Commodore Matthew Perry: The Life and Legacy of the U.S. Navy Officer Who Opened Japan to the West

Perry's 1853 flotilla included two sailing ships and two steamships, and Perry returned in February 1854. The Japanese may not have been very impressed with the gifts from America that Perry presented, but they clearly were impressed by the steamships. Perry's cruises and other threatening events resulted in a fundamental change in Japan, so much so that after having given up guns in the 1600s, the Japanese quickly moved to reintroduce them in the wake of the Americans' arrival. It became p...