Excerpt from Problems of the Far East: Japan, Korea, China The first edition of this work appeared in August 1894, within a few weeks of the firing of the first shot in the Far Eastern War. Of the three nations who had furnished its subject matter, two were the protagonists, and the third was the victim in that eventful struggle. There was good fortune, therefore, in the moment of publication. But if this coincidence was undesigned, it was attended by a more than proportionate risk. For the book itself was less a history, or a narrative, or a criticism, than it was a forecast, entered into with only so much confidence as was born of a patient examination of facts upon the spot, but in ignorance of how soon it would be subjected to the rough test of experience. The fact that I am able to issue a fourth edition of the book - after the conclusion of a war that was seismic both in its character and consequences - in substantially the same guise as it originally wore, with alterations and additions that, while required to bring it up to date, only confirm my former argument, is to me a consolatory vindication of my venture then, and may, I hope, be regarded by others as a sufficient ground for republication now. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.