Reviews for Japan at War: An Oral History

The average rating for Japan at War: An Oral History based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-05-28 00:00:00 arthur owyoung Picked this one up in Ghana based on a lecture given by the author and the recommendation of others. Not very impressed. Maybe it is my ignorance about the history of Ghana but I would say the greater problem is the assumption by the author that either this will be read by Ghanians familiar with their own history or by people knowledgeable of the languages and history of the Gold Coast. I am neither. A chapter or two on the different tribes and what the leadership roles were would have helped tremendously as would have a glossary. Slavery happened in Africa even before the Atlantic slave trade was implemented. The sad truth is that slavery has, for a good part of history, been in effect not just in the form of white people kidnapping and enslaving people of color but of people of one race enslaving their neighbors and, generally speaking, people of their own race. This is important to keep in mind, historically. This book could have offered a lot more in terms of education on this topic but its shortcomings weigh it down.

Review # 2 was written on 2013-07-15 00:00:00 Jay Baraban A short history, but it was easy to get bogged down in all the detail of government elections, cabinets, etc., that occurred in the 1900s. I'm currently reading a historical fiction series on Ireland that spans the 1900s, so it was interesting to read the actual history and compare to the series for historical accuracy. I will say that this particular book needed a better proofreader - too many places had some very glaring punctuation and word placement errors, which I found very distracting.