Suzuki, S: Civilization and Empire China and Japan''s Encounter With European International Society

"A refreshing view on the subject through its detailed analysis of elite writings in China and Japan between the 1860s and 1895. Suzuki's account of Chinese and Japanese reactions to Western literature is very informative. Indeed, what makes Suzuki's book stand out is that he studies international relations in East Asia through the eurocentric concept of European International Society but uses an asiacentric perspective. For this, he deserves a great deal of credit because too many publications still present China and Japan as passive powers which only reacted to the Western powers." - Ariane Knusel, Comparativ 22 (2012), Vol. 3 "How did contemporary international society develop? Suzuki provides a compelling account of its East Asian dimension. Shifting the English-school focus from 'society' to 'socialization', he shows how Japan absorbed lessons from its encounter with European society that were different from those learned by China, and included its imperial dimension. Rather than offer a Eurocentric narrative, Suzuki weaves together a rich indigenous tapestry. The result is a landmark study." - Ian Clark FBA, ESRC Professorial Fellow and E H Carr Professor, Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University, UK "Suzuki succeeds magnificently at three levels with this book. It is, first, a major work of scholarship, using Japanese, Chinese and English language sources to reassess China and Japan's interaction with the West in the Nineteenth Century. Secondly, it offers the most nuanced analysis of Nineteenth Century international society to appear to date. Thirdly, it is an important development of the 'English School' argument that the international society concept provides an alternative (and more sophisticated) theoretical starting point for the study of international relations than the currently dominant Realist perspectives." - Professor David Armstrong, Department of Politics, University of Exeter, UK "Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduate collections." - J. M. Peek, CHOICE (February 2010)