Publisher's Synopsis
Dr. Metraux explores the writing of seven correspondents, six American and one Canadian, who reported the war from behind Japanese lines during the Russo-Japanese War : George Kennan, Frederick Palmer, Jack London, Frederick McKenzie, William Jennings Bryan, William Elliott Griffis and Thomas Millard. All agreed that Japan was a modern nation and Korea was impoverished and corrupt. Where they differed in opinion was on Japan's motives for seizing Korea : to be a benevolent big brother or a merciless imperialist employing brutal tactics. Metraux states "The goal of this work is to demonstrate and analyze the "Rashomon effect", a phenomenon where there are so many different interpretations of what is going on that it becomes difficult to know the whole truth." Daniel Metraux wants the reader to beware when reading supposedly factual news. What is Truth?
