The Shortest History of Japan

Ever since US Commodore Matthew Perry forced Japan to open its borders in 1853, the culture of this remarkable and distant archipelago has enriched western life. At the same time the country has embraced foreign institutions from baseball to barber shops. Yet for centuries under the rule of the shoguns, the islands were largely sealed off from the outside world. In 'The Shortest History of Japan', Lesley Downer brings an expert storyteller's eye to the sweep of Japanese history.