Bruce Menning

The product of a conference convened in Japan to commemorate the centennial of the conflict, this collection of papers is definitely inter-library-loan fodder (if only for the eye-watering price), as the topics veer from Russo-Japanese relations from the opening of Tokugawa Japan, to matters of strategic planning and intelligence, to tactical and operational matters, to the social impact of it all. It might be noted that the Russian side of the military equation are somewhat better served, if only because there is more material to be mined. As for whether the Russo-Japanese War can be called "World War 0," I somehow think that referring to it as the beta test for the Great War would probably capture the concept slightly better. This collection also reminds me that the land-war side of this conflict has yet to find its Peter Cozzens, let alone its David Glantz.… (more)