Review of Mario Ōshima (Ed.), Tochikishōka to Kinbenkakumei no Hikakushi—Keizaishi Jō no Kinsei (Land Scarcity and Industrious Revolutions—Comparative Studies on Early Modern Economies)

Abstract

The title’s novelty attracts readers’ attention, bringing up many questions. What does it attempt to do—comparative studies on Industrious Revolutions , let alone land scarcity ? The title also says it is about the early modern period. How many historians are thoroughly familiar with these concepts? These keywords alone are already contentious. However, the book also covers a vast geographical space including Japan, China, Java (under Dutch rule), India, Germany and Russia. First of all, the editor’s passion and ability should be highly praised. In addition, authors of the articles in this book have both a deep understanding of the editor’s intention and scholarly integrity. The articles are all valuable academic studies. In the following, therefore, each article is summarized (with reviewer’s short comments) and then the reviewer’s brief remarks for the entire book are added at the end.