Sunstruck Giant Volume 2

Utilising hitherto untranslated sources, volume two of Sunstruck Giant provides a complete campaign history of the First Sino-Japanese War of 1894–95, detailing not only the battles themselves but also the strategic motivations that shaped them. Six full-colour plates bring key engagements of the war to life with vivid authenticity. 

Often depicted as the death-rattle of one empire and the ascendancy of another, the First Sino-Japanese War is commonly framed as a stark contrast between a “backward” China and a fully modernised Japan. This nationalism-tinted lens has led many accounts to gloss over the redeeming qualities of the Chinese military while downplaying the serious shortcomings of the Japanese. Drawing on previously untranslated sources, Sunstruck Giant is the first English-language work to offer a genuinely comprehensive and balanced view of both sides in this neglected conflict.

Existing English-language histories rely almost exclusively on Japanese sources, omitting the invaluable Chinese perspective and often excluding facts less creditable to the Japanese side. Sunstruck Giant therefore examines “the other side of the hill,” analysing the successes, failures, mistakes, and misfortunes of both belligerents. Far from being uniformly “backward,” Chinese forces demonstrated moments of genuine heroism, while the supposedly “modernised” Japanese were far from immune to grave and costly blunders.

"John Dong’s hefty second volume of Sunstruck Giant, The Sino-Japanese War of 1894–1895 is a confident, clear-eyed continuation that picks up exactly where the first left off—immersing the reader in the closing stages of the First Sino-Japanese War with the same calm authority, sharp detail, and unshowy narrative control that made volume 1 such a pleasant surprise....this volume is a worthy continuation of what the first started: a thoughtful, wellconstructed, and highly readable account of a war that deserves far more attention than it has traditionally received. Dong closes out his study with assurance and insight, making this pair of volumes an easy recommendation for anyone interested in late-Qing military history, Meiji Japan, or the shifting balance of power that shaped modern East Asia." carryingsonupthedale.com Blog