Japan's International Relations

One of the best books I have ever read on Japan's international relations and a successful attempt to present a comprehensive overview and analysis on Japan's relations with East Asia, the U.S. and Europe.
This book is interesting for students, scholars and all those who are interested in the how and why of Japan's international relations.

The book is easy to use, is dealing with Japan's relations with East Asia, the U.S. and Europe separately and the chapters are divided in a way that you always and exactly know what you are reading.
The index at the end of the book makes looking for keywords very easy and so far there is no keyword that I have not found in this book.
It is certainly well-researched information, goes into details without loosing itself in them making sure that the reader gets to know the important facts of Japan's relations with the countries in its geographical region, the United States and Europe.

It is a European perspective on Japan's international relations and without a doubt a refreshing change from so many books on Japanese politics and economics mainly giving the American perspective.
I am dealing with Japan's international relations professionally and I use the book as dictionary as well as a source for information and facts that I have not known before.

The book is also going beyond the standard view on Japan's international relations due to the fact that the authors back their research also on numerous secondary Japanese sources.
Lots of interesting background information indeed, the footnotes are numerous giving lots of advice on further reading.

No doubt that the authors know what they are talking about and if you want to know how Japan's relations with the U.S., East Asia and Europe work and what they mean for Japan, this is the book to consult.

Well-done Glenn Hook, Chris Hughes, Julie Gilson and Hugo Dobson

Axel Berkofsky

As a semi-pro woodworker I found this book to be invaluable. It has detailed drawings of just about any type of joint or furniture item you can imagine. The first section is a discussion of wood and it's properties and then there is a detailed comparison of wood joints. Mortise and tenons, miters, dovetails, etc. are all discussed.

Then the book moves on with chapters dealing with various classes of furniture, desks, tables, beds, cabinets are all discussed with clear exploded diagrams.

Although the book does not contain detailed, measured drawings, it shows the conceptual details of how to make functional furniture. Additionally there are references to detailed plans that you can access via the internet or purchase to make typical examples of each piece.

Especially helpful are the "standards" sections at the start of each chapter. The "nominal" dimensions for tables, beds, kitchen cabinets are all given along with illustrations.

If you're serious about woodworking and furniture making, this book belongs on your bookshelf.

As a novice woodworker, but a professional trades instructor, I found this book to be a wonderful source of information about traditional and contemporary styles and techniques in furniture and cabinetmaking. It introduces the fundamentals of furniture anatomy, styles and wood movement. You are then moved along to joinery and furniture subassemblies with detailed and very readable illustrations. The strength of the book is, indeed, in the illustrations. The project section illustrates, by example, the styles and techniques introduced earlier but allows Woodworkers the freedom to add dimensions of their own. It is a very useful guide for those who are looking for ideas and allows great freedom to customize the design without getting too far off track.

This book is a wealth of ideas and illustrations. Every page has an illustration (non measured drawing) giving details of types of joinery, moldings, etc. that can be used in furniture making. The book is also a staring point to get ideas how furniture can be built. It illustrates how hundreds of types of furniture (beds, cabinets of all sorts,...) can be built according to different styles. This is no cookbook for furniture (such as "Country Pine Furniture" from the same author), but it is ideal for people who have acquired a little assurance in building furniture and are ready to make their first (or second) steps in designing their own.