MILLS, LENNOX A. British Rule in East ern Asia. Pp. x, 581. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1942. $5.00

DOI10.1177/000271624222400145
Date01 November 1942
Published date01 November 1942
Subject MatterArticles
207
of
conditions
in
China
and
Japan
which
furnished
the
setting
for
the
struggle.
He
also,
and
again
very
fittingly,
has
outlined
the
issues
at
stake.
The
narrative
gives
the
sequence
of
military
developments
and
traces
the
fashion
in
which
the
undeclared
war
spread
beyond
the
borders
of
the
two
nations
originally
involved
to
other
por-
tions
of
the
Far
East.
There
is
an
account
of
the
effect
of
the
war
upon
China
and
of
conditions
in
Free
China
and
Occupied
China.
There
is,
as
well,
a
section
on
the
changes
wrought
in
Japan
by
the
struggle.
Chapters
are
included
on
the
relations
to
the
Axis,
the
United
States,
Great
Britain,
and
Russia.
The
main
emphasis
is
upon
political
and
military
events.
The
book
is
marked
by
little
grace
of
literary
style.
It
is
a
sober
summary,
usually
carefully
objective,
with
little
in
it
of the
provocative.
It
abounds
in
sound
judgments-as,
for
instance,
the
observa-
tion
(p.
178)
that
Japan’s
decision
to
try
conclusions
with
the
United
States
was
not
taken
at
the
behest
of
Hitler
or
from
any
romantic
purpose
of
committing
national
hara-kiri.
The
book
contains,
too,
excellent
thumbnail
characterizations
of
numbers
of
the
main
actors,
such
as
that
of
Chiang
Kai-shek
(p.
93)
and
that of
Matsuoka
(p.
191).
The
documentation
is
commendable,
with
extensive
footnote
references
to
the
sources
of
the
author’s
statements,
appendices
giv-
ing
some
of
the
most
important
documents
in
extenso,
and
a
large
bibliography.
Although
for
the
most
part
preserving
scholarly
detachment,
Professor
Quigley
is
almost
inevitably
influenced
by
the
fact
that
he
is
writing
in
wartime
and
is
a
loyal
citizen
of
a
nation
which
has
now
been
drawn
into
the
conflict
as
an
active
bel-
ligerent.
Here
and
there,
notably
in
the
last
chapter,
the
case
of
the
United
Na-
tions,
and
especially
of
the
United
States,
is
cogently
stated.
Little
recognition
is
given
of
the
fact
that
many
Japanese
be-
lieve
that
they
can
make
a
strong
case
for
themselves
against
China
and
the
Western
powers.
The
Japanese
have
had
griev-
ances,
some
of
them
unquestionably
legiti-
mate.
To
be
sure,
their
motives
have
been
mixed.
A
desire
to
dominate
other
peoples
and
to
build
a
huge
empire
has
been
and
is
potent,
and
at
present
dominant.
If,
however,
after
the
victory
of
the
United
Nations
an
order
in
East
Asia
is
to
be
set
up
which
will
not,
by
rankling
injustices
to
the
conquered,
contribute
to
fresh
wars,
we
must
seek
to
understand
the
Japanese
sense
of
having
been
wronged,
and
to
make
pro-
vision for
alleviating
it
insofar
as
that
can
be
done
in
fairness
to
other
peoples.
Evenhanded
dealing
may
not
prevent
new
conflicts,
but
it
should
reduce
the
likelihood
of
their
occurrence.
The
question
emerges,
moreover,
as
to
why
so
little
attention
is
paid
to
events
between
1931
and
1937.
Although
the
vol-
ume
has
deliberately
chosen
to
confine
its
main
emphasis
to
the
period
from
Lukou-
chiao
to
Pearl
Harbor,
should
it
not
have
given
more
indication
that
the
struggle
really
began
in
1931 ?
Even
with
these
limitations,
the
book
which
Professor
Quigley
has
contributed
to
current
Far
Eastern
literature
is
a
thor-
oughly
useful
summary
of
the
subject
to
which
it
has addressed
itself,
one
to
which
both
layman
and
specialist
may
turn
with
confidence
for
the
facts.
KENNETH
SCOTT
LATOURETTE
Yale
University
MILLS,
LENNOX
A.
British
Rule
in
East-
ern
Asia.
Pp.
x,
581.
Minneapolis:
University
of
Minnesota
Press,
1942.
$5.00.
T-.--_
This
volume,
published
in
the
Institute
of
Pacific
Relations
International
Research
Series,
embodies
a
detailed
study
of
de-
velopments
in
two
areas
of
the
British
Asiatic
empire
during
the
period
between
the
end
of
the
first
World
War
and
the
beginning
of the
second.
The
author
is
a
political
scientist
well
known
for
his
writ-
ings
on
Ceylon
and
Malaya.
Grants
from
the
Rhodes
Scholarship
Trust
and
other
agencies
made
possible
a
year
of
research
in
Great
Britain,
Malaya,
and
Hong
Kong
in
1936-37
and
a
visit
to
Great
Britain
in
1939.
Although
official
documents
and
other
British
materials
were
extensively
used
and
cited,
Professor
Mills
states
that
his
work
is
based
even
more
on
interviews,
chiefly
with
anonymous
officials
and
busi-
nessmen.
The
book
is
competently
done
according
to
the
canons
of
British
imperial
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