Pacific Asia in the Global System: An Introduction

by Peter Preston

This introduction will serve as a 'first stop' for those interested in Japan, its role in the Pacific Asian region and, in turn, that region's role in the evolving global system. In this volume, P. W. Preston critically analyses the political economy, social institutions and culture of Pacific Asia. The analysis focuses on Japan , it's relations with the inner periphery of Southeast Asia, and its developing linkages with the reforming socialist countries of China and Indo-China
The critical perspective, awareness of cultural and ethnic trends and a sophisticated grasp of social patterns makes this volume an essential introduction to the region.

296 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Peter John Preston is a British journalist and author. He was educated at Loughborough Grammar School and St John's College, Oxford, where he edited the student paper Cherwell. He has received honorary degrees from the City University, London and the University of Leicester (2003).

He joined The Guardian in 1963 and was editor for twenty years, from 1975 to 1995. He continues as a prolific columnist addressing a wide range of political and social issues, also contributing a weekly column devoted mainly to news about newspapers, their readers and (generally) diminishing circulations in The Observer's "business and media" section. He was a member of the Scott Trust from 1979 to 2003, Chairman of the International Press Institute from 1995 to 1997, and Chairman of the Association of British Press Editors.

He is perhaps best known for the investigative reporting into Conservative MPs, including the perjurious Jonathan Aitken and brown-envelope-receiving Neil Hamilton and Tim Smith, begun while he was editor of The Guardian.