chadkoh reviewed Understanding Japan by Mark Ravina (Great courses. History, Civilization & culture)
Review of 'Understanding Japan' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
I first heard Mark Ravina on the Meiji 150 podcast and bookshelved a few of his books. I was looking at some Great Courses for something light and episodic to listen to on my commute and I recognized his name on it, so I downloaded it right away.
I think he is super lucky to be putting together such a wide-ranging and fun series of lectures such as this. The first few chapters are straight history, but then he bounces all over the place including food, art, theatre, film, etc. But that doesn't make it shallow. I was still able to learn cool new facts about all kinds of stuff that I was already pretty familiar with. There is certainly depth as Ravina turns a scholar's eye to some everyday things.
