“Peattie’s comprehensive and fascinating book adds greatly to our knowledge of colonial governments in general, the Japanese empire in particular, and the global significance of the Pacific Islands.” —The Contemporary Pacific

“The significance of this book by Peattie, a lifelong scholar of the Japanese empire, is that it brings Japan’s 30-year imperial adventure in the Pacific out of the shadows at last. While indispensable for those who have a special interest in the vast part of Micronedia that Japan ruled, the author’s contribution has an importance for others as well. It offers a carefully researched and penetrating look into the heart and soul of one of the very few non-Western colonial powers in the Pacific.” —Francis Hezel, Journal of Pacific History

Mark R. Peattie, a professor of history and director of the program in East Asian studies at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, is also an associate in research at the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University. He is the author of Ishiwara Kanji and Japan’s Confrontation with the West, and coeditor of The Japanese Colonial Empire, 1885-1945.

“Japan’s influence was pervasive and well orchestrated; the Japanese had clear objectives in mind. Micronesians were to be absorbed into the Japanese empire, and eventually Japanese and other Asians would come to outnumber Islanders in their own homeland by a ratio of two to one. While his focus is upon the Japanese, Peattie helps us to understand much of Micronesia’s history and why things are the way they are today.” —from the Editor’s Note

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