1. Introduction 2. The Long World War I, 1914–1922 3. Japan and a World Against War, 1921–1930 4. Between War and Peace, 1931–1937 5. Japan’s China War, 1937–1941 6. The War for Greater East Asia, 1941–1945 7. From Empire to Nation-State, 1945–1952 8. Aftermaths
Biography
Jeremy A. Yellen is a historian and an associate professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is the author of The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere: When Total Empire Met Total War (2019).
‘Reading Japan at War in 2025 is most timely. The country has transformed into the kingdom of anime, the technological wonder, and the exemplar of pacifism that we know so well. This book, however, reminds us that such impressions are the result of seventy years of reconstruction … Peace is not bestowed from above, but the result of a constant battling of institutions, self-reflection, and education.’
The Economist (Chinese Edition), April 2025, translated by WU Ziming
'Yellen’s book is more than a conventional textbook for history students. The book offers a lucid and provocative interpretive history of modern Japan based on the author’s impressive knowledge of up-to-date studies published in both the Japanese and English languages. The book takes a distinctly Asia-centered approach and introduces new perspectives and unconventional interpretations of Japan’s trajectory from World War I to World War II.'
Noriko Kawamura, Pacific Historical Review 95 (2), May 2026
