I am grateful to many people for support throughout the writing of this book. I owe my greatest debt to Carol Gluck, who has provided guidance and criticism at every stage of the project, giving more of her time than I could have expected. I thank Victoria de Grazia for helping me think through Italian history and for her encouragement; Greg Pflugfelder, for offering his advice on all matters whenever I needed it; Harry Harootunian, for his sharp reading of various drafts and his thought-provoking seminars; Kim Brandt, for her constructive criticism of an earlier version of the manuscript. The book benefited immensely from the comments I received from Bain Attwood, Mehmet Dosemeci, Federico Finchelstein, Takashi Fujitani, Janis Mimura, Sam Moyn, and Umemori Naoyuki.
I was fortunate to have many friends and colleagues who helped me by reading drafts or discussing ideas. I am particularly grateful to Adam Bronson, Alex Bukh, Giuliana Chamedes, Adam Clulow, Chad Diehl, Yumi Kim, Federico Marcon, Ben Martin, Ben Mercer, Dominique Reill, Sagi Schaefer, Saikawa Takashi, Sakuma Ken, Shōda Hiroyoshi, Suzuki Tamon, Brian Tsui, Max Ward, and Steve Wills. At Columbia, Mark Mazower shared his thoughts on the historiography of fascism. In Japan I benefited from participating in the seminars of Hori Makiyo and Umemori Naoyuki at Waseda University and in Nagai Kazu’s seminar at Kyoto University. More recently, at Monash University, colleagues and members of my research seminar, too numerous to name individually, tuned into the final stages of the manuscript, giving invaluable feedback on several chapters. Back in the late twentieth century, at the University of Western Australia, Richard Bosworth and Rob Stuart laid the groundwork for this project as inspiring teachers and undergraduate advisers.
Warmest thanks go to Kuribayashi Machiko, who kindly granted me access to her family’s private papers, welcoming me on repeat visits for over a decade. Many individuals in Italy helped in dealing with the intricate archives and libraries in Rome. A fellowship at Columbia’s Weatherhead East Asian Institute gave me time to work on the manuscript—I thank Myron Cohen and Waichi Ho for making this into an intellectually stimulating experience in a friendly environment. At Cornell University Press, Roger Haydon offered expert editorial oversight.
I was fortunate to present my work at a number of scholarly meetings, including the Seminar on Modern Japan at Columbia University and the History Seminar at Monash University. I am also grateful for having been invited to speak at the workshop “Modern Germany, Italy, and Japan: Towards a New Perspective,” held at the Freiburg Institute for Advanced Studies, the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, and organized by Patrick Bernhard, Sven Reichardt, and Lucy Riall. I am indebted to all participants at these venues for their comments and suggestions. A version of Chapter 4 has appeared in the Journal of Contemporary History.
I would like to acknowledge the financial support I have received over the years. Generous grants and scholarships from Columbia University, the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, the Leonard Hastings Schoff Fund, the Whiting Foundation, and the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology allowed me to carry out research on three continents. Monash University contributed by covering last-minute expenses.
This book would not have been possible without my wife, Siew Fung, who shared with me the ups and downs of a nomadic life, always unwavering in her loving support. Our daughters, Yza and Cya, brought much happiness. My deepest gratitude goes to my parents, Karl and Yvonne, who have helped me out in more ways than they may realize. I dedicate this book to them.