China and Japan

Facing History

By: Ezra F. Vogel

Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin

China and Japan have cultural and political connections that stretch back 1,500 years. But today, their relationship is strained. China's military buildup deeply worries Japan, while Japan's brutal occupation of China in World War II remains an open wound. In recent years, less than 10 percent of each population had positive feelings toward the other, and both countries insist that the other side must deal openly with its history before relations can improve.

Ezra Vogel's China and Japan examines key turning points in Sino-Japanese history. Throughout much of their past, the two countries maintained deep cultural ties, but China, with its great civilization and resources, had the upper hand. Japan's success in modernizing in the 19th century and its victory in the 1895 Sino-Japanese War changed the dynamic, putting Japan in the dominant position. The bitter legacy of World War II has made cooperation difficult, despite efforts to promote trade and, more recently, tourism.

Vogel underscores the need for Japan to offer a thorough apology for the war, but he also urges China to recognize Japan as a potential vital partner in the region. He argues that for the sake of a stable world order, these two Asian giants must reset their relationship.

©2019 Ezra F. Vogel (P)2020 Tantor

A Great Listen

This book should be a prerequisite to gaining an understanding of the current and future relationships between China and Japan. The narrative of Professor Vogel's take on China and Japan's chronicle is reminiscent to Kissinger's On China, with storied commentaries interwoven into detailed historical events. The breadth of Professor Vogel's knowledge is vast, and presented history by displaying the very humanity of both nation's key people through their interpersonal dealings and relationships. Very much appreciate the narrator's neutral tone, but wish that more effort could be made to pronouncing the names of people and events accurately. Thank you for imparting with us your views on a key part of human history,

Unbearable mangling of both Chinese and Japanese by narrator

Chinese may be a difficult language to pronounce because of weird pinyin spelling and tines. Japanese is very easy to read in Roman letters. This narrator didn’t bother figuring out correct pronunciations of either, and it is horribly distracting.

Absolutely fascinating history book!

What an amazing book! I learned so much about Chinese and Japanese history, and the many ways the two countries have helped guide the world’s culture and economy over the last 2-3 thousand years.

I’m a bit surprised that I did not know about some of the major events covered, especially those that happened at the end of WW2.

I found the narrator to be a bit on the dry side, but excellent in his pronounciations and overall delivery.

Big thanks to Mr, Vogel and all the historians and archivists/librarians who helped make it possible.

I also really like the short but info-packed biographies at the end.

China & Japan is first rate by a top scholar

insightful and illuminating, just wish Audible would focus more the correct pronunciation of foreign names

Interesting - If At Times Simplistic

This was a very interesting listen. I think the author left out some more nuanced bits, and tended to gloss over parts, but overall this was decently done, and realistically he did circle back on some things to flesh them out in the final analysis.

The reader was not good at pronouncing the Japanese names (I'm less familiar with the Chinese so those bothered me less), and it took a bit to get past that shortcoming. That may not bother everyone as much as it did myself, just something to note.

Very informative history book with an objective lens

I like me the attempt to keep it as objective as possible, portraying both sides' "goods" and "bads". It's helped me to understand a lot more in terms of the background between the two countries

Reads like an encyclopedia

Thorough and detailed but ultimately just a recitation of names, dates and cursory description of incidents.