author
R. (Robert) Van Bergen
An early American writer on Asia, he brought Japan, China, Russia, and the Philippines to young English-language readers at a time when those subjects were still unfamiliar to many in the United States. His books mix broad historical storytelling with the perspective of someone who said he had known leading figures of modern Japan personally.
2 Audiobooks
The Story of Russia
by R. (Robert) Van Bergen
A Boy of Old Japan
by R. (Robert) Van Bergen
About the author
R. (Robert) Van Bergen wrote popular history and historical fiction for younger readers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Catalog records and public-domain editions link him to books including The Story of Japan (1897), A Boy of Old Japan (1901), The Story of Russia (1905), and The Story of China (1922).
In the preface to A Boy of Old Japan, written in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in November 1900, he says he had witnessed Japan's transformation firsthand and had personally known several of the statesmen behind it. Modern library and audiobook listings also describe him as one of the first Americans to enter Japan after the country reopened to foreigners, where he taught English to aristocratic students and later served as principal of the Nobles' School in Tokyo.
Because reliable biographical sources on him are limited, many details of his life remain unclear. What does stand out is the role his books played in introducing young readers to Asian history through lively, accessible narrative at a moment when Japan's rise especially fascinated Western audiences.