Chōshū in the Meiji restoration

"This book is a study of the Meiji Restoration that changed the face of Japan. Prominent historian Albert M. Craig tells its story through that of the state of Choshu - whose role in the formation of modern Japan was not unlike that of Prussia in Germany - during the fifteen crucial years between 1853 and 1868." "Previous studies of this transition have stressed the role of discontented lower samurai, frustrated rich merchants, and peasants, claiming that they provided the motivating force behind the political movements of the Restoration period, but this work sharply challenges these earlier interpretations. Craig instead emphasizes the vitality of traditional values in Japan's early reaction to the West and foregrounds the critical contribution of the old society to the formation of the new Meiji state. Choshu in the Meiji Restoration is a seminal work for scholars and students of Japanese history."--Jacket.