The Diaries of Sir Ernest Satow, 1921-1926 - Volume One (1921-1923)

Book excerpt: The distinguished diplomat Sir Ernest Satow's retirement began in 1906 and continued until his death in August 1929. From 1907 he settled in the small town of Ottery St. Mary in rural East Devon, England. He was very active, serving as a British delegate at the Second Hague Peace Conference in 1907 and on various committees related to church, missionary and other more local affairs: he was a magistrate and chairman of the Urban District Council. He had a very wide social circle of family, friends and former colleagues, with frequent distinguished visitors. He produced two seminal books: A Guide to Diplomatic Practice (1917, now in its seventh revised edition and referred to as 'Satow') and A Diplomat in Japan (1921). The latter is highly evaluated as a rare foreigner's view of the years leading to the Meiji Restoration of 1868. This book in two volumes is the last in a series of Satow's diaries edited by Ian Ruxton. This is the first-ever publication.