Books: Enshrined Diplomat

HE OPENED THE DOOR OF JAPAN—Carl Crow—Harper ($3).

Commodore Perry got his foot in, but it was Townsend Harris who opened the door of Japan wide enough to let the traders in. Who Townsend Harris was, few U. S. citizens know. But he is a hero in Japan; his two residences—the consulate at Shimoda and the legation at Tokyo are preserved as shrines. The first U. S. Consul General to Japan, Townsend Harris in 1858 negotiated the first effective commercial treaty between the U. S. and Japan—a feat which historians have ranked with the world's leading diplomatic successes.

But Carl Crow (400 Million...