Carlile (Asian studies, U. of Hawai'i, Manoa) compares the historical development of the labor movement in Japan with that of three leading countries in Western Europe--France, Italy, and West Germany--and international labor movements. He demonstrates how world views and labor movements were shaped in similar ways in the industrialized West and East, and that issues dividing labor during the 1920s were central to the Cold War, keeping labor movements at odds with themselves internally. The text contributes to the understanding of post-WWII Japanese labor and political history by outlining the connection between the politics of Japanese labor and the structure and dynamics of global politics. For students and specialists of Japan and East Asia, labor history and politics, diplomatic history, Cold War history, comparative politics, and sociology. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)