Toward the Rising Sun: Russian Ideologies of Empire and the Path to War with Japan

The foreign policy of Russia in the late-19th and early 20th centuries, particularly the details of tsarist diplomacy, is the main theme of this clearly written and well-researched history of Russiàs 1904 war with Japan. Schimmelpenninck van der Oye (history, Brock U., St. Catharines, Canada) began this project as his dissertation (from Yale U.). Relying on extensive archival research, the text examines the politics, motivations, and intricate machinations of the court and the military in Russia as they interacted with their neighbors in China and Japan. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)