Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear: Russia's War With Japan

Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear: Russia's War With Japan by Connaughton, Richard. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780304361847.

Manchuria, 1904-1905, and in their war with the Japanese the Russians were wrong footed from the start, fighting at the end of a 5,000 mile single track railway against a brilliantly led and fanatical Japanese army less than a week from their bases. The Russian command structure was hopelessly confused, their generals old and incompetent, the Tsar cautious and uncertain. The Russian naval defeat at Tsushima was as farcical as it was complete. Seventeen months of war left 300,000 dead, a major European power defeated by the Japanese and the beginnings of a new order in the Far East. The world was changed - as the unsuspecting world would later discover. In this major revision, following new research in Manchuria, he extends his narrative into a lively analysis of the strategies of both parties. It was a curious war, fought over territory not belonging to either side, unwisely ignored by the western military minds of the day, but the author shows just how significant it was in foreshadowing the change in the conduct of modern warfare. This is a fascinating history written to appeal to readers at all levels.