Book Reviews : Twelve Doors to Japan. By JOHN W. HALL and RICHARD K. BEARDSLEY. (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company. 1965. P. xl, 659. $9.95.)

• Author: Paul S. Dull
• Date: 01 March 1966
• Published date: 01 March 1966
• DOI: 10.1177/106591296601900130
• Subject Matter: Articles

170

For

the

person

more

knowledgeable

of

the

dynamics

of

the

legislative

process

and

farm

organization

politics,

the

last

quarter

of

the

book

on

the

wheat

referendum

will

make

the

greatest

contribution.

The

campaign

against

the

wheat

referendum,

ably

conducted

by

the

Farm

Bureau,

and

those

favoring

a

yes

vote

makes

the

best

reading.

This

section

is

likely

to

be

abstracted

for

use

in

a

reading

book

because

of

its

fascinating

illustrations

of

cartoons,

exhibits,

and

tactics

used

in

a

national

cam-

paign.

A

major

criticism

of

the

work

is

certain

to

be

its

brevity

of

analysis

at

many

points.

Although

there

are

tables

showing

the

vote

by

states

and

region,

the

authors

could

have

included

much

more

analysis

of

the

figures

and

speculated

at

greater

length

on

significance

of

sharp

differences

in

the

outcome

in

the

various

states.

University

of

Washington

HUGH

A.

BONE

Revolutions

and

Military

Rule

in

the

Middle

East:

The

Northern

Tier.

By

GEORGE

M.

HADDAD.

(New

York :

Robert

Speller

&

Sons,

Inc.,

1965.

Pp. 251.

$6.00.)

This

first

volume

of

a

projected

two-volume

study

of

the

Middle

East

under-

takes

to

treat

of

the

processes

of

revolution,

reform,

and

modernization

in

the

four

&dquo;northern

tier&dquo;

countries

of

Turkey,

Iran,

Afghanistan,

and

Pakistan.

The

emphasis

is

upon

the

role

of

military

intervention,

as

well

it

might

be.

The

book

opens

with

a

hurried

survey

in

two

chapters

of

the

Byzantine

and

Ottoman

history

of

the

area;

this

is

followed

by

a

single

chapter

each

on

the

more

contemporary

developments

in

the

four

countries

involved;

after

which

the

author

seeks

in

his

Conclusion

to

make

an

assessment

of

the

consequences

of

the

military

impact

upon

democratic

processes.

There

is

a

theme

here

that

deserves

the

most

sober

consideration

-

as

witness

the

contribution

of

Lieuwen

in

his

Arms

and

Politics

in

Latin

America.

But

Had-

dad’s

effort

cannot

be

rated

on

this

same

level,

either

in

what

he

has

to

say

or

how

he

says

it.

As

a

journalistic

review

of

the

social

miseries,

abortive

upheavals,

and

slug-

gish

attempts

at

modernization

in

this

Middle

East

sector,

the

book

has

its

rationale.

But

no

issue,

event

or

character

is

treated

with

any

depth.

The

style

remains

almost

sheer

narrative;

suggestive

comparisons

are

implied,

but

not

explored;

volumes

of

relevant

data

go

unmentioned;

and

the

&dquo;analysis&dquo;

we

are

promised

dissolves

into

a

miscellany

of

wholly

predictable

appraisals.

The

$6.00

tag

on

so

slim

a

product

seems

excessive,

even

granted

the

hard

cover;

but

if

the

publisher

had

been

forced

to

increase

the

amount

in

order

to

employ

a

competent

proof-reader,

the

added

cost

would

at

least

have

made

the

book

more

readable.

LOUIS

WASSERMAN

San

Francisco

State

College

Twelve

Doors

to

Japan.

By

JOHN

W.

HALL

and

RICHARD

K.

BEARDSLEY.

(New

York:

McGraw-Hill

Book

Company.

1965.

P. xl, 659.

$9.95.)

This

book

should

be

reviewed

with

two

foci

of

attention.

First,

the

authors

state

specifically

what

the

book

intends

to

do

and

what

it

does

not

pretend

to

accomplish.