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

• DOI: 10.1177/000271624222400145
• Date: 01 November 1942
• Published date: 01 November 1942
• Subject Matter: Articles

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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