Rising Sun Tumbling Bear..book

[armourersergeant]

has anyone come across this book as i have seen it on amazon and wonder if it gives a good account of the war and throws up many questions that should have been answered by later commaders in WW1?

regards

Arm.

[Paul Hederer]

has anyone come across this book as i have seen it on amazon and wonder if it gives a good account of the war and throws up many questions that should have been answered by later commaders in WW1?

regards

Arm.

Hello,

I've just finished "Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear." I found the book to be informative and well-written, though a bit dry. The author offered a few glimpses into the primary characters of the war, but not enough to make me feel like I understood anything about the men behind the war.

At times I felt like the book was a series of battle descriptions loosely strung together. The battle chapters were interesting, but again a bit dry.

Overall I didn't find, "Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear," bad, but I would have to say that as an overall study of the war it was lacking in background--prewar causes of the war, and a good description of the situations in both Japan and Russia.

I found the topic so fascinating that I also bought, "The Tide at Sunrise," by Dennis and Peggy Warner. This book I can recommend unreservedly. The chapters on Russia and Japan, and the description of the pre-war situation brought into focus and made the reasons that lead up to the war very understandable.

I especially liked the authors descriptions of life in the Russian far-Eastern settlements, which were extremely vivid.

The authors also spend a good deal of time outlining the principal characters of the war, both Russian and Japanese. This, along with their descriptions of the campaign area, really brought the entire conflict to life.

"The Tide at Sunrise," is readily available second-hand, and I got my for a mere 10 pounds.

Of the two books, "The Tide at Sunrise," beats "Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear," hands-down as the far more interesting account of the war.

Paul

[Halder]

I couldn't agree more with that assessment, a sort of semi-related chapters with the narrative not really flowing. That said, there are few recent books on the Russo-Japanese war.

On Tsushima, I can heartily recommend Pleshakov's Tsar's Last Armada, which is both excellent written and draws heavily on previously unpublished files from the Russian archives.