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This week I'm going to recommend Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond.

Honestly, I feel a little disingenuous recommending it because it's already so famous.

Even if you don't necessarily agree with all of Diamond's ideas about what shaped world history,

well, they're still pretty important, they're still culturally noteworthy, and now you finally have a chance to read them for free.

Go to audibletrial.com slash Japan to claim your copy. Hello and welcome to the History of Japan podcast.

Episode 164, The Mailstrom, Part 2.

Today we're going to start the March to War in Manchuria.

We will begin in an appropriate year for talking about the first major 20th century conflict, 1900,

but in a place somewhat removed from Manchuria proper, the plains of northern China,

specifically Shandong province and the surrounding area. If you don't know where Shandong is, pull up a map of China,

and you'll notice there's a spit of land sticking out of the coast south of Beijing,

like a finger pointing east at Korea. That's Shandong.

Historically, this is one of China's most important cultural centers.

The birthplace of both Confucius and Menzius, Shandong is one of the hearts of Chinese culture.

However, during the late Qing Dynasty, it was also endemically poor and was constantly plagued

by bandits.

...