Rising Sun and Tumbling Bear: Russia's War with Japan (Cassell Military Paperbacks)

The definitive history of the Russo-Japanese war The Russians were wrong-footed from the start, fighting in Manchuria at the end of a 5,000 mile single track railway; the Japanese were a week or so 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. The Japanese had defeated a big European power, and the lessons for the West were there for all to see, had they cared to do so. From this curious war, so unsafely ignored for the most part by the military minds of the day, Richard Connaughton has woven a fascinating narrative to appeal to readers at all levels. 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 This definitive history of the Russo-Japanese War received rave reviews in its first edition-The Economist, for one, called it "A remarkably lively and enjoyable account." As the 100th anniversary of the conflict approaches, Connaughton's fascinating study will receive renewed attention and appeal to both military enthusiasts and the wider history market. In fascinating detail, he reveals the hopeless confusion of the Russian command structure and how the Russian naval defeat at Tsushima was as farcical as it was complete. Describes the first defeat of a European power by an Asian power since the thirteenth-century invasion of the Mongols ... providing lessons for the West, which were largely ignored by military minds of the day