ASIA PERSPECTIVES: NEW HORIZONS IN ASIAN HISTORY, SOCIETY, AND CULTURE
Phyllis Birnbaum. Manchu Princess, Japanese Spy: The Story of Kawashima Yoshiko, the Cross-Dressing Spy Who Commanded Her Own Army (2015)
“Richly illustrated with rare photos, and enlivened by numerous interviews, Phyllis Birnbaum’s book is a balanced, well-written biography of one of the most notorious figures to emerge in the early twentieth-century contest for empire in northeast Asia. Anyone interested in the personal dimension of Sino-Japanese relations during the period of their most problematic intensity will find much profit in reading these stories of the life of Kawashima Yoshiko, many told through the memories of the men and women who loved her and hated her, often at the same time.” — Mark C. Elliott, Harvard University
