Liu draws on his background in economics, the history of medicine, and modern public health to describe how the imposition of Japan's Westernized medical practices of Japan during the half century of occupation altered medicine in Taiwan, particularly noting the tension between the brutality of imperialism and the mercy of modernization. He discusses Japanized staatsmedizin as the prototype of colonial medicine in Taiwan, the chaotic beginning, revising staatsmedizin for the colony during the 1920s, and from prewar legacy to postwar legend during the 1930s and since. Annotation 2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
