Kenneth Pyle, The Making of Modern Japan

Here's another "back-log" book that I forgot to add.  This was the principal textbook of my Japanese History II class last year.  At first I found it to be confusing, but having read more of Pyle's work, I realize that it is simply a product of his writing style - he prefers to look at broader transformations, rather than on the tiny details (which I would usually expect from a history book.)