This intense study is a moderate upgrade of a classic work. When Hane revised his original book in 2003, he added an important chapter that focused particularly on three female rebels. Thus, republication makes available to a new audience a pathbreaking study of earlier Japan. The modern Japan readers think they know can be traced back a mere generation to the years after WW II. The introductory pages provide a useful assistance for neophyte readers who might otherwise become overwhelmed by new materials and topics that require a whole new way of looking at Japanese history before 1945. In addition to the multiple authors since Hane’s death in 2003, this version retains the sense that readers are receiving and coping with a complex presentation of life in pre–WW II Japan. What makes the book a classic is the careful interweaving of massive research materials and Hane’s original insights mingled with source materials supporting his arguments. These apparent deviations from the narrative invite 2017 readers to participate in both the discovery and the discussion.

Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above.

Choice Reviews

Peasants, Rebels, Women, and Outcastes is an indispensable source for anyone wishing to know—or teach—about Japan's traumatic emergence as a modern nation. Professor Hane's sympathy for the great number of individuals who were ground beneath the wheels of 'progress' is apparent on every page, and his ability to give vibrant and compelling voice to those usually dismissed as voiceless is extraordinary.

John W. Dower, Author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Embracing Defeat

Peasants, Rebels, Women, and Outcastes remains an invaluable source for any student or researcher seeking to understand the human cost of Japan's audacious and gruelling leap into the twentieth century.

Pacific Affairs