The diplomat Sir Ernest Satow (1843-1929) left many important papers (diaries and letters) in the Public Record Office (now the UK National Archives). This book is a complete and unabridged collection of his semi-official ('demi-official' in the contemporary jargon) private letters as Her Britannic Majesty's envoy to Japan (1895-1900) and China (1900-1906), with an introduction by noted Foreign Office historian and East Asia expert J.E. Hoare and annotations by Ian Ruxton. These handwritten copies of letters carefully recorded in the author's Letter Books have been transcribed into book form for the first time ever by permission of the National Archives. The aim is to make these valuable documents more easily accessible to scholars and students worldwide. Also available on the amazon websites.
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By John Haines
Oct 15, 2009
"The Further Adventures of an almost off-duty Sir Ernest Satow" Diplomats are rather like policemen, they are never truly off-duty, as their private lives are so entwined in their official public duties. An invite to tea was and is often only ostensibly to do with seed cake and Earl Gray, and was and is in reality, a chance to talk business, but informally. On occasions, one of the parties may hope to glean and gain and win leverage through catching their opposite number unawares, much the way an off duty detective will play pool and darts with the local most wanted. This latest installment of the written letters, memos, notes, diary entries and even minor musings, show that ( as the title suggests ) diplomats do have a life away from officialdom; but not that far - and so decorum in the main, has to be maintained, even in the written word. This collection of letters lets us in on the private thoughts of Satow, on his colleagues, on opposite numbers, whether friendly or... More > hostile, and even his surprisingly less than flattering opinions on the wives of some colleagues. This volume, together with Ian Ruxton's other works on this great man, show the man in both suit and plus fours, in pinstripe and flannel, and does so here via the comparatively freer, less shackled semi-official writings therein. Another great installment from a foremost expert ( perhaps the foremost expert ) on Anglo-Asian diplomacy in the late Victorian / Edwardian eras in general, and Sir Ernest Satow in particular. Very well done yet again. John Haines< Less
