SHORT HISTORY OF JAPAN (PB)

Ranging from Japan’s earliest coastal communities through to the spread of Buddhism, the rise of the warlords, the promise and menace of the West and Japan's own empire-building, this one-volume history explores how a distinctly Japanese society and culture was created. Drawing on the latest scholarship, it moves beyond tourist-board cliches to consider Japan's own view of its past, values and culture, from ceramics and theatre to food and architecture, and shows how everyday details are intimately bound up with the bigger historical picture.