In contrast with many books which concentrate exclusively on the twentieth century, this book offers a long-term perspective on modernity and modernization in East Asia. It addresses the tributary system, the Meiji Restoration, Japanese imperialism in East Asia, and the Cold War in East Asia. It also incorporates the First and Second Indochina Wars from Vietnam's perspective and expands the geographical scope of East Asia beyond the traditional framework of Korea, Japan, and China. From the Contents: The Meiji Restoration, Wilsonian Liberalism, and the Challenge of Japanese Imperialism; The Great Depression, the Expansion of Japanese Imperialism, and Historical Memory; The Second World War in Japanese Historical Memory, the Korean Question, and the Making of Post-war American Order; The Unlearned Lessons from the American Occupation of Japan, the First and Second Indochina Wars, the Revival of China in the Twenty-First Century, and the Irrelevance of Modernization Theory.