Vadim Volkov, The European University at St. Petersburg, author of Violent Entrepreneurs: The Use of Force in the Making of Russian Capitalism : "Eiko Maruko Siniawer offers an alternative history of modern Japan written from the perspective of the micropolitics of violence. In this revealing book those who usually stay in the background come to the forefront. Political ruffians and other specialists in violence were indispensable for every political project, whether fascist or democratic. The degree of their historical involvement is striking." Michael A. Reynolds, Princeton University: " Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists addresses a theme of great cross-regional and contemporary relevance: that democracy and violence, far from being incompatible, are intimately entangled. Eiko Maruko Siniawer advances the provocative thesis that the embrace of democracy does not displace violence from politics but merely transforms it.

This is a book that deserves an audience well beyond Japanese history." Stephen Vlastos, University of Iowa, author of Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan : "This lively history of modern institutionalized practices of political violence in Japan, demonstrates how in one guise or another 'violence specialists' have been integral to the conduct of politics. Historians and political scientists inclined to view Japan as a consensus driven society, will do well to consider Siniawer's contrarian view." "Siniawer's essential contention--that violence was a systemic, continuous feature of politics, which exerted a major impact on the nature of Japanese democracy--is demonstrated convincingly. Scholars inclined to emphasize the 'brighter side' of Japan's modern history may find this work troublesome. And that is a good thing." "Gamblers, ruffians, thugs, and yakuza have left a major imprint on contemporary Japanese politics and political style, and Siniawer tells their story well." "In this important work, Eiko Maruko Siniawer argues very convincingly that violence, especially political violence, was a pervasive, highly influential, and nearly continuous force in Japan between the late Tokugawa age and the 1960s.

" Michael Lewis, Michigan State University: "Eiko Maruko Siniawer's Ruffians, Yakuza, Nationalists abundantly demonstrates the political violence basic to the birth and development of modern Japanese democracy. In a carefully crafted study that manages at once to be sweeping, nuanced, and richly comparative, she surveys how political 'violence specialists' became as Japanese as cherry blossoms. In tracing the history of violent groups she not only demonstrates how they contributed to 'fascist violence' in prewar Japan, but also reveals how democratic ends emerged directly and indirectly from undemocratic actions before and after World War II. The insight is just one of many in this fascinating study of hooligans and fixers in modern Japanese politics.".