Kenneth G. Henshall is professor of Japanese studies at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He has published widely on Japan’s history, literature, and script, and his A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Henshall uses the end of the Pacific War as his cutoff point in this dictionary of more than 800 cross-referenced entries covering key people, places, and events in Japan’s history. In a structure aligned with other works in this series, a chronology and introduction set up the entries, which are followed by appendixes that include the full text of the Yalta Agreement and a particularly extensive bibliography that merits its own introduction and table of contents. VERDICT A useful look at the forces that shaped modern-day Japan.

Kenneth G. Henshall is professor of Japanese studies at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He has published widely on Japan’s history, literature, and script, and his A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Henshall uses the end of the Pacific War as his cutoff point in this dictionary of more than 800 cross-referenced entries covering key people, places, and events in Japan’s history. In a structure aligned with other works in this series, a chronology and introduction set up the entries, which are followed by appendixes that include the full text of the Yalta Agreement and a particularly extensive bibliography that merits its own introduction and table of contents. VERDICT A useful look at the forces that shaped modern-day Japan.

Kenneth G. Henshall is professor of Japanese studies at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand. He has published widely on Japan’s history, literature, and script, and his A History of Japan: From Stone Age to Superpower has been translated into more than a dozen languages.

Henshall uses the end of the Pacific War as his cutoff point in this dictionary of more than 800 cross-referenced entries covering key people, places, and events in Japan’s history. In a structure aligned with other works in this series, a chronology and introduction set up the entries, which are followed by appendixes that include the full text of the Yalta Agreement and a particularly extensive bibliography that merits its own introduction and table of contents. VERDICT A useful look at the forces that shaped modern-day Japan.