Helen Barrett Montgomery is not the author of The Empire of the East

I've been researching Helen Barrett Montgomery on and off for about 15 years now, and I frequently come across a book called The Empire of the East: A Simple Account of Japan as It Was, Is, and Will Be. This book is sometimes attributed to Helen Barrett Mongtomery, but she did NOT write it.

Let me say it again, for emphasis. Helen Barrett Montgomery did not write this book. I learned this the hard way. When I was working on my dissertation, I was trying to collect all of HBM's writings. I saw this book advertised as one of hers, so I bought an over-priced copy from a used book store. Then, when I figured out it was not written by Helen Barrett Montgomery, I could not return it.

Since then, I have been on something of a crusade to correct this factual error wherever I find it. So far, I've gotten the Library of Congress and Amazon.com to correct their listings. I've written an explanatory review for the Internet Archive and posted a message to their forum explaining the situation.

How do I know that HBM did not write this book? Here are my reasons.

(1) The author, H.B. Montgomery, writes from the perspective of an Englishman. Helen Barrett Montgomery was an American woman.

(2) This book offers a pessimistic assessment of the missionary prospects of Christianity in Japan, and it presents this assessment in a detached, analytical manner. Helen Barrett Montgomery was an active churchwoman, an evangelical Baptist, a pastor's daughter, and a lifelong advocate of Christian missions. She wrote numerous books championing the cause of missions, especially women's missionary activities. She would never have taken such a dispassionate, pessimistic view regarding the evangelization of Japan.

(3) The New York Times reviewed The Empire of the East when it came out. The reviewer refers to the author as "Mr. Montgomery."

(4) This book was written before Helen Barrett Montgomery ever traveled to Asia.

(5) Helen Barrett Montgomery never abbreviated her name on her publications; she always listed her full name.

My conclusion: The author of this book, H.B. Montgomery, was not Helen Barrett Montgomery.