Step Back and Find a Home: Uncovering China's War of Resistance Through Japanese Sources

Sasu writes with lively wit, bringing this weighty and stirring period of history vividly to life for readers. The book also preserves a wealth of historical photographs taken by the Japanese. By cross-referencing Japanese sources with Chinese records, it reconstructs or fills in gaps in many precious accounts of Chinese soldiers and civilians resisting the enemy and defending their country. Much of the Japanese material Sasu uses consists of long-forgotten veterans' memoirs, wartime reports, and unpublished manuscripts held in Japanese archives, used bookstores, and private collections, sources often overlooked or missed by professional researchers. Most of these materials are recollections by Japanese invaders of military operations in which they took part. Though written from a different perspective, they are highly authentic and accurate in their details. Chinese records, meanwhile, are extremely scarce, since many accounts concern defensive battles and defeats. Details of Japanese losses and combat are especially often fabricated or entirely absent, and Japanese sources help enrich the record in this regard. Sasu's writing is witty and lively, his sentiments sincere, and his research rigorous. In story after story, he brings to life the moving history of Chinese soldiers and civilians who willingly gave their lives for their nation's dignity, conveying throughout his profound love for his country. The book also contains many historical photographs taken by the Japanese during the War of Resistance Against Japan. The interplay of text and images adds further historical value.