans follows the journey of three generations of women, from the same family, through the tragic history of twentieth century China.

I felt almost ashamed that I wasn't aware of hardly any of China's recent history. I picked the book up as I was doing a charity trek along the Great Wall in August 2008 and felt I should brush up on the history of the country. Although I had read wonderful things about this book I was prepared for a dull history lesson, one that I felt I had to put myself through. Sure it was a history lesson, but a breathtaking, extraordinary, unforgettable one. I struggled to remember that what I was reading was a true story, an account of three peoples' lives!

No one told me this book was banned in China. So in my hand luggage it went, luckily I, and the book, made it there and back safely. I wish I had managed to finish it before I left for China, but when I returned from my trip I was even more eager to learn about the wonderful country I had just visited!

This book is outstanding! It's not possible to put into words how much I enjoyed it. Please, just read it!!

An accessible history, 16 Oct 2008
One of the best books I have ever read.
Touching and heartfelt, yet matter of fact and never sentimental. This book is remarkably easy to read, I found it hard to put down. At once, this is the epic story of a family and a country. I could never have believed the amount of knowledge I accumulated from this book. The writing style of Jung Chang made it effortless.

worth it, 15 Oct 2008
Firstly I will admit it's been a few years since I read this and a friend has it now so I can't skim through it to refresh my memory.

The story travels through china before communist rule to the present. Most of the book is in the time of the Mao rule but I found it never really thought of this government as a bad thing, or a good thing. I never got an impression that the author blamed this government for what happened. I think this is one of the best things about this book, you see more the mindset of the people at the time.

As I had said a friend has it now, it got passed around and all of us loved the book. It even gave two the idea of going to China on holiday.

I picked this book up for a fiver because I was a student at the time and found it difficult to justify spending that much money on a book, but it would have been worth it even it I did pay the full price. (and thank you to the person who left it into a 2nd hand book shop)

An emotionally gripping, roller-coaster ride through the lives of three fascinating women, 02 Oct 2008
This is without doubt one of the best books I've ever read. It is a powerful, gripping story that takes you through act after act of what human beings are capable of doing on this Earth, sometimes in the most brutal fashion.

Based on the lives of three generations of women, it starts in turn of the 20th century China, when the Qing dynasty was starting to crumble and that way of life was coming to an end, taking you through the civil war, Mao coming to power, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution before ending in the 70s when the author leaves for Britain.

This is a "no holding back" story of survival with frequent scenarios detailing the worst and most brutal of human suffering. Reading through makes you realise the many things in this world we take for granted: democracy, security, civil liberties and freedom. It is an epic life story seen through the eyes of three ordinary women. They weren't world leaders or iconic historical figures, but ordinary citizens living their lives in a regime that is regarded with controversy even to this day.

All in all, although it's a book detailing suffering, fear and brutality it is an uplifting story of survival. You can't help but shed a tear for the person who survives, against all the odds, to make a better life for themselves. Like Pandora's box, once opened you'll see all the sins of the world come to fruition but one thing will remain at the end: hope.

If you're going to make a stir, you might as well do it in style. And Gavin Menzies has caused one, big time. In 1421: The Year China Discovered the World, this retired Royal Navy submarine commander, who only visited China for the first time on his 25th wedding anniversary, claims that the Chinese navigator Zheng He discovered America some 71 years before Columbus. And not content with this, he goes on to suggest that Zheng He learnt how to calculate longitude several centuries before John Harrison supposedly nailed the problem. Unsurprisingly, this has not gone down too well in some areas and the book has been the target of some scepticism.

Although Menzies has unearthed a few unknown primary sources, the bulk of his thesis depends on amalgamating several disparate areas of research into a grand unified theory. So he combines what we do know--principally that the Chinese built huge sailing ships with nine masts and that Asiatic chickens were discovered in South America--into what he considers compelling evidence. Menzies has also turned up some maps from the pre-Columbus era that appear to show the Americas, along with a few shipwrecks and Ming artefacts from along his supposed route.

It all makes for a gripping read, even if the sum doesn't quite add up to the whole. For all the detail, Menzies is some way off providing proof. None of the supposed 28,000 colonists has left any documentary evidence because all records, boats and shipyards associated with his voyage were burnt by imperial order in 1433. This surely begs the question--if we know so much of Zheng He's voyages around the Indian Ocean, how come we know nothing of his trips further east? Nor, conveniently for Menzies, did any of the colonists return home in triumph. They either died en route or skulked home to obscurity after they were disowned by the emperor.

So you either accept Menzies as an act of faith or brush him aside with scepticism. Either way, you'll have a lot of fun in the process as the book is never less than provocative. And even the sceptics will find themselves hoping Menzies has got it right, because there's something intrinsically uplifting about the notion of an amateur historian getting one over the professionals. --John Crace

Avoiding the easy cliches, 29 Dec 2008
This account of the 1944-45 World War II battles against Japan is something of a tour de force by Max Hastings. Drawn from interviews and the papers of those who participated, it presents both sides of the story, but without falling in to moral ambivalence. Even more importantly, it does not look at the decisions made at the time solely from hind sight - it looks at them within the context in which they were made.

Many of the things that happened then become more explicable - not necessarily condonable, but certainly explicable, include Japanese actrocities against those they conquered, and the much debated decision to drop the atom bomb.

Two things which I hadn't previously understood became clear from a reading of this book. The first was that all of the people involved at a high level with the dropping of the bomb failed to understand the qualitative difference between conventional and nuclear explosive. They all thought it was just a biggesr and better version of what the B-29 bombers were already doing to Japanese cities. The second was the extent to which high ranking Japanese military and civilians privately knew the war was lost, but were, because of the warrior cult of bushido, were unable to express unable to express this publically.

Hasting's conclusion, is that, in spite of the fact that the bombing and the submarine blockade having already massively reduced the ability of the Japanese to produce war materiel, the Russian invasion of Japanese occupied China and Korea, and the dropping of the atom bomb were bnecessary to force the Japanese surrender. The atom bomb was necessary to convince the civilians in government that they should surrender, the Russian invasion to force the army to face the fact that it had lost.

Not everyone will agree with this idea, but it is well argued, and cannot be ignored.

Recommended


A Contender for 'Book of the Year', 29 Dec 2008
A few years ago I read Armageddon and thought it was excellent. So a couple of months ago I bought Nemesis and set it side for my 'Christmas read'. I was looking forward to this (in my own sad way!) - but was at the same time wondering if my fond memories of Armageddon would raise my expectations too much and that I might be left disappointed.

The first two or three chapters did have me a bit concerned - so if you you do buy this book note that these chapters are 'big picture', setting-the-scene build ups. Politics and warmongering are considered on a vast scale and although this was no doubt necessary I couldn't get 'involved' and felt a bit cold towards it all. But then the author swoops down from painting this expansive panorama and focuses in on the action. And it is absorbing, exciting, real and enlightening - in turn and at the same time.

In fact I would say that perhaps the genius of this author is his ability to take the reader on a tour where you seem to zoom in on small (but relevant) detail one moment and then soar up through the levels and focus on the big players, personalities, decisions and scenarios. We are presented with 'fox hole' stories and with company, platoon, battalion, corps and army group manoeuvres and strategies. We see the view from all sides, including the much-suffering local, regional and national populations. We are presented with factions inside pretty much all of the involved governments and with the differing national psyches and how these affected behaviours and decision-making. We are treated to excellent descriptions of land, sea and air operations and battles, including valuable insights into kamikaze operations and motivations.

There is no poor chapter - everything is tightly and expertly written. I often found myself wondering at the sheer effort that must have gone into collating such an enormous body of evidence and transforming it into such a readable, well-knitted work.

The sense of physical, geographical achievement as the US forces moved to retake the Philippines and then grind their way towards the Japanese Homeland is highly tangible - at times almost breathtaking - and even if you know the story it still grips.

For those of you worried about prior knowledge, fear not. Mr Hastings assumes nothing and at the same time manages to present the story in an intelligent and highly non-patronising manner.

I read a lot of books and often judge them (crudely) by the extent to which I start wondering how many pages are left compared to worrying how many pages have gone. This book fell well into the latter category. It ranks as one of the best books I have read in a while (and I get through a lot)and surely cements Max Hastings well into position as one of the leading historical authors of our time.

Could be better, 26 Nov 2008
I was a little disappointed with this book. I bought it thinking it would be as good a read as 'Armageddon' by the same author. But here I was wrong. It seems that the author has tried to fill up a long book rather quickly without paying too much attention to the overall readability. He does cover the Japanese point of view too, which is interesting but I think he has included too many personal interviews with survivors. It must be fascinating for someone who lived through it all, who can piece it all together today - but I was left a little confused and just about managed to finish reading the book. Not easy reading.

Essential history that all should know., 26 Nov 2008
An extremely good read, the battle for Japan has not received the same level of historical coverage given to the European Western and Eastern fronts, but this book certainly rectifies that. A compelling, informative and justifiably horrific book, it pulls no punches and serves no political or historical masters. For truth and honesty about the events and the figures that drove them you'll have to go a long way to better this book. Cannot praise highly enough. You should bookend your WWII historical collection with this and it's older brother 'Armageddon-Max Hastings' about the battle for Europe.Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1944-45

BRITISH PACIFIC FORCE?, 14 Aug 2008
At the Winchester Festival, reviewing his book, Hastings made a misguided and alarming remark, "that the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, other than Taranto Raid, played no significant part in WW2". It is therefore no wonder that he has omitted to include in his book the British Pacific Forces's successful attack on the Japanese oil refineries at Palembang (Samatra) in January 1945. Four British fleet carriers with 244 aircraft embarked disabled the refineries that were supplying Japan precious aviation fuel. He has also failed to document one of two VC's won my Fleet Air Arm pilots during WWII - Lt Gray with his plane on fire, pressed home his attack and sank a Japanese destoyer. Glancing through the book Hastings does not do justice to the Royal Navy in the Far East during 1944-45 period, until he educates himselve on the Fleet Air Arm's war effort, I will stay clear of his books. Question for you Max, which allied torpedo bomber aircraft sank more enemy shipping (by tonnage) then any other aircraft acting in the same role during WW2? Clue it is the same aircraft that disabled the Bismarck's steering, enabling the Royal Navy to sink it.

A fable for the twentieth century, brimming with pain and sorrow, 04 Dec 2008
This haunting personal odyssey through the political and social convulsions of twentieth century China should carry a health warning: This book will linger in the mind for months to come. Jung Chang recounts through personal memoirs and memories the turbulent and tragic lives of her grandparents and parents in Manchuria early in the century as the country desperately tries to shake off the brutality of the feudal warlord government. But no sooner had the Kuomintang arrived to unify most of China than the hapless population of Manchuria fell under the nightmare of Japanese occupation. Several years later and the brief and cruel `liberation' by the Russians is followed by the Kuomintang-Communist civil war. During the Japanese occupation many people had sided with the Kuomintang nationalists rather than the Communists as they appeared at the time to be in a better position to kick out the foreign oppressors. However, they were to pay for that allegiance once the Communist Party was in power.
The author was born into the People's Republic of China in Sichuan province. Her parents had been enthusiastic activists and supporters of the Communists but it didn't take long for the great socialist utopia under Mao Zedong to degenerate into an unutterably crass and barbaric regime hell-bent on manipulating, controlling and terrorising the population. Their actions cloaked in totalitarian doublespeak, Party officials invent, hunt down and persecute `class enemies', `counterrevolutionaries', `rightists' and `capitalist-roaders' in an endless cycle of murderous campaigns. Jung's parents, like millions of others, see their fortunes rise and fall with these campaigns at the whim of the Party because of their family's early association with the Kuomintang. They are periodically denounced, threatened, beaten, tormented, paraded, imprisoned and exiled, suffering every humiliation that could be inflicted on an individual. That suffering, told with an astonishing lack of bitterness forms the backdrop to Jung's early life.
As Mao's grip tightens his obsession with demonstrating the superiority of communism over capitalism results in the catastrophic Great Leap Forward when the labour of almost the entire workforce is directed towards producing steel while the countryside implodes resulting in an apocalyptic famine and the deaths of an estimated 30 million people. Incredibly, propaganda blamed this on bad weather and after a slight drop in his popularity Mao begins to engineer his own demonic cult of the personality, his deification coming easily to a culture that had been used to worshipping emperors as quasi-gods. Now Mao was to set about destroying the Party, the last impediment to his total personal power. The battered and impoverished Chinese people, desperately trying to recover from the horror of the Great Leap Forward, now had the Cultural Revolution unleashed upon them. During this collective spell of insanity Mao's Red Guards, consisting largely of schoolchildren and students on the rampage, were whipped into a frenzy to turn upon, humiliate, beat and destroy their teachers and consequently all education. In an attempt to edit the past out of existence, China lost almost its entire written heritage along with its religious and historical sites, statues, temples and old towns, everywhere destroyed. Eventually, with everyone denouncing everyone in order to survive the country had been turned into a `moral wasteland of hatred' and there was nowhere left to go.
This exquisite and powerful book follows the author and her siblings through these terrifying phases and is a compulsive page-turner written in clear, delicate English and brimming with pain and sorrow. I doubt if there has been a more honest and poignant portrayal of daily life under a totalitarian regime, where terror pervades every stratum of society, every family, every thought and deed.




The most amazing history lesson I have ever had!!, 22 Oct 2008
I've never felt so sad to reach the end of a book in all my life. This book is truely amazing and is well and truely the best book I've ever read! I even had the urge to start reading it all over again as soon as I'd finished.

Wild Swans follows the journey of three generations of women, from the same family, through the tragic history of twentieth century China.

I felt almost ashamed that I wasn't aware of hardly any of China's recent history. I picked the book up as I was doing a charity trek along the Great Wall in August 2008 and felt I should brush up on the history of the country. Although I had read wonderful things about this book I was prepared for a dull history lesson, one that I felt I had to put myself through. Sure it was a history lesson, but a breathtaking, extraordinary, unforgettable one. I struggled to remember that what I was reading was a true story, an account of three peoples' lives!

No one told me this book was banned in China. So in my hand luggage it went, luckily I, and the book, made it there and back safely. I wish I had managed to finish it before I left for China, but when I returned from my trip I was even more eager to learn about the wonderful country I had just visited!

This book is outstanding! It's not possible to put into words how much I enjoyed it. Please, just read it!!

An accessible history, 16 Oct 2008
One of the best books I have ever read.
Touching and heartfelt, yet matter of fact and never sentimental. This book is remarkably easy to read, I found it hard to put down. At once, this is the epic story of a family and a country. I could never have believed the amount of knowledge I accumulated from this book. The writing style of Jung Chang made it effortless.

worth it, 15 Oct 2008
Firstly I will admit it's been a few years since I read this and a friend has it now so I can't skim through it to refresh my memory.

The story travels through china before communist rule to the present. Most of the book is in the time of the Mao rule but I found it never really thought of this government as a bad thing, or a good thing. I never got an impression that the author blamed this government for what happened. I think this is one of the best things about this book, you see more the mindset of the people at the time.

As I had said a friend has it now, it got passed around and all of us loved the book. It even gave two the idea of going to China on holiday.

I picked this book up for a fiver because I was a student at the time and found it difficult to justify spending that much money on a book, but it would have been worth it even it I did pay the full price. (and thank you to the person who left it into a 2nd hand book shop)

An emotionally gripping, roller-coaster ride through the lives of three fascinating women, 02 Oct 2008
This is without doubt one of the best books I've ever read. It is a powerful, gripping story that takes you through act after act of what human beings are capable of doing on this Earth, sometimes in the most brutal fashion.

Based on the lives of three generations of women, it starts in turn of the 20th century China, when the Qing dynasty was starting to crumble and that way of life was coming to an end, taking you through the civil war, Mao coming to power, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution before ending in the 70s when the author leaves for Britain.

This is a "no holding back" story of survival with frequent scenarios detailing the worst and most brutal of human suffering. Reading through makes you realise the many things in this world we take for granted: democracy, security, civil liberties and freedom. It is an epic life story seen through the eyes of three ordinary women. They weren't world leaders or iconic historical figures, but ordinary citizens living their lives in a regime that is regarded with controversy even to this day.

All in all, although it's a book detailing suffering, fear and brutality it is an uplifting story of survival. You can't help but shed a tear for the person who survives, against all the odds, to make a better life for themselves. Like Pandora's box, once opened you'll see all the sins of the world come to fruition but one thing will remain at the end: hope.

Tedious and unconvincing, 20 Dec 2008
Fascinating story, but it rapidly became clear as I worked through the book that Menzies is prepared to accept pretty much anything anyone tells him as "evidence". The story starts with the well documented and widely accepted story of Zheng He and the treasure fleets of the early Ming dynasty. These were remarkable vessels and their story, and the large amount of evidence behind it, is ably covered in "When China ruled the seas" by Louise Levathes. The difference between the two authors is that Levathes (mostly) restricts herself to what the evidence supports, while Menzies is happy to accept the flimsiest of conjectures as proof positive.

The actual evidence for Chinese voyages runs out at the eastern coast of Africa and on the Australian coast. But Menzies quite happily extrapolates beyond this. Evidence of Chinese genes and customs in parts of the US? Must have been the treasure fleet (never mind that there have been plenty of other historical contacts). A map purportedly showing the northern coast of Eurasia before it was charted by the Russians? Treasure fleet must have dunnit. A natural rock formation in the Bahamas bearing some visual resemblance to a built structure. Obviously the Chinese made it - based on nothing other than Menzies' claim that the formation has dimensions similar to the largest ships in the fleet.

Menzies is either extremely gullible, or he's taking his audience for a ride on the scale of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". I wouldn't mind if it were an exhilarating ride, but it's rather long and tedious and just no fun at all. If you want alternative history, can I suggest Harry Turtledove or Michael Moorcock as rather more entertaining?


Risible, flea-brained stupidity, 07 Sep 2008
There is such a thing as a work of fantasy. This is book is just that. No evidence whatsoever. No proof. No circumstantial evidence. Pure tosh from start to finish. This is no more history than books on Atlantis are history.
Do youselves a favour - if Sino-European history interests you, buy a good, well-respected, well-researched work on the subject. Leave foolishness like this to the idiots.

An interesting read, 30 Aug 2008
The basic premise of this book is that prior to the European voyages of discovery a massive fleet of ships left China and ended up circumnavigating the globe and on the way discovered North and South America, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand and Greenland. The author, Gavin Menzies, is a former Royal Navy submarine commander and as such much of his evidence is based on his knowledge of currents and wind direction when compared to maps that predate the voyages of Columbus. He goes on to use a number of other sources of evidence to back up his case including, among other things, the presence of mysterious wrecks scattered the globe, the presence of animals and plants outside their native lands before Europeans reached them and the diaries of the first European explorers themselves.

While much of the evidence presented in this book is thought provoking and definitely worthy of further study there are many pieces that are open to other interpretation and some that can only be described as circumstantial. I feel some of the problem that this book has is that it doesn't generally present its evidence in the best way possible being overly repetitious in places and being a bit too informal in others. Overall 1421 is an interesting book that does present many new questions for historians on the accepted view of the voyages discovery but it does require more research.

Lovely PR hype - but sadly fairly rubbish history, 19 Jun 2008
You'd hope for more from a former Royal Navy commander, but sadly while his publicity machine is first rate, his history is anything but.

It would be lovely to turn what we know about naval history on its head and say that the Chinese Admiral Zheng He conclusively 'discovered' America or Australia long before any European navigators/explorers.

Unfortunately, this book falls into the category of what publishers call "wa-wa" history. In other words, it ain't true - and the historical reseach is shoddy.

The publishers know it's rubbish. We the public know it's rubbish, but we buy it anyway. And so they publish, because they know we'll buy it and they'll make money. In other words we get the books we deserve. We should be reading decent, reseach-based histories - but we find them rather dull so we don't....

Despite the welter of 5 and 4 star reviews this book has garnered on Amazon, it is important - before you buy it - to note one important fact.

Not ONE single naval historian has given any credence to these claims. Not any European - nor any Chinese - historian. In fact, they all say that the evidence is not there.

While other readers seem to like this book, I have to say that having read other books on global trade and sea voyages in the pre-modern era, I found Menzies style very confusing and it was very difficult to follow his train of thought and how he was using evidence to support his conclusions

Astonishingly, Menzies seems to have ignored two key pieces of Chinese evidence for Zheng He's voyages which list the countries he visited - and don't mention anything that could be America.

In fact Menzies does not read Chinese and there are no direct quotes from any articles or studies written in Chinese. Which is pretty gob-smacking when you think the book is about a Chinese Admiral!

The book may be entertaining, and I am sure Gavin Menzies is a nice bloke etc etc. But that ain't enough. For me his book was full of circular reasoning, speculation, distorted sources and slapdash research.

Or as has already been said - this book may well prove to be the Piltdown Man of literature and should only be classified as fiction.

You may think this is a case of the little man, the amateur, beating the massed hords of the professionals. That is always a very beguiling image, but it's the wrong one to picture.

This book is a triumph for publishing hype and muddled thinking and writing. For that reason we should give it a wide berth. Unless of course you actually like your history as fiction. In which case, be my guest. However, you have been warned....

Mind boggling pseudo-history, 25 May 2008
His far-fetched theories, while very interesting, have no scientific basis.
Any curious fact stated in the book that was checked by a (reputable) scientists was found false.
Read the well researched and scientifically sound "When China Ruled the Seas" by Louise Levathes, or check the Internet sites at & to understand the hoax...

Avoiding the easy cliches, 29 Dec 2008
This account of the 1944-45 World War II battles against Japan is something of a tour de force by Max Hastings. Drawn from interviews and the papers of those who participated, it presents both sides of the story, but without falling in to moral ambivalence. Even more importantly, it does not look at the decisions made at the time solely from hind sight - it looks at them within the context in which they were made.

Many of the things that happened then become more explicable - not necessarily condonable, but certainly explicable, include Japanese actrocities against those they conquered, and the much debated decision to drop the atom bomb.

Two things which I hadn't previously understood became clear from a reading of this book. The first was that all of the people involved at a high level with the dropping of the bomb failed to understand the qualitative difference between conventional and nuclear explosive. They all thought it was just a biggesr and better version of what the B-29 bombers were already doing to Japanese cities. The second was the extent to which high ranking Japanese military and civilians privately knew the war was lost, but were, because of the warrior cult of bushido, were unable to express unable to express this publically.

Hasting's conclusion, is that, in spite of the fact that the bombing and the submarine blockade having already massively reduced the ability of the Japanese to produce war materiel, the Russian invasion of Japanese occupied China and Korea, and the dropping of the atom bomb were bnecessary to force the Japanese surrender. The atom bomb was necessary to convince the civilians in government that they should surrender, the Russian invasion to force the army to face the fact that it had lost.

Not everyone will agree with this idea, but it is well argued, and cannot be ignored.

Recommended


A Contender for 'Book of the Year', 29 Dec 2008
A few years ago I read Armageddon and thought it was excellent. So a couple of months ago I bought Nemesis and set it side for my 'Christmas read'. I was looking forward to this (in my own sad way!) - but was at the same time wondering if my fond memories of Armageddon would raise my expectations too much and that I might be left disappointed.

The first two or three chapters did have me a bit concerned - so if you you do buy this book note that these chapters are 'big picture', setting-the-scene build ups. Politics and warmongering are considered on a vast scale and although this was no doubt necessary I couldn't get 'involved' and felt a bit cold towards it all. But then the author swoops down from painting this expansive panorama and focuses in on the action. And it is absorbing, exciting, real and enlightening - in turn and at the same time.

In fact I would say that perhaps the genius of this author is his ability to take the reader on a tour where you seem to zoom in on small (but relevant) detail one moment and then soar up through the levels and focus on the big players, personalities, decisions and scenarios. We are presented with 'fox hole' stories and with company, platoon, battalion, corps and army group manoeuvres and strategies. We see the view from all sides, including the much-suffering local, regional and national populations. We are presented with factions inside pretty much all of the involved governments and with the differing national psyches and how these affected behaviours and decision-making. We are treated to excellent descriptions of land, sea and air operations and battles, including valuable insights into kamikaze operations and motivations.

There is no poor chapter - everything is tightly and expertly written. I often found myself wondering at the sheer effort that must have gone into collating such an enormous body of evidence and transforming it into such a readable, well-knitted work.

The sense of physical, geographical achievement as the US forces moved to retake the Philippines and then grind their way towards the Japanese Homeland is highly tangible - at times almost breathtaking - and even if you know the story it still grips.

For those of you worried about prior knowledge, fear not. Mr Hastings assumes nothing and at the same time manages to present the story in an intelligent and highly non-patronising manner.

I read a lot of books and often judge them (crudely) by the extent to which I start wondering how many pages are left compared to worrying how many pages have gone. This book fell well into the latter category. It ranks as one of the best books I have read in a while (and I get through a lot)and surely cements Max Hastings well into position as one of the leading historical authors of our time.

Could be better, 26 Nov 2008
I was a little disappointed with this book. I bought it thinking it would be as good a read as 'Armageddon' by the same author. But here I was wrong. It seems that the author has tried to fill up a long book rather quickly without paying too much attention to the overall readability. He does cover the Japanese point of view too, which is interesting but I think he has included too many personal interviews with survivors. It must be fascinating for someone who lived through it all, who can piece it all together today - but I was left a little confused and just about managed to finish reading the book. Not easy reading.

Essential history that all should know., 26 Nov 2008
An extremely good read, the battle for Japan has not received the same level of historical coverage given to the European Western and Eastern fronts, but this book certainly rectifies that. A compelling, informative and justifiably horrific book, it pulls no punches and serves no political or historical masters. For truth and honesty about the events and the figures that drove them you'll have to go a long way to better this book. Cannot praise highly enough. You should bookend your WWII historical collection with this and it's older brother 'Armageddon-Max Hastings' about the battle for Europe.Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1944-45

BRITISH PACIFIC FORCE?, 14 Aug 2008
At the Winchester Festival, reviewing his book, Hastings made a misguided and alarming remark, "that the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, other than Taranto Raid, played no significant part in WW2". It is therefore no wonder that he has omitted to include in his book the British Pacific Forces's successful attack on the Japanese oil refineries at Palembang (Samatra) in January 1945. Four British fleet carriers with 244 aircraft embarked disabled the refineries that were supplying Japan precious aviation fuel. He has also failed to document one of two VC's won my Fleet Air Arm pilots during WWII - Lt Gray with his plane on fire, pressed home his attack and sank a Japanese destoyer. Glancing through the book Hastings does not do justice to the Royal Navy in the Far East during 1944-45 period, until he educates himselve on the Fleet Air Arm's war effort, I will stay clear of his books. Question for you Max, which allied torpedo bomber aircraft sank more enemy shipping (by tonnage) then any other aircraft acting in the same role during WW2? Clue it is the same aircraft that disabled the Bismarck's steering, enabling the Royal Navy to sink it.

A fable for the twentieth century, brimming with pain and sorrow, 04 Dec 2008
This haunting personal odyssey through the political and social convulsions of twentieth century China should carry a health warning: This book will linger in the mind for months to come. Jung Chang recounts through personal memoirs and memories the turbulent and tragic lives of her grandparents and parents in Manchuria early in the century as the country desperately tries to shake off the brutality of the feudal warlord government. But no sooner had the Kuomintang arrived to unify most of China than the hapless population of Manchuria fell under the nightmare of Japanese occupation. Several years later and the brief and cruel `liberation' by the Russians is followed by the Kuomintang-Communist civil war. During the Japanese occupation many people had sided with the Kuomintang nationalists rather than the Communists as they appeared at the time to be in a better position to kick out the foreign oppressors. However, they were to pay for that allegiance once the Communist Party was in power.
The author was born into the People's Republic of China in Sichuan province. Her parents had been enthusiastic activists and supporters of the Communists but it didn't take long for the great socialist utopia under Mao Zedong to degenerate into an unutterably crass and barbaric regime hell-bent on manipulating, controlling and terrorising the population. Their actions cloaked in totalitarian doublespeak, Party officials invent, hunt down and persecute `class enemies', `counterrevolutionaries', `rightists' and `capitalist-roaders' in an endless cycle of murderous campaigns. Jung's parents, like millions of others, see their fortunes rise and fall with these campaigns at the whim of the Party because of their family's early association with the Kuomintang. They are periodically denounced, threatened, beaten, tormented, paraded, imprisoned and exiled, suffering every humiliation that could be inflicted on an individual. That suffering, told with an astonishing lack of bitterness forms the backdrop to Jung's early life.
As Mao's grip tightens his obsession with demonstrating the superiority of communism over capitalism results in the catastrophic Great Leap Forward when the labour of almost the entire workforce is directed towards producing steel while the countryside implodes resulting in an apocalyptic famine and the deaths of an estimated 30 million people. Incredibly, propaganda blamed this on bad weather and after a slight drop in his popularity Mao begins to engineer his own demonic cult of the personality, his deification coming easily to a culture that had been used to worshipping emperors as quasi-gods. Now Mao was to set about destroying the Party, the last impediment to his total personal power. The battered and impoverished Chinese people, desperately trying to recover from the horror of the Great Leap Forward, now had the Cultural Revolution unleashed upon them. During this collective spell of insanity Mao's Red Guards, consisting largely of schoolchildren and students on the rampage, were whipped into a frenzy to turn upon, humiliate, beat and destroy their teachers and consequently all education. In an attempt to edit the past out of existence, China lost almost its entire written heritage along with its religious and historical sites, statues, temples and old towns, everywhere destroyed. Eventually, with everyone denouncing everyone in order to survive the country had been turned into a `moral wasteland of hatred' and there was nowhere left to go.
This exquisite and powerful book follows the author and her siblings through these terrifying phases and is a compulsive page-turner written in clear, delicate English and brimming with pain and sorrow. I doubt if there has been a more honest and poignant portrayal of daily life under a totalitarian regime, where terror pervades every stratum of society, every family, every thought and deed.




The most amazing history lesson I have ever had!!, 22 Oct 2008
I've never felt so sad to reach the end of a book in all my life. This book is truely amazing and is well and truely the best book I've ever read! I even had the urge to start reading it all over again as soon as I'd finished.

Wild Swans follows the journey of three generations of women, from the same family, through the tragic history of twentieth century China.

I felt almost ashamed that I wasn't aware of hardly any of China's recent history. I picked the book up as I was doing a charity trek along the Great Wall in August 2008 and felt I should brush up on the history of the country. Although I had read wonderful things about this book I was prepared for a dull history lesson, one that I felt I had to put myself through. Sure it was a history lesson, but a breathtaking, extraordinary, unforgettable one. I struggled to remember that what I was reading was a true story, an account of three peoples' lives!

No one told me this book was banned in China. So in my hand luggage it went, luckily I, and the book, made it there and back safely. I wish I had managed to finish it before I left for China, but when I returned from my trip I was even more eager to learn about the wonderful country I had just visited!

This book is outstanding! It's not possible to put into words how much I enjoyed it. Please, just read it!!

An accessible history, 16 Oct 2008
One of the best books I have ever read.
Touching and heartfelt, yet matter of fact and never sentimental. This book is remarkably easy to read, I found it hard to put down. At once, this is the epic story of a family and a country. I could never have believed the amount of knowledge I accumulated from this book. The writing style of Jung Chang made it effortless.

worth it, 15 Oct 2008
Firstly I will admit it's been a few years since I read this and a friend has it now so I can't skim through it to refresh my memory.

The story travels through china before communist rule to the present. Most of the book is in the time of the Mao rule but I found it never really thought of this government as a bad thing, or a good thing. I never got an impression that the author blamed this government for what happened. I think this is one of the best things about this book, you see more the mindset of the people at the time.

As I had said a friend has it now, it got passed around and all of us loved the book. It even gave two the idea of going to China on holiday.

I picked this book up for a fiver because I was a student at the time and found it difficult to justify spending that much money on a book, but it would have been worth it even it I did pay the full price. (and thank you to the person who left it into a 2nd hand book shop)

An emotionally gripping, roller-coaster ride through the lives of three fascinating women, 02 Oct 2008
This is without doubt one of the best books I've ever read. It is a powerful, gripping story that takes you through act after act of what human beings are capable of doing on this Earth, sometimes in the most brutal fashion.

Based on the lives of three generations of women, it starts in turn of the 20th century China, when the Qing dynasty was starting to crumble and that way of life was coming to an end, taking you through the civil war, Mao coming to power, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution before ending in the 70s when the author leaves for Britain.

This is a "no holding back" story of survival with frequent scenarios detailing the worst and most brutal of human suffering. Reading through makes you realise the many things in this world we take for granted: democracy, security, civil liberties and freedom. It is an epic life story seen through the eyes of three ordinary women. They weren't world leaders or iconic historical figures, but ordinary citizens living their lives in a regime that is regarded with controversy even to this day.

All in all, although it's a book detailing suffering, fear and brutality it is an uplifting story of survival. You can't help but shed a tear for the person who survives, against all the odds, to make a better life for themselves. Like Pandora's box, once opened you'll see all the sins of the world come to fruition but one thing will remain at the end: hope.

Tedious and unconvincing, 20 Dec 2008
Fascinating story, but it rapidly became clear as I worked through the book that Menzies is prepared to accept pretty much anything anyone tells him as "evidence". The story starts with the well documented and widely accepted story of Zheng He and the treasure fleets of the early Ming dynasty. These were remarkable vessels and their story, and the large amount of evidence behind it, is ably covered in "When China ruled the seas" by Louise Levathes. The difference between the two authors is that Levathes (mostly) restricts herself to what the evidence supports, while Menzies is happy to accept the flimsiest of conjectures as proof positive.

The actual evidence for Chinese voyages runs out at the eastern coast of Africa and on the Australian coast. But Menzies quite happily extrapolates beyond this. Evidence of Chinese genes and customs in parts of the US? Must have been the treasure fleet (never mind that there have been plenty of other historical contacts). A map purportedly showing the northern coast of Eurasia before it was charted by the Russians? Treasure fleet must have dunnit. A natural rock formation in the Bahamas bearing some visual resemblance to a built structure. Obviously the Chinese made it - based on nothing other than Menzies' claim that the formation has dimensions similar to the largest ships in the fleet.

Menzies is either extremely gullible, or he's taking his audience for a ride on the scale of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". I wouldn't mind if it were an exhilarating ride, but it's rather long and tedious and just no fun at all. If you want alternative history, can I suggest Harry Turtledove or Michael Moorcock as rather more entertaining?


Risible, flea-brained stupidity, 07 Sep 2008
There is such a thing as a work of fantasy. This is book is just that. No evidence whatsoever. No proof. No circumstantial evidence. Pure tosh from start to finish. This is no more history than books on Atlantis are history.
Do youselves a favour - if Sino-European history interests you, buy a good, well-respected, well-researched work on the subject. Leave foolishness like this to the idiots.

An interesting read, 30 Aug 2008
The basic premise of this book is that prior to the European voyages of discovery a massive fleet of ships left China and ended up circumnavigating the globe and on the way discovered North and South America, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand and Greenland. The author, Gavin Menzies, is a former Royal Navy submarine commander and as such much of his evidence is based on his knowledge of currents and wind direction when compared to maps that predate the voyages of Columbus. He goes on to use a number of other sources of evidence to back up his case including, among other things, the presence of mysterious wrecks scattered the globe, the presence of animals and plants outside their native lands before Europeans reached them and the diaries of the first European explorers themselves.

While much of the evidence presented in this book is thought provoking and definitely worthy of further study there are many pieces that are open to other interpretation and some that can only be described as circumstantial. I feel some of the problem that this book has is that it doesn't generally present its evidence in the best way possible being overly repetitious in places and being a bit too informal in others. Overall 1421 is an interesting book that does present many new questions for historians on the accepted view of the voyages discovery but it does require more research.

Lovely PR hype - but sadly fairly rubbish history, 19 Jun 2008
You'd hope for more from a former Royal Navy commander, but sadly while his publicity machine is first rate, his history is anything but.

It would be lovely to turn what we know about naval history on its head and say that the Chinese Admiral Zheng He conclusively 'discovered' America or Australia long before any European navigators/explorers.

Unfortunately, this book falls into the category of what publishers call "wa-wa" history. In other words, it ain't true - and the historical reseach is shoddy.

The publishers know it's rubbish. We the public know it's rubbish, but we buy it anyway. And so they publish, because they know we'll buy it and they'll make money. In other words we get the books we deserve. We should be reading decent, reseach-based histories - but we find them rather dull so we don't....

Despite the welter of 5 and 4 star reviews this book has garnered on Amazon, it is important - before you buy it - to note one important fact.

Not ONE single naval historian has given any credence to these claims. Not any European - nor any Chinese - historian. In fact, they all say that the evidence is not there.

While other readers seem to like this book, I have to say that having read other books on global trade and sea voyages in the pre-modern era, I found Menzies style very confusing and it was very difficult to follow his train of thought and how he was using evidence to support his conclusions

Astonishingly, Menzies seems to have ignored two key pieces of Chinese evidence for Zheng He's voyages which list the countries he visited - and don't mention anything that could be America.

In fact Menzies does not read Chinese and there are no direct quotes from any articles or studies written in Chinese. Which is pretty gob-smacking when you think the book is about a Chinese Admiral!

The book may be entertaining, and I am sure Gavin Menzies is a nice bloke etc etc. But that ain't enough. For me his book was full of circular reasoning, speculation, distorted sources and slapdash research.

Or as has already been said - this book may well prove to be the Piltdown Man of literature and should only be classified as fiction.

You may think this is a case of the little man, the amateur, beating the massed hords of the professionals. That is always a very beguiling image, but it's the wrong one to picture.

This book is a triumph for publishing hype and muddled thinking and writing. For that reason we should give it a wide berth. Unless of course you actually like your history as fiction. In which case, be my guest. However, you have been warned....

Mind boggling pseudo-history, 25 May 2008
His far-fetched theories, while very interesting, have no scientific basis.
Any curious fact stated in the book that was checked by a (reputable) scientists was found false.
Read the well researched and scientifically sound "When China Ruled the Seas" by Louise Levathes, or check the Internet sites at & to understand the hoax...

Good book if you need ideas, 12 Jun 2008
This book is great! Having just flipped through it, you can see right away that the pictures inside are big and easy to see the detail. It also gives a little background to the different images used in a Japanese Tattoo. For example, it tells you what the dragon symbolises and where it originated from in the tattoo format.
I would recommend this book for any tattoo enthusiast.

Great book for some old school imagery..., 24 Aug 2007
I like this book. Great art by some great artists. The text is simple and minimal, and the photo's are great quality large images. It is however very very old school. If you enjoy the flat simple technique of early japanese tattoo art this book is a must have. It's not that the tattoo's are of a lesser quality, it is just that they are very traditional. If you are seriously considering a great traditional japanese tattoo, or are interested in simply learning more about it, this book will be useful for you to see a good overal collection of the most common elements with short simple explanations.

Average, 08 Jul 2007
The photographs in this short book are quite good, it's just that the quality of tattoos in this book are very average, by Japanese standards. The text is extremely light and you learn practically nothing you didn't already know. There are several much, much better books on Japanese tattoos. Try Bushido & Japanese Tattooing Now. Both are infinitely superior to this. And much better value for money.

Good book if at a sensible price, 18 Feb 2006
This book has good visual representation of Japanese tattoos, but the text is a little 'oversimplified' in its approach. Like I said though, great photos, and well worth the $17.00 a new copy will set you back on amazon.com. £131 as listed here is just crazy for a book still in print outside of the UK.

an excellent source of inspiration, 18 Oct 2002
Wow what a great book I have recently had a japanese tattoo as a back piece. Having looked through loads of tattoo magazines I bought this book from amazon and it sparked my creative side.Not only does the book contain lots of photographs of japanese tattoos it also gives the history behind the japanese tattoo style.
This book is a serious must have for anyone who is considering a japenese tattoo.10 out of 10 5 stars...

Avoiding the easy cliches, 29 Dec 2008
This account of the 1944-45 World War II battles against Japan is something of a tour de force by Max Hastings. Drawn from interviews and the papers of those who participated, it presents both sides of the story, but without falling in to moral ambivalence. Even more importantly, it does not look at the decisions made at the time solely from hind sight - it looks at them within the context in which they were made.

Many of the things that happened then become more explicable - not necessarily condonable, but certainly explicable, include Japanese actrocities against those they conquered, and the much debated decision to drop the atom bomb.

Two things which I hadn't previously understood became clear from a reading of this book. The first was that all of the people involved at a high level with the dropping of the bomb failed to understand the qualitative difference between conventional and nuclear explosive. They all thought it was just a biggesr and better version of what the B-29 bombers were already doing to Japanese cities. The second was the extent to which high ranking Japanese military and civilians privately knew the war was lost, but were, because of the warrior cult of bushido, were unable to express unable to express this publically.

Hasting's conclusion, is that, in spite of the fact that the bombing and the submarine blockade having already massively reduced the ability of the Japanese to produce war materiel, the Russian invasion of Japanese occupied China and Korea, and the dropping of the atom bomb were bnecessary to force the Japanese surrender. The atom bomb was necessary to convince the civilians in government that they should surrender, the Russian invasion to force the army to face the fact that it had lost.

Not everyone will agree with this idea, but it is well argued, and cannot be ignored.

Recommended


A Contender for 'Book of the Year', 29 Dec 2008
A few years ago I read Armageddon and thought it was excellent. So a couple of months ago I bought Nemesis and set it side for my 'Christmas read'. I was looking forward to this (in my own sad way!) - but was at the same time wondering if my fond memories of Armageddon would raise my expectations too much and that I might be left disappointed.

The first two or three chapters did have me a bit concerned - so if you you do buy this book note that these chapters are 'big picture', setting-the-scene build ups. Politics and warmongering are considered on a vast scale and although this was no doubt necessary I couldn't get 'involved' and felt a bit cold towards it all. But then the author swoops down from painting this expansive panorama and focuses in on the action. And it is absorbing, exciting, real and enlightening - in turn and at the same time.

In fact I would say that perhaps the genius of this author is his ability to take the reader on a tour where you seem to zoom in on small (but relevant) detail one moment and then soar up through the levels and focus on the big players, personalities, decisions and scenarios. We are presented with 'fox hole' stories and with company, platoon, battalion, corps and army group manoeuvres and strategies. We see the view from all sides, including the much-suffering local, regional and national populations. We are presented with factions inside pretty much all of the involved governments and with the differing national psyches and how these affected behaviours and decision-making. We are treated to excellent descriptions of land, sea and air operations and battles, including valuable insights into kamikaze operations and motivations.

There is no poor chapter - everything is tightly and expertly written. I often found myself wondering at the sheer effort that must have gone into collating such an enormous body of evidence and transforming it into such a readable, well-knitted work.

The sense of physical, geographical achievement as the US forces moved to retake the Philippines and then grind their way towards the Japanese Homeland is highly tangible - at times almost breathtaking - and even if you know the story it still grips.

For those of you worried about prior knowledge, fear not. Mr Hastings assumes nothing and at the same time manages to present the story in an intelligent and highly non-patronising manner.

I read a lot of books and often judge them (crudely) by the extent to which I start wondering how many pages are left compared to worrying how many pages have gone. This book fell well into the latter category. It ranks as one of the best books I have read in a while (and I get through a lot)and surely cements Max Hastings well into position as one of the leading historical authors of our time.

Could be better, 26 Nov 2008
I was a little disappointed with this book. I bought it thinking it would be as good a read as 'Armageddon' by the same author. But here I was wrong. It seems that the author has tried to fill up a long book rather quickly without paying too much attention to the overall readability. He does cover the Japanese point of view too, which is interesting but I think he has included too many personal interviews with survivors. It must be fascinating for someone who lived through it all, who can piece it all together today - but I was left a little confused and just about managed to finish reading the book. Not easy reading.

Essential history that all should know., 26 Nov 2008
An extremely good read, the battle for Japan has not received the same level of historical coverage given to the European Western and Eastern fronts, but this book certainly rectifies that. A compelling, informative and justifiably horrific book, it pulls no punches and serves no political or historical masters. For truth and honesty about the events and the figures that drove them you'll have to go a long way to better this book. Cannot praise highly enough. You should bookend your WWII historical collection with this and it's older brother 'Armageddon-Max Hastings' about the battle for Europe.Armageddon: The Battle for Germany 1944-45

BRITISH PACIFIC FORCE?, 14 Aug 2008
At the Winchester Festival, reviewing his book, Hastings made a misguided and alarming remark, "that the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, other than Taranto Raid, played no significant part in WW2". It is therefore no wonder that he has omitted to include in his book the British Pacific Forces's successful attack on the Japanese oil refineries at Palembang (Samatra) in January 1945. Four British fleet carriers with 244 aircraft embarked disabled the refineries that were supplying Japan precious aviation fuel. He has also failed to document one of two VC's won my Fleet Air Arm pilots during WWII - Lt Gray with his plane on fire, pressed home his attack and sank a Japanese destoyer. Glancing through the book Hastings does not do justice to the Royal Navy in the Far East during 1944-45 period, until he educates himselve on the Fleet Air Arm's war effort, I will stay clear of his books. Question for you Max, which allied torpedo bomber aircraft sank more enemy shipping (by tonnage) then any other aircraft acting in the same role during WW2? Clue it is the same aircraft that disabled the Bismarck's steering, enabling the Royal Navy to sink it.

A fable for the twentieth century, brimming with pain and sorrow, 04 Dec 2008
This haunting personal odyssey through the political and social convulsions of twentieth century China should carry a health warning: This book will linger in the mind for months to come. Jung Chang recounts through personal memoirs and memories the turbulent and tragic lives of her grandparents and parents in Manchuria early in the century as the country desperately tries to shake off the brutality of the feudal warlord government. But no sooner had the Kuomintang arrived to unify most of China than the hapless population of Manchuria fell under the nightmare of Japanese occupation. Several years later and the brief and cruel `liberation' by the Russians is followed by the Kuomintang-Communist civil war. During the Japanese occupation many people had sided with the Kuomintang nationalists rather than the Communists as they appeared at the time to be in a better position to kick out the foreign oppressors. However, they were to pay for that allegiance once the Communist Party was in power.
The author was born into the People's Republic of China in Sichuan province. Her parents had been enthusiastic activists and supporters of the Communists but it didn't take long for the great socialist utopia under Mao Zedong to degenerate into an unutterably crass and barbaric regime hell-bent on manipulating, controlling and terrorising the population. Their actions cloaked in totalitarian doublespeak, Party officials invent, hunt down and persecute `class enemies', `counterrevolutionaries', `rightists' and `capitalist-roaders' in an endless cycle of murderous campaigns. Jung's parents, like millions of others, see their fortunes rise and fall with these campaigns at the whim of the Party because of their family's early association with the Kuomintang. They are periodically denounced, threatened, beaten, tormented, paraded, imprisoned and exiled, suffering every humiliation that could be inflicted on an individual. That suffering, told with an astonishing lack of bitterness forms the backdrop to Jung's early life.
As Mao's grip tightens his obsession with demonstrating the superiority of communism over capitalism results in the catastrophic Great Leap Forward when the labour of almost the entire workforce is directed towards producing steel while the countryside implodes resulting in an apocalyptic famine and the deaths of an estimated 30 million people. Incredibly, propaganda blamed this on bad weather and after a slight drop in his popularity Mao begins to engineer his own demonic cult of the personality, his deification coming easily to a culture that had been used to worshipping emperors as quasi-gods. Now Mao was to set about destroying the Party, the last impediment to his total personal power. The battered and impoverished Chinese people, desperately trying to recover from the horror of the Great Leap Forward, now had the Cultural Revolution unleashed upon them. During this collective spell of insanity Mao's Red Guards, consisting largely of schoolchildren and students on the rampage, were whipped into a frenzy to turn upon, humiliate, beat and destroy their teachers and consequently all education. In an attempt to edit the past out of existence, China lost almost its entire written heritage along with its religious and historical sites, statues, temples and old towns, everywhere destroyed. Eventually, with everyone denouncing everyone in order to survive the country had been turned into a `moral wasteland of hatred' and there was nowhere left to go.
This exquisite and powerful book follows the author and her siblings through these terrifying phases and is a compulsive page-turner written in clear, delicate English and brimming with pain and sorrow. I doubt if there has been a more honest and poignant portrayal of daily life under a totalitarian regime, where terror pervades every stratum of society, every family, every thought and deed.




The most amazing history lesson I have ever had!!, 22 Oct 2008
I've never felt so sad to reach the end of a book in all my life. This book is truely amazing and is well and truely the best book I've ever read! I even had the urge to start reading it all over again as soon as I'd finished.

Wild Swans follows the journey of three generations of women, from the same family, through the tragic history of twentieth century China.

I felt almost ashamed that I wasn't aware of hardly any of China's recent history. I picked the book up as I was doing a charity trek along the Great Wall in August 2008 and felt I should brush up on the history of the country. Although I had read wonderful things about this book I was prepared for a dull history lesson, one that I felt I had to put myself through. Sure it was a history lesson, but a breathtaking, extraordinary, unforgettable one. I struggled to remember that what I was reading was a true story, an account of three peoples' lives!

No one told me this book was banned in China. So in my hand luggage it went, luckily I, and the book, made it there and back safely. I wish I had managed to finish it before I left for China, but when I returned from my trip I was even more eager to learn about the wonderful country I had just visited!

This book is outstanding! It's not possible to put into words how much I enjoyed it. Please, just read it!!

An accessible history, 16 Oct 2008
One of the best books I have ever read.
Touching and heartfelt, yet matter of fact and never sentimental. This book is remarkably easy to read, I found it hard to put down. At once, this is the epic story of a family and a country. I could never have believed the amount of knowledge I accumulated from this book. The writing style of Jung Chang made it effortless.

worth it, 15 Oct 2008
Firstly I will admit it's been a few years since I read this and a friend has it now so I can't skim through it to refresh my memory.

The story travels through china before communist rule to the present. Most of the book is in the time of the Mao rule but I found it never really thought of this government as a bad thing, or a good thing. I never got an impression that the author blamed this government for what happened. I think this is one of the best things about this book, you see more the mindset of the people at the time.

As I had said a friend has it now, it got passed around and all of us loved the book. It even gave two the idea of going to China on holiday.

I picked this book up for a fiver because I was a student at the time and found it difficult to justify spending that much money on a book, but it would have been worth it even it I did pay the full price. (and thank you to the person who left it into a 2nd hand book shop)

An emotionally gripping, roller-coaster ride through the lives of three fascinating women, 02 Oct 2008
This is without doubt one of the best books I've ever read. It is a powerful, gripping story that takes you through act after act of what human beings are capable of doing on this Earth, sometimes in the most brutal fashion.

Based on the lives of three generations of women, it starts in turn of the 20th century China, when the Qing dynasty was starting to crumble and that way of life was coming to an end, taking you through the civil war, Mao coming to power, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution before ending in the 70s when the author leaves for Britain.

This is a "no holding back" story of survival with frequent scenarios detailing the worst and most brutal of human suffering. Reading through makes you realise the many things in this world we take for granted: democracy, security, civil liberties and freedom. It is an epic life story seen through the eyes of three ordinary women. They weren't world leaders or iconic historical figures, but ordinary citizens living their lives in a regime that is regarded with controversy even to this day.

All in all, although it's a book detailing suffering, fear and brutality it is an uplifting story of survival. You can't help but shed a tear for the person who survives, against all the odds, to make a better life for themselves. Like Pandora's box, once opened you'll see all the sins of the world come to fruition but one thing will remain at the end: hope.

Tedious and unconvincing, 20 Dec 2008
Fascinating story, but it rapidly became clear as I worked through the book that Menzies is prepared to accept pretty much anything anyone tells him as "evidence". The story starts with the well documented and widely accepted story of Zheng He and the treasure fleets of the early Ming dynasty. These were remarkable vessels and their story, and the large amount of evidence behind it, is ably covered in "When China ruled the seas" by Louise Levathes. The difference between the two authors is that Levathes (mostly) restricts herself to what the evidence supports, while Menzies is happy to accept the flimsiest of conjectures as proof positive.

The actual evidence for Chinese voyages runs out at the eastern coast of Africa and on the Australian coast. But Menzies quite happily extrapolates beyond this. Evidence of Chinese genes and customs in parts of the US? Must have been the treasure fleet (never mind that there have been plenty of other historical contacts). A map purportedly showing the northern coast of Eurasia before it was charted by the Russians? Treasure fleet must have dunnit. A natural rock formation in the Bahamas bearing some visual resemblance to a built structure. Obviously the Chinese made it - based on nothing other than Menzies' claim that the formation has dimensions similar to the largest ships in the fleet.

Menzies is either extremely gullible, or he's taking his audience for a ride on the scale of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". I wouldn't mind if it were an exhilarating ride, but it's rather long and tedious and just no fun at all. If you want alternative history, can I suggest Harry Turtledove or Michael Moorcock as rather more entertaining?


Risible, flea-brained stupidity, 07 Sep 2008
There is such a thing as a work of fantasy. This is book is just that. No evidence whatsoever. No proof. No circumstantial evidence. Pure tosh from start to finish. This is no more history than books on Atlantis are history.
Do youselves a favour - if Sino-European history interests you, buy a good, well-respected, well-researched work on the subject. Leave foolishness like this to the idiots.

An interesting read, 30 Aug 2008
The basic premise of this book is that prior to the European voyages of discovery a massive fleet of ships left China and ended up circumnavigating the globe and on the way discovered North and South America, Antarctica, Australia, New Zealand and Greenland. The author, Gavin Menzies, is a former Royal Navy submarine commander and as such much of his evidence is based on his knowledge of currents and wind direction when compared to maps that predate the voyages of Columbus. He goes on to use a number of other sources of evidence to back up his case including, among other things, the presence of mysterious wrecks scattered the globe, the presence of animals and plants outside their native lands before Europeans reached them and the diaries of the first European explorers themselves.

While much of the evidence presented in this book is thought provoking and definitely worthy of further study there are many pieces that are open to other interpretation and some that can only be described as circumstantial. I feel some of the problem that this book has is that it doesn't generally present its evidence in the best way possible being overly repetitious in places and being a bit too informal in others. Overall 1421 is an interesting book that does present many new questions for historians on the accepted view of the voyages discovery but it does require more research.

Lovely PR hype - but sadly fairly rubbish history, 19 Jun 2008
You'd hope for more from a former Royal Navy commander, but sadly while his publicity machine is first rate, his history is anything but.

It would be lovely to turn what we know about naval history on its head and say that the Chinese Admiral Zheng He conclusively 'discovered' America or Australia long before any European navigators/explorers.

Unfortunately, this book falls into the category of what publishers call "wa-wa" history. In other words, it ain't true - and the historical reseach is shoddy.

The publishers know it's rubbish. We the public know it's rubbish, but we buy it anyway. And so they publish, because they know we'll buy it and they'll make money. In other words we get the books we deserve. We should be reading decent, reseach-based histories - but we find them rather dull so we don't....

Despite the welter of 5 and 4 star reviews this book has garnered on Amazon, it is important - before you buy it - to note one important fact.

Not ONE single naval historian has given any credence to these claims. Not any European - nor any Chinese - historian. In fact, they all say that the evidence is not there.

While other readers seem to like this book, I have to say that having read other books on global trade and sea voyages in the pre-modern era, I found Menzies style very confusing and it was very difficult to follow his train of thought and how he was using evidence to support his conclusions

Astonishingly, Menzies seems to have ignored two key pieces of Chinese evidence for Zheng He's voyages which list the countries he visited - and don't mention anything that could be America.

In fact Menzies does not read Chinese and there are no direct quotes from any articles or studies written in Chinese. Which is pretty gob-smacking when you think the book is about a Chinese Admiral!

The book may be entertaining, and I am sure Gavin Menzies is a nice bloke etc etc. But that ain't enough. For me his book was full of circular reasoning, speculation, distorted sources and slapdash research.

Or as has already been said - this book may well prove to be the Piltdown Man of literature and should only be classified as fiction.

You may think this is a case of the little man, the amateur, beating the massed hords of the professionals. That is always a very beguiling image, but it's the wrong one to picture.

This book is a triumph for publishing hype and muddled thinking and writing. For that reason we should give it a wide berth. Unless of course you actually like your history as fiction. In which case, be my guest. However, you have been warned....

Mind boggling pseudo-history, 25 May 2008
His far-fetched theories, while very interesting, have no scientific basis.
Any curious fact stated in the book that was checked by a (reputable) scientists was found false.
Read the well researched and scientifically sound "When China Ruled the Seas" by Louise Levathes, or check the Internet sites at & to understand the hoax...

Good book if you need ideas, 12 Jun 2008
This book is great! Having just flipped through it, you can see right away that the pictures inside are big and easy to see the detail. It also gives a little background to the different images used in a Japanese Tattoo. For example, it tells you what the dragon symbolises and where it originated from in the tattoo format.
I would recommend this book for any tattoo enthusiast.

Great book for some old school imagery..., 24 Aug 2007
I like this book. Great art by some great artists. The text is simple and minimal, and the photo's are great quality large images. It is however very very old school. If you enjoy the flat simple technique of early japanese tattoo art this book is a must have. It's not that the tattoo's are of a lesser quality, it is just that they are very traditional. If you are seriously considering a great traditional japanese tattoo, or are interested in simply learning more about it, this book will be useful for you to see a good overal collection of the most common elements with short simple explanations.

Average, 08 Jul 2007
The photographs in this short book are quite good, it's just that the quality of tattoos in this book are very average, by Japanese standards. The text is extremely light and you learn practically nothing you didn't already know. There are several much, much better books on Japanese tattoos. Try Bushido & Japanese Tattooing Now. Both are infinitely superior to this. And much better value for money.

Good book if at a sensible price, 18 Feb 2006
This book has good visual representation of Japanese tattoos, but the text is a little 'oversimplified' in its approach. Like I said though, great photos, and well worth the $17.00 a new copy will set you back on amazon.com. £131 as listed here is just crazy for a book still in print outside of the UK.

an excellent source of inspiration, 18 Oct 2002
Wow what a great book I have recently had a japanese tattoo as a back piece. Having looked through loads of tattoo magazines I bought this book from amazon and it sparked my creative side.Not only does the book contain lots of photographs of japanese tattoos it also gives the history behind the japanese tattoo style.
This book is a serious must have for anyone who is considering a japenese tattoo.10 out of 10 5 stars...

Good book, well worth a look, 09 Sep 2008
This book is a must have for any serious martial artist. Bushido is unfortunately a term which is widely used but in the main part, very poorly understood. Even the modern understanding of Bushido is somewhat lacking, leading people to believe that the samurai were so honourable that they could do no wrong. This simply isn't the case. The samurai were human beings like everyone else and the passages in this book show this nicely. There are many lessons to be learned and applied to everyday life in the Hagakure and any person wanting to follow the way of the samurai should definitely read this book.
On a different note, this is something that REALLY irritates me so I must point it out: hiri kiri is a bastardisation originating from America. The proper term is Seppuku but if you want to call it by its other name, it's HARA kiri, meaning to cut the hara (centre of body energy).
Right, rant over. Buy the book!!

A Strange and Fascinating Little Book, 30 Jul 2008
It is very diffcult to define Hagakure, it's strange and fascinating, yet also rather repugnant in some of its views. Written in the early 18th century, it is a series of anecdotes written by Yamamoto Tsunetomo, a samurai of the Nabeshima clan who became a Buddhist monk followning his master's death. The Tokugawa Shogunate of the time had outlawed the suicide of a reatiner on a Daimyo's death, leaving Yamamoto with no option but live in a hermitage in Kyushu province.

Hagakure has often been seen as a manual for the samurai classes, yet this is slightly misleading. Yamamoto lived during the Edo period, an era of peace and stability that followed the long period of civil wars that had broken Japan in the 16th century. Yamamoto was therefore not a true warrior, as the samurai were now becoming administrators living on fixed stipends.

This book is also only the opinions of one man, and shouldn't been seen as guide to the samurai ethos for the entire Feudal Period. It is also worth noting that even during his own life Yamamoto was seen as a fanatic with extremist opinions, a fact that he himself would not deny.

The book's contents deal with allsorts of topics, but its main emphasis is on the proper conduct of the samurai class. Yamamoto believes that a samurai must always be ready for death, and that when not engaged in fighting, he should meditate on getting torn apart with swords, arrows, pikes and bullets. His obsession with death and discipline seems to permeate throughout the book. He also provides plenty of anecdotes of stories he has heard about samurai who kill anyone on the slightest provocation. Yamamoto believes that this should be the proper conduct of the samurai, as long as it does not contradict the master's wishes.
His opinion on these matters seem terribly odd for modern western readers. His xenophobic and misogynistic views, as well as his frequent calls for violence to resolve situations, and his obsession with death and the supression of one's own desires and personality for the master, make this an often uncomfortable read. It is not surprising that Hagakure became popular among fascists in Imperial Japan during the 1930s.

The book also has some sections of wisdom, but these are sometimes countered by Yamamoto's bizarre outlook on life. Here is a selection of some of his sayings, some good, some bad, while others are simply quixotic:

" Covetousness, anger and foolishness are things to sort out well. When bad things happen in the world, if you look at them comparatively, they are not unrelated to these three things. Looking comparatively at the good things, you will see that they are not excluded from wisdom, humanity and bravery."

"The late Jin'emon said that it is better not to bring up daughters. They are a blemish to the family name and a shame to the parents. The eldest daughter is special, but it is better to disregard the others."

"If you cut a face lengthwise, urinate on it, and trample on it with straw sandles, it is said the skin will come off. This was heard by the priest Gyojaku when he was in Kyoto. It is information to be treasured."

"The Master took a book from its box. When he opened it there was a smell of drying clovebuds."

These are are just a few examples from among hundreds. Sometimes Yamamoto contradicts himself. He argues against rashness in one section, while in another he complains that the Forty Seven Ronin did not act quickly enough to avenge their dead master, a rash act that would have seen them fail. That said, it is those very same contradictions that often reminds us that he was only human. This is a fascianting look into the long dead samurai culture, with plenty of anecdotes to make you think. That said, it shouldn't be seen as guide book for life in the 21st century, but rather as an incredible historical document. A must read for anyone with an interest in the samurai or Feudal Japanese Culture.



Ignore the cheesy title..., 20 Apr 2006
If one had to choose a single text to be stranded on an island with, then you could find no better work than this. The more I read this book