As the preface to this new edition points out, Mitford (Algernon Bertram, the first Lord Redesdale) was a gifted writer whose descriptions of Japan, during the critical time of transition from a feudal to a modern state in the late nineteenth century, are a testimony to his narrative skills, accuracy and objective reporting - qualities which are sometimes overshadowed by the higher profile given to his contemporary Ernest Satow. Accordingly, this new paperback edition, which makes the Mitford memoirs available to a much wider audience, includes a wide selection of extracts from Mitford's bestselling Tales of Old Japan (1871) - what Mitford, according to Carmen Blacker, perceived as the essence of the Japanese spirit: 'heroic, ruthless, devotedly loyal, bloody and chivalrous'.
- ISBN10 1903350077
- ISBN13 9781903350072
- Publish Date 29 August 2002 (first published 1 December 2000)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Taylor & Francis Ltd
- Imprint RoutledgeCurzon
- Format Paperback
- Pages 338
- Language English