The invasions of Korea launched by the dictator Toyotomi Hideyoshi (1592-1593 and 1597-1598) are unique in Japanese history for being the only time that the samurai assaulted a foreign country. Hideyoshi planned to invade and conquer China; ruled at the time by the Ming dynasty; and when the Korean court refused to allow his troops to cross their country; Korea became the first step in this ambitious plan of conquest. In 1592 a huge invasion force of 150;000 men landed at the ports of Busan and Tadaejin under the commanders Konishi Yukinaga and Kato Kiyomasa. These two Japanese divisions rapidly overran their Korean counterparts; taking the principal cities of Seoul and then Pyongyang and driving the remnants of the Korean Army into China. The Japanese division under Kato Kiyomasa even started to advance into Manchuria. However; the Korean strength was in their navy and the vital Korean naval victory of Hansando disrupted the flow of supplies to the invasion forces; forcing them to hold their positions around Pyongyang. In 1593; the Chinese invaded capturing Pyongyang from the Japanese and driving them southwards. This phase of the war ended in a truce; with the Japanese forces withdrawing into enclaves around the southern port of Busan while the Ming armies largely withdrew to China. In 1597; following the breakdown in negotiations; the Japanese invaded again with a force of 140;000 men. However; the Chinese and Koreans were now better prepared and the advance came to a halt south of Seoul; and then forced the Japanese southwards. In November 1598 Hideyoshi died; and with him the enthusiasm for the military adventure. The Japanese council of regents ordered the withdrawal of the remaining forces; and the naval battle of Noryang; which saw the Japanese fleet annihilated by the Korean admiral Yi-Sunshin; proved to be the last significant act of the conflict.
#1501641 in Books Verso 2011-05-09 2011-05-09Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.47 x 1.70 x 6.45l; 2.05 #File Name: 1844675696512 pages
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Abolition: The Not So-Mighty ExperimentBy William KostlevyIn his intriguing AMERICAN CRUCIBLE Robin Blackburn makes the fascinating argument that "abolitionism was to be a major expression to shield society from unbridled market forces." (p. 24) In stark contrast to the views of fellow historians of abolitionism such as Seymour Drescher and David Brion Davis; Blackburn has absolutely no regard for as he writes "an approach in the spirit of church history as a search for saints or with a goal for monumentalizing the past." (p. 488) While my own reading of the sources suggests that Blackburn is on to something in his insistence that abolitionists general lacked enthusiasm for the market economy; his utter contempt for white evangelical Christians and their morally informed critique of slavery seriously weakens this potentially important contribution to our understanding of the anti-slavery movement. In a work that even acknowledges that many evangelical domestics;especially Methodist women; played a role in the ending of slavery; Blackburn repeatedly trivializes their contributions and makes no meaningful attempt to understand them or their worlds. In a similar manner Blackburn celebrates slave agency and the role of African informed expressions of Christianity in resisting slavery but unlike the landmark work of Eugene Genovese we are left to speculate on the actual nature and content of that faith. He repeatedly insists that the anti-slavery movement in America was "a major preoccupation of a small minority such as those involved in the work of Oberlin College." (p.383) And further he notes that it sometimes had to compete for the attention of reformers with such dubious reforms as temperance or Sabbath observance. This of course is simply an attempt by Blackburn (through guilt by association) to reduce the cultural significance of institutions he despises. While no one would of course claim that a majority in the American north opposed slavery Oberlin College was by nineteenth century standards a large college associated with one of the most important evangelists and and widely read authors of the time; Charles G. Finney. It is precisely among the folks associated with Oberlin (and numerous similar institutions that dotted the regions of the New England migration) that one finds the origins of the seemingly modern notion of racial equality. This is the point of the late Paul Goodman in his classic study OF ONE BLOOD: ABOLITIONISM AND THE ORIGINS OF RACIAL EQUALITY. In all Blackburn's cynicism about the possibility of meaningful social reform seems more appropriate for our own age of self indulgence than for an age of millennial expectation when even the hierarchies worshiped with such fervor in our modern temples of higher learning of race; class and gender were called into question.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy CustomerMagnificent read0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy wilbert lopez morenoExcellent
