Summary
In 1853, the security of a Japan closed off from the outside world was shattered by the arrival of four American naval vessels sailing under the command of Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry. The fleet's commander, a 40-year veteran of U.S. naval service, had commanded American fleets from the Mediterranean to Africa to the Gulf of Mexico. Now, he had arrived in Japanese waters with orders to negotiate a trade treaty with Japan, an insular, medieval state ruled by an emperor and a shogun, with order maintained by well-disciplined swordsmen called samurai. If the Americans succeeded in their goal, more than 250 years of Japanese isolation would end.
Illustrated with full-color and black-and-white photographs, and accompanied by a chronology, bibliography, and further resources, The Perry Expedition and the Opening of Japan, Updated Edition provides a clear and comprehensive account of this intriguing period in U.S.-Japanese relations. Historical spotlights and excerpts from primary source documents are also included.
About the Author(s)
Tim McNeese is associate professor of history and department chair at York College in York, Nebraska. A graduate of York College, Harding University, and Missouri State University, McNeese has published more than 100 books and educational materials. His writing has earned him a citation in the library reference work Contemporary Authors and multiple citations in Best Books for Young Teen Readers. In 2006, McNeese appeared on the History Channel program Risk Takers/History Makers: John Wesley Powell and the Grand Canyon.