This book provides a unique view of the development of military and commercial aviation in Japan from the pioneering years before World War I to the end of World War II. There are comparatively few books in English that illustrate aviation in Japan in the years before World War II. This is the first book to make extensive use of Japanese aviation postcards to show how aviation in Japan grew from a dependence on foreign aircraft designs and engineers in the early years to an independent industry that produced world-class airplanes. The book uses more than 250 postcards to trace the history of Imperial Japanese Army and Navy aviation, and commercial aviation, during this thirty-five year period. Each of the book's four chapters begins with a narrative survey of key developments during the period covered. The postcards, some in color and some in black and white, show both military and commercial airplanes, many famous and some less so. Of particular interest to those interested in Japanese military aviation in World War II will be a number of postcards of wartime propaganda art.

A beautiful comprehensive collection of antique China and Shanghai-specific postcards which takes you through the colonial era of China, 1890-1945. The text is written by Felicitas Titus (M.A. in German and French Languages from U.C. Berkeley) who was born and raised in China during the years of 1925-1950, and who is an expert on Chinese history. Her commentary provides just enough explanation of the events and people of that period to make the postcards come alive. The entire book is filled with historically significant and lovely images, capturing Chinese life at that time.

The incredible story of Gyles Mackrell and his Burmese, elephant-assisted wartime rescue mission.

The author combines the general history of the period with personal references from individual correspondences to give detailed context to the postal arrangements for POWs and internees into and out of East Asian countries under Japanese occupation during World War II.

"The history of Japanese aviation offers countless stories of heroic achievements and dismal failures, passionate enthusiasm and sheer terror, brilliant ideas and fatally flawed strategies. In Wings for the Rising Sun, scholar and former airline pilot Jürgen Melzer connects the intense drama of flight with a global history of international cooperation, competition, and conflict. He details how Japanese strategists, diplomats, and industrialists skillfully exploited a series of major geopolitical changes to expand Japanese airpower and develop a domestic aviation industry. At the same time, the military and media orchestrated air shows, transcontinental goodwill flights, and press campaigns to stir popular interest in the national aviation project. Melzer analyzes the French, British, German, and American influence on Japan’s aviation, revealing in unprecedented detail how Japanese aeronautical experts absorbed foreign technologies at breathtaking speed. Yet they also designed and built boldly original flying machines that, in many respects, surpassed those of their mentors. Wings for the Rising Sun compellingly links Japan’s aeronautical advancement with public mobilization, international relations, and the transnational flow of people and ideas, offering a fresh perspective on modern Japanese history."