Literature Review

Thoughts on books I've read lately

• Najita, T. (1974). The Intellectual Foundations of Modern Japanese Politics. Read this because its recommended for a history module I intend to take in the 2025/26 academic year, but honestly, this book feels dated and not particuarly accessible. There are better, more recent sources on Japan's political system.
• Dower, J. W. (2012). Ways of Forgetting, Ways of Remembering: Japan in the Modern World. Now this is excellent. A thoroughly captivating series of academic essays touching on some heavy topics such as the atomic bombings. Includes a very interesting section on cartoon as wartime propaganda. Chapter 10, on the ridiculous comparisons drawn by war hawks between post-war Japan and Iraq in 2003, also resonated heavily with me.
• Bashiri, I. (2020). The History of the Civil War in Tajikistan. A very accessible introduction to one of the most overlooked, yet deadliest conflicts sparked by the breakup of the USSR. Bashiri has spent years doing field work in the region and speaks to many important figures in Tajik politics during the time covered. Chapter 3, on the Sovietisation of Tajikistan, explains a lot about the country today.
• Rashid, A. (2002). The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia. Another excellent read. Covers the IMU, Hizb-ut-Tahir and various other Islamist outfits in Central Asia, as well as the repression suffered by Muslims in the region both under the Soviet regime and in modern times. Also covers attempts by Central Asian governments, as well as the West, Russia and China, to fight back against radicalism.
• Pavlenko, A. (2008). Multilingualism in post-Soviet countries. A look at linguistic policy in the 14 non-Russian states that made up the USSR, from the early Soviet days to 2008. Somewhat outdated now, but features a lot of interesting data and draws some comparisons that could prove useful for policy planning, particularly in countries such as Wales with minority languages.
• Rousmaniere, N. & Ryoko, M. (2019). Manga: The Citi Exhibition. Book released to coincide with the British Museum's manga exhibition in 2019. Features interviews with people involved in the manga industry, sample comic strips and touches on topics mentioned elsewhere on this site such as Japanese soft power in the Middle East through manga, and the decolonial aspects of Golden Kamuy. Highly recommended, shows the medium's beauty.