I have had occasion to second-guess a recent list of best books on Japan. An old joke has it that a newspaper editor is a person who separates the wheat from the chaff, and then prints the chaff. On this … Continue reading →
My offer to debate the “basket case Japan” story has generated more heat than light at the National Bureau of Asian Research’s Japan Forum. As a matter of policy, I do not participate in online forums but, as friends have … Continue reading →
I have been reading two new books on trade (this review was first published in the December 2010 issue of the American Conservative). The Betrayal of American Prosperity: Free Market Delusions, America’s Decline, and How We Must Compete in the … Continue reading →
John Kennedy’s ambassador to Japan is the subject of a new biography. Unfortunately, as I point out in this review (which was first published in the June 2010 issue of the American Conservative), the author’s agenda has little to do with … Continue reading →
The American radio industry’s top liberal talk show host has had some nice things to say about my book on China. That’s flattering. What’s even more flattering is that he has read the book. Really read it, that is. One … Continue reading →
The New York Times prides itself on its uniquely high standards of accuracy and fairness. So why did its overseas edition take so long to correct the record when I was misrepresented a year ago? For nearly a year I … Continue reading →
My review of Paula Kamen’s recent biography of Iris Chang was posted at CounterPunch.org just two days ago. Reader reaction has been fast and sometimes furious. Judging by the scale and tone of responses to my review of Paula Kamen’s … Continue reading →
Iris Chang was a Chinese-American author and historian who took her own life in 2004. As Paula Kamen recounts in a new biography, Chang had challenged the establishments of two of the world’s most powerful nations. [This review was first … Continue reading →
Pat Choate has written the ultimate riposte to the radical globalists who dominate policy-making in Washington. [This review first appeared in the September 15, 2008 issue of Manufacturing & Technology News.] Americans of a certain age know that something is … Continue reading →
Senator Ernest F. Hollings’s recently published autobiography, Making Government Work, is wise, well-written, and consistently absorbing. Rarely has Senator Fritz Hollings used his renowned wit to more devastating effect than when he was interviewed in 1990 on the ABC program, … Continue reading →