Asian history Books

Book SynopsisThis important new study investigates the competing demand for water in the Bhavani and Noyyal River basins of south India from the early 19th century to the early 21st century from a historical perspective. In doing so, the book addresses several important questions:* Did policy-makers visualise the future demand while diverting water from distant places or other basins?* Was efficient use ensured when the water was diverted or was it diverted in a manner that resulted in pollution and serious damage to the entire river basin?* Were natural flows taken care of in order to preserve the ecology and environment?* What were the factors that aggravated the competing demand for water and what were the consequences for the future?In the context of the current discourse on the competing demands for water, this book takes the debate forward, expanding the horizon of environmental history in the process. Until now, agriculture, industry and domestic water supply aTrade ReviewThrough a fascinating series of microstudies, Velayutham Saravanan's scholarship insightfully highlights the vital role of the physical environmental in modern South India. Importantly, this fine book particularly concentrates on the multiple issues of water (supply, distribution, and pollution) during the period from the late British Raj to today’s independent Republic of India. * Michael Fisher, Robert S. Danforth Professor of History, Oberlin College, USA *Melding agrarian history with urban history and situating industrialization within a broader socio-economic context, this sophisticated and sobering study makes water central to the writing of environmental history. Scholars and policy professionals will benefit immensely from reading this work. * Kalyanakrishnan Sivaramakrishnan, Dinakar Singh Professor of India and South Asia Studies, Yale University, USA *[T]his book is a useful addition to the growing literature on the specificity of the historical trajectory of rivers in South Asia. In addition to previously unexplored archives, there is a wealth of statistical information here that would be useful to a wide readership, including policy makers, economists, and development studies experts. * Technology and Culture *Table of ContentsList of Maps List of Tables List of Appendices Author Note Preface Acknowledgements Acronyms Measurements 1. Introduction 2. Hydrology, Commercialization and Ecology 3. Population, Urbanization, Industrialization and Demand for Water 4. Water Supply Schemes and Conflict 5. Canal Irrigation, Technology and Conflict 6. Disasters of Linking Rivers 7. Conclusion Glossary Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis book discusses how ancient Japanese mythology was utilized during the colonial period to justify the annexation of Korea to Japan, with special focus on the god Susanoo. Described as an ambivalent figure and wanderer between the worlds, Susanoo served as a foil to set off the sun goddess, who played an important role in the modern construction of a Japanese national identity. Susanoo inhabited a sinister otherworld, which came to be associated with colonial Korea. Imperialist ideologues were able to build on these interpretations of the Susanoo myth to depict Korea as a dreary realm at the margin of the Japanese empire that made the imperial metropole shine all the more brightly. At the same time, Susanoo was identified as the ancestor of the Korean people. Thus, the colonial subjects were ideologically incorporated into the homogeneous Japanese family state. The book situates Susanoo in Japan's cultural memory and shows how the deity, while being repeatedly transformed in orTrade ReviewThe first in-depth study in the English language of Susanoo. Susanoo and Korea in Japan’s Cultural Memory is a welcome addition to the growing literature on Japanese deities and Japan’s colonial history, as well as the question of Korea in Japanese intellectual history more generally. * Sujung Kim, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, DePauw University, USA *David Weiss has tackled the long overdue task of heaping Amaterasu’s ‘shady’ brother out of the shadows, arguing for his importance not only in Japanese mythology and Shinto, but also for political purposes under Japanese Imperialism. Uncovering the ‘Korean link’ of Susanoo together with his representations and interpretations not only benefits scholars, but it also supplies under- and postgraduate students with an authoritative introduction to Susanoo and the diverse roles he plays in Japan’s cultural memory. * Juljan E. Biontino, Assistant Professor of Japanese and Korean Modern History at Chiba University, Japan *Table of ContentsList of Tables Conventions Introduction Part I. BLURRED BOUNDARIES AND LIMINAL IDENTITIES 1. A Foil to Set Off the Sun Goddess: Susanoo in the Ancient Sources 2. Passion for Transgression: Susanoo’s Liminal Character 3. At the Margin of the Divine Country: Korea in Japanese Cultural Imagination Part II. POLITICAL MYTHOLOGY: A GENEALOGY OF SUSANOO’S CONNECTION TO KOREA 4. “I do not want to Stay in this Land”: Susanoo’s Sojourn to Korea in the Ancient Court Chronicles 5. The God with a Thousand Faces: Susanoo and His Alter Egos in Medieval Mythology 6. Korea as a Realm of Death: Susanoo and Korea in Modern Discourses EPILOGUE: After the War: Susanoo in Scholarship, Tourism, and Popular Culture Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWell-researched... a welcome guide. The SpectatorReliable and lucid. History TodayWith a fractured geography and complex identity, The Philippines is an eclectic and unique mix of culture, environment, people and politics. Known mostly for natural disasters, migrant labour and dictatorial presidents, in this book Philip Bowing shows how it is much, much more. Deftly navigating the history of this populous island republic, The Making of the Modern Philippines traces its history to define and explain its position in the modern world. Looking past the headlines of volcanoes, earthquakes and violence, it asks why has the Filipino economy lagged behind its neighbours, explores the importance of its location in geopolitics, and investigates how its deep-rooted Catholicism clashes with the Islamic consciousness of the region in which it sits. Taking the history of the Philippines from its pre-colonial era, through its Spanish and American occupationsTrade ReviewA serious, well-researched survey of the Philippines, noted its manifold weaknesses and set them against what has been achieved in neighbouring countries. His is a welcome guide for the general reader to a country whose excesses are often difficult to fathom. -- Simon Scott Plummer * The Spectator *Bowring’s reliable and lucid new book draws on his experience as a journalist in the region. -- Michael Dillon * History Today *Provides insight into what Filipinos think about their country. -- Alan Robles * South China Morning Post *[Bowring] is the perfect chronicler of what Filipinos have done right and wrong … It is a much-needed wake-up call from someone with no agenda. -- Ruel S. De Vera * The Philippine Daily Inquirer *The Philippines merits both more attention and more understanding and The Making of the Modern Philippines is both a good place to start and a useful crib-sheet for those who had been following along but whose memory needs brushing up. -- Peter Gordon * Asian Review of Books *A book that the world should be reading to better understand the political tidal waves [in the Philippines]. -- John Berthelsen * Asia Sentinel *In The Making of the Modern Philippines, Phillip Bowring is acutely aware of the many contradictions that define the Philippines. Only someone who has lived and loved the region – a genuine “Asia hand,” as it were - can give us this fraught portrait of my country. * Patricio N. Abinales, Professor of Asian Studies, University of Hawaii-Manoa, USA *Bowring’s book on the Philippine narrative is a pot of history and current events, compressing the past and dissecting the present. It is the book Filipino youths, bombarded with revisionism, must read to understand the schizophrenic nature of their country’s ghosts with the Spanish, the Americans, and the Japanese. They will be able to see the landscape of the Left and the Right, the Church and the Oligarchs that stirred politics into the everyday lives of the people that were once proud of leading the pack of Southeast Asian nations. Just by the woven accounts of the past thirty-five years since the fall of a dictatorship, Bowring was able to us what went so wrong and what is left of the hopes a country had stood for. * Criselda Yabes, Writer and Journalist, The Philippines *This extraordinarily wide-ranging, yet accessible, account illuminates the intersections between the Philippines’ Malayic roots and connections, its obdurate colonial inheritances, and its contemporary geopolitical predicaments. Bowring works concertedly through the country’s complex, diverse past(s), painting a vivid picture of how today’s Philippines came to be – and what it could become. * Liana Chua, Tunku Abdul Rahman Assistant Professor in Malay World Studies, University of Cambridge, UK *The Philippines has long seemed something of an enigma to outsiders -- 2,000 disparate islands, ruled as a single political entity for more than 500 years. An indigenous Malay archipelago, but seeming more Spanish than Asian. And a former American colony with a U.S.-style constitution and political system, but a country marred by feudalism, violence and dictatorship. In The Making of the Modern Philippines, journalist and historian Philip Bowring makes sense of the riddle of the Philippines. In a lively narrative that begins in pre-colonial times and continues through colonization and occupation to the Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship and the rule of its authoritarian President Rodrigo Duterte, Bowring shows us how the country's modern dark impulses are rooted in its past. This timely book is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand this strategically vital country and its 100 million people, whose destiny could have outsized impact on Asia and the future stability of the region.Table of ContentsList of Figures List of Maps Preface Introduction 1. Fractured Geography, Complex Identity 2. More Church than State 3. Uncle Sam’s Brown Boys 4. Choices of Evils 5. Old Wine in New Bottles 6. Marcos: Power Corrupts Absolutely 7. Ladders and Snakes 8. Straight Paths and Road Blocks 9. Man with a Gun 10. 'Imperial' Manila's Weak Grip 11. Lost Advantage 12. The Root of Poverty 13. An Unempowered Economy 14. Beyond the Bayan 15. Of “Free Trade” and the Short Arm of the Law 16. Happy Families of Conglomerate Capitalism 17. Mindanao: Beckoning Frontier 18. Moros, Datus, Military and More 19. Religion on its Sleeve 20. Left Field Lies Fallow 21. Foreign Policy: All at Sea Conclusion Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisCentral Asia has long been situated at the geographical crossroads of East and West, once strategically located on the ancient Silk Road. The envy of the expanding Russian empire, it was colonized in the 19th century by Cossacks and traders from the north. This book examines how Central Asia, by then part of the Soviet Union, experienced population displacements on an even greater scale during the Second World War. Vicky Davis analyses how troops were sent westwards into action, only for waves of civilians to travel eastwards into the region: evacuees, refugees and even internal deportees sent into exile from their homelands in other parts of the vast Soviet Union. Central Asia in World War Two is the first book to tackle the subject of minorities fighting for the Soviet Union under Stalin in the Second World War. Based on meticulous archival research, it considers the interactions of the individual citizen and the Soviet state, weaving together the experiences of oveTrade ReviewCentral Asia in World War Two makes a persuasive case for viewing the region as central to our understanding of the war. Using impressive archival research, Vicky Davis allows the voices of dozens of Central Asians to tell their own stories. An impressive achievement. * Stephen Norris, Professor of History, Miami University, USA *Table of ContentsList of Figures List of Maps Notes on the Text List of Abbreviations Glossary Place Names Map of the Soviet Union Map of Central Asia Introduction Part 1 – Fighting for the Soviet Union 1. War in the Wind 2. Preparations for War 3. At the Fighting Front Part 2 – The Impact of War on the Home Front 4. Wartime Economy: Everything for the Front! Everything for Victory! 5. Society in Wartime: The Family, Health and Education 6. Propaganda and the Culture War Part 3 – Comings and Goings: The Movements of a Displaced Population 7. Seeking Sanctuary in Central Asia: Evacuees, Refugees and VIPs 8. Forced Deportations to Central Asia Part 4 – The Legacy of the Second World War in Central Asia 9. The Cultural and Social Legacy of the War Select Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWell-researched... a welcome guide. The SpectatorReliable and lucid. History TodayWith a fractured geography and complex identity, The Philippines is an eclectic and unique mix of culture, environment, people and politics. Known mostly for natural disasters, migrant labour and dictatorial presidents, in this book Philip Bowing shows how it is much, much more. Deftly navigating the history of this populous island republic, The Making of the Modern Philippines traces its history to define and explain its position in the modern world. Looking past the headlines of volcanoes, earthquakes and violence, it asks why has the Filipino economy lagged behind its neighbours, explores the importance of its location in geopolitics, and investigates how its deep-rooted Catholicism clashes with the Islamic consciousness of the region in which it sits. Taking the history of the Philippines from its pre-colonial era, through its Spanish an

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Book SynopsisIntroduced by Jeet Thayli, author of Booker Prize shortlisted novel Narcopolis.At the age of 20, Dom Moraes - already a celebrated poet who would go on to be regarded as one of India''s finest writers - returned to his native India after finishing education in England. After spending time in Delhi, meeting Jawaharlal Nehru and the young Dalai Lama, he embarked on a meandering journey through northern India, Nepal and Sikkim at a time of political tension and the threat of invasion by China.Brilliant, curious and precocious, seldom without a drink in his hand, he chanced his way into some extraordinary situations - including staying in a Nepalese palace with a resident bear and being shot at and chased by Chinese soldiers. Gone Away details these adventures with a poet''s eye for detail, and the luminosity and humour for which Moraes was known.

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Book SynopsisThe revised second edition of this highly praised introduction to the Mongol Empire takes account of recent scholarship in the field. Provides an overview of the government, religion, and politics of the Mongolian Empire Considers the effects of Mongol military campaigns on other countries and peoples in China, Russia, Persia and Europe Assesses the astonishing military career of Chingiz (Genghis) Khan Now includes a new epilogue assessing the contribution of recent scholarship to our understanding of the Mongols' history Well-illustrated by maps and photographs throughout Trade Review“The remarkable success of David Morgan's book on the Mongols is partly a reflection of the persistent interest in the Mongol phenomenon … and partly on the skill, humour, and authority that he brings to bear on the subject. An attractive and useful re-edition of an excellent textbook, which beneath its accessible and engaging manner contains a wide-ranging account of the Mongol empire and thorough exposition of the issues being addressed in current research.” International History Review "The second edition of The Mongols remains the standard work on the Mongols. With the additional chapter and bibliography it is unlikely to be superseded in the near future and will be a useful reference to any scholar." H-Net Reviews "I have used this book continually for many years as one of the central textbooks for my courses on Mongols and related subjects and will do so with the new edition. The Mongols has a nice mixture of narrative chapters and those devotes to themes … provide a chronological framework … and in-depth discussion." Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies Praise for the previous edition: "Well-written, well-documented presentation, with an excellent - exceptionally accurate - bibliography. I know of no better book to give a general view of the 'great' epoch of Mongol History." English Historical Review "The appearance of a new, well-done general history is a welcome event. The outcome is an excellent and readable account." Middle East Studies Association Bulletin "Excellent work, the best that we have of its kind." Journal of the Royal Asiatic SocietyTable of ContentsList of Maps and Illustrations. Preface to the Second Edition. Preface to the Paperback Edition. Preface to the First Edition. Maps. Introduction. 1. The Study of Mongol History. The Secret History of the Mongols. Chinese Sources. Persian Sources. European Sources. Modern Studies. 2. Nomads of the Steppe: Asia before Chingiz Khān. Steppe Society. Mongol Religious Beliefs. The Mongols’ Steppe Predecessors. Asia at the Beginning of the Thirteenth Century. 3. Chingiz Khān and the Founding of the Mongol Empire. Chingiz Khān’s Rise to Power. Chingiz Khān’s Campaigns of Conquest. The Effects of the Mongol Conquests. 4. Nature and Institutions of the Mongol Empire. The Mongol Army. Law. Taxation. Communications. The Mongol Approach to Government. 5. The Mongols in China. Chingiz Khān’s Successors. The Reign of Qubilai. The Mongols and Buddhism. Mongol Rule in China. The Decline of Yüan Power. 6. Expansion to the West: The Mongols in Russia and Persia. The Invasion of Russia and Eastern Europe. The Golden Horde. The Mongols and the Middle East. Hülegü’s Expedition. The Īlkhāns of Persia. Ghazan and Reform. The Last Īlkhāns. 7. The Mongols and Europe. Europe and Asia. The First Direct Contacts. The Īlkhāns and Western Christendom. Eastern Images of Europe. The Mongol Legacy. 8. What Became of the Mongols?. 9. The Mongol Empire since 1985. Sources. Studies. References. Supplementary Bibliography. Chronology of Events. Dynastic Tables. The Great Khāns. Yüan Emperors of China. Khāns of the Golden Horde. Īlkhāns of Persia. Index

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Book SynopsisA study of Hu Feng as a literary critic and case study on how intellectual work can respond to political pressure. In this book, Ruth Y. Y. Hung provides a study of Hu Feng (19021985) as a critic, writer, and editor within the context of the People's Republic of China's political ascendancy. A member of the Japanese Communist Party and the Chinese Communist Party, Hu rose to fame in the 1940s and became a representative persecuted intellectual soon after 1949. The Hu Feng Case of 1955-more than a decade before the Cultural Revolution-was a significant, large-scale campaign of intellectual persecution. Hung examines Hu's work as a literary critic in this context, and examines the intricate historical and sociopolitical forces against which intellectuals in his milieu in twentieth-century China adopted Marxism as a measure of their critical position. She demonstrates how this first generation of modern Chinese literary critics practiced criticism, examining the skills and arguments they used to negotiate their institutional and ideological relations with state-party power. This exceptional case of intellectual engagement offers broader insight on critical literature's humanistic aims and methods in the context of intellectual globalization and changing political climates.

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Book SynopsisWhy American missionaries started building schools, colleges, medical schools, hospitals, and YMCA chapters in China before 1900Trade Review“In this exceptionally well-argued and carefully documented study, John Haddad shows that many of the American missionaries to China were anything but uncritical agents of empire, capital, and churchly authority. Transformed by their direct experience with the Chinese people, missionaries became major institutional players in modern Chinese history within terms set largely by the Chinese themselves.”—David A. Hollinger, Preston Hotchkis Professor Emeritus of History at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Protestants Abroad: How Missionaries Tried to Change the World but Changed America“Beautifully written and convincingly articulated, Cultures Colliding is a must-read for anyone who is interested in American missionary history in China or in overall Sino-American relations. With a focus on individuals, Haddad sheds light on fascinating shared journeys, experiences, dreams, nightmares, and frustrations between Chinese and Americans during the critical moments in China and the United States during the second half of the nineteenth century. The book examines the twisted path from American missionaries’ initial zeal to change China to eventually focusing on something that the Chinese wanted. We all should read Cultures Colliding today during the challenging times in Sino-American relations.”—Xu Guoqi, Professor of History at the University of Hong Kong, and author of Chinese and Americans: A Shared History"This thoroughly researched work is highly recommended for readers interested in the history of Christian missions to China. The inclusion of biographical information for many of the people involved enhances the text."—Library Journal"American missionary history is frequently seen as one-sided persuasion. The models created were new to the Christian church and extended to many large institutions, some of them (for example, Beijing University) still existing. American missionary Henry Luce...was a part of this effort in China. He employed an 'institutions model' of missionary work that went beyond the simple 'convert the heathen' model of the traditional church. Haddad argues that this change in approach can be attributed to life in rural China. This book is well argued and well documented.... Summing Up: Recommended."—Choice"Haddad’s eminently readable book traces what he calls a 'seismic shift' in the decades between 1860 and 1900 as American Protestant missionaries sought to bring China to Christ. Through twelve chapters of hair-raising stories of danger, hardship, and more than occasional pig-headedness, Haddad shows how missionaries shifted from preaching Christ to building hospitals, schools, and voluntary organizations that met Chinese needs and welcomed Chinese leadership.... Haddad’s narrative charts a remarkable shift in Chinese missions that began with a collision and ended with cooperation. That’s a story the world still needs to hear."—Pacific Historical Review

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Book SynopsisThe definitive account of the First Anglo-Sikh War, with maps that shed light on the action as never before

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Book SynopsisThe Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller.In May 1945, with victory in Europe established, the war was all but over. But on the other side of the world, the Allies were still engaged in a bitter struggle to control the Pacific. And it was then that the Japanese unleashed a terrible new form of warfare: the suicide pilots, or Kamikaze.Drawing on meticulous research and unique personal access to the remaining survivors, Will Iredale follows a group of young men from the moment they joined up through their initial training to the terrifying reality of fighting against pilots who, in the cruel last summer of the war, chose death rather than risk their country's dishonourable defeat and deliberately flew their planes into Allied aircraft carriers. A story of courage, valour and dogged determination, The Kamikaze Hunters is a gripping account of how a few brave young men helped to ensure lasting peace.Trade ReviewA gripping account of a virtually unknown drama. Will Iredale writes with verve and expertise to illuminate the story of the young men who lived and died at the fag end of the war in the battle against Japan in the summer of 1945. His story is laced with vivid anecdotes which wonderfully illustrate the character and calibre of the individuals who took up this great challenge. -- Jonathan DimblebyA gripping account of British fighter pilots in the Pacific -- Rick Stroud, author of * Rifleman *An excellent read * BBC History Magazine *Nerve-shredding stuff * Warships International Fleet Review *

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisWhen the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyed Russia''s battle fleet during the Russo-Japanese War, it marked the emergence of Japan as one of the world''s major naval powers. Japan''s navy had been built up over just two decades, with the IJN acquiring a fleet of modern foreign-built warships. Coupled with the IJN''s leadership and high levels of training, this proved enough to destroy the fleet of one of the world''s historic naval powers. This book explains in concise detail the IJN''s fleet of 1904-05, from its battleships and armored cruisers to the torpedo boats that launched the first great torpedo attack in history, and outlines the history of the naval campaign against the Russian fleet.Table of ContentsIntroduction /The Rise of the IJN /Preparations for War with Russia /The Battleships /The Armored Cruisers /The Protected and Unprotected Cruisers /The Destroyers and Torpedo Boats /The War at Sea /Analysis and Conclusion / Bibliography /Index

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Book SynopsisAfter suffering devastating losses in the huge naval battles at Midway and the Soloman Islands, the Imperial Japanese navy attempted to counter-attack against the US forces threatening the Home Islands. Involving the US Fifth Fleet and the Japanese Mobile Fleet, the battle of the Philippine Sea took place during the United States'' amphibious invasion of the Mariana Islands during the Pacific War.The two fleets clashed on June 19-20, 1944 and the Japanese carrier fighters were shot down in devastating numbers by US aircraft in what became known as the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, before US counterattacks and submarine strikes forced the withdrawal of the Japanese fleet. Fully illustrated with stunning specially commissioned artwork, Mark Stille tells the enthralling story of the last, and largest, carrier battle of the Pacific War, the one that saw the end of the Imperial Japanese Navy as a formed fighting force.

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Book SynopsisJapan was closed to the world until 1854 and its technology then was literally medieval. Great Britain, France, and Russia divided the globe in the nineteenth century, but Japan was catching up. Its army and navy were retrained by Western powers and equipped with the latest weapons and ships. Japan wanted to further emulate its European mentors and establish a protectorate over Korea, yet Japanese efforts were blocked by Imperial Russia who had their own designs on the peninsula.The Russo-Japanese War started with a Japanese surprise naval attack against an anchored enemy fleet still believing itself at peace. It ended with the Battle of Tsushima, the most decisive surface naval battle of the 20th century. This gripping study describes this pivotal battle, and shows how the Japanese victory over Russia led to the development of the dreadnought battleship, and gave rise to an almost mythical belief in Japanese naval invincibility.Table of ContentsOrigins of the campaign /Chronology /Opposing commanders /Opposing armies /Orders of battle /Opposing plans /The campaign /Aftermath /The battlefields today /Further reading /Index

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Book SynopsisAlexander''s phalangites clash with Persian foot-soldiers in three key battles of the Ancient World.In this highly illustrated study, a noted authority assesses the origins, combat role and battlefield performance of Alexander''s phalangites and their Persian opponents in three key battles of the era--the Granicus River, Issus and Gaugamela--at the dawn of a new way of waging war.In August 334 BC, Alexander the Great invaded the Persian Empire and systematically set about its conquest. At the core of Alexander''s army were 10,000 members of the phalanx, the phalangites. Armed with a long pike and fighting in formations up to 16 ranks deep, these grizzled veterans were the mainstay of the Macedonian army. Facing them were the myriad armies of the peoples that made up the Persian Empire. At the center of these forces was the formation known as the Immortals: 10,000 elite infantry, armed with spears and bows.Trade ReviewAn inspiring account, well-written, and with clear battlefield maps and descriptions. * Miniature Wargames *Table of ContentsIntroduction / The opposing sides / Combat 1 / Combat 2 / Combat 3 / Analysis / Aftermath / Bibliography / Index

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Book SynopsisThis study tells the epic story of how a routed group of Chinese Communists marched tens of thousands of miles with Mao on a journey that would lead to their eventual triumph and rule of the whole of China. Every nation has its founding myth, and for modern China it is the Long March. In the autumn of 1934, the Chinese Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek routed the Chinese Communists and some 80,000 men, women, and children left their homes to walk with Mao Zedong into the unknown. Mao''s force had to endure starvation, harsh climates, and challenging terrain whilst under constant aerial bombardment and threatened by daily skirmishes. The Long March survivors had to cross 24 rivers and 18 mountain ranges, through freezing snow and disease-ridden wilderness to reach their safe-haven of Yan''an. In military terms, the Long March was the longest continuous march in the history of warfare and it came as a terrible cost--after one year, 6,000 miles, and countless battles, fTable of ContentsStrategic Situation / Chronology / Opposing Plans / Opposing Commanders / Opposing Force / Order of Battle / The Campaign / Aftermath / Further Reading / Glossary / Index

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Book SynopsisThis fully illustrated study explores the armies of the Hindu, Buddhist and Jain states within what are now India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal during the period AD 5001500, as well as Afghanistan until the early 13th century AD.Following the emergence of a distinct medieval Indian' civilization in the Late Classical and Early Medieval periods, there was a prolonged struggle between this civilization and that of the eastern Islamic world, concluding with the rise of the Mughal Empire at the start of the 16th century. In this fully illustrated study, David Nicolle investigates the traditions and enduring conservatism of non-Islamic medieval Indian warfare, notably evident in recruitment patterns and the significance of archery and cavalry. The role and impact of war-elephants, both positive and negative, are also considered, as well as the influence of climate and weather (notably the seasonal monsoon) on warfare in this region. As well as assessing arms aTrade ReviewThis is a book that I would unreservedly recommend for anyone with any level of interest in the subject. -- Stephen Ede-Borrett * Arquebusier (November Issue) *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chronology Political Systems and Fragmentation Cultural Diversity and Unity Elephants, Horses and Camels Communications, Trade and Technology Arms and Armour Further Reading Plate Commentaries Index

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Book SynopsisLonglisted for the 2020 William Hill Sports Book of the Year''A gripping history'' THE ECONOMIST ''The World Beneath Their Feet contains plenty of rollicking stories'' THE TIMES''Gripping'' THE SUNDAY TIMES''So far as adventure stories go, this book is tops.'' Winston Groom, author of Forrest Gump''[Ellsworth] recasts the era as a great Himalayan race...[and] it works brilliantly...his account of the 1953 ascent of Everest...feels unusually fresh'' THE SUNDAY TIMES ''Like if Jon Krakauer''s Into Thin Air met Lauren Hillenbrand''s Unbroken ... an inviting and engrossing read'' SPORTS ILLUSTRATEDOne of the most compelling international dramas of the 20th century and an unforgettable saga of survival, technological innovation, and breathtaking human physical achievement-all seTrade Review[Ellsworth] recasts the era as a great Himalayan race ... [and] it works brilliantly ... his account of the 1953 ascent of Everest ... feels unusually fresh * Sunday Times *Like if Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air met Lauren Hillenbrand's Unbroken, it's an inviting and engrossing read * Sports Illustrated *The dramatic saga of the race between nations to climb the planet's highest mountains...In vivid, novelistic prose, the author describes the significant expeditions and delivers engaging portraits of climbers from many different countries and their invaluable Sherpas * Kirkus *Gripping * Sunday Times *An exceptional account of trailblazing mountaineers who persevered during a turbulent time in history * Booklist *Plenty of rollicking stories * The Times *

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Book SynopsisEmperor Meiji and the beginnings of the Imperial Empire of Japan: 1867 - 1912. Japan under Emperor Taisho: 1912 - 1926. Japan under Emperor Showa: 1926 - 1989.

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Book SynopsisNarrates the military history of 'the rise of the Sui and Tang dynasties who reunified China.

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Book SynopsisWhen nations decide to disown their troubled pasts, how does this strategic disavowal harden into social fact? In Negative Exposures, Margaret Hillenbrand investigates the erasure of key aspects of such momentous events as the Nanjing Massacre, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tiananmen Square protests from the Chinese historical consciousness, not due to amnesia or censorship but through the operations of public secrecy. Knowing what not to know, she argues, has many stakeholders, willing and otherwise, who keep quiet to protect themselves or their families out of shame, pragmatism, or the palliative effects of silence. Hillenbrand shows how secrecy works as a powerful structuring force in Chinese society, one hiding in plain sight, and identifies aesthetic artifacts that serve as modes of reckoning against this phenomenon. She analyses the proliferation of photo-forms—remediations of well-known photographs of troubling historical events rendered in such media as pTrade Review“Negative Exposures is a brave and revelatory book. With lyrical prose, nuanced argumentation, and a photosensitive eye, Margaret Hillenbrand limns the contours of China's contemporary cryptocracy, showing us how photographic images can work both to obscure and to bring the shadows of the historical past back into spectral presence.” -- Andrew F. Jones, Professor of Chinese, University of California, Berkeley“Negative Exposures is a boldly original book that analyzes cultural works based on photographs as objects that enable us to see and think through the unsayable in China. Margaret Hillenbrand contends that a culture of public secrecy, rather than censorship or historical amnesia, can explain how ordinary Chinese citizens fail or refuse to see and speak about difficult issues. This book is a powerful intervention that will be warmly welcomed and widely applauded.” -- Chris Berry, Kings College London“While sharply grounded in Chinese cultural history, Margaret Hillenbrand’s Negative Exposures is a valuable addition to current studies on visuality…. Negative Exposures is an insightful account of media objects’ centrality within anthropological, art-historical, literary, historical and sociological modes of analysis, binding often disparate methodologies together.” -- Shaowen Zhang * Critical Inquiry *“Margaret Hillenbrand’s incisive and beautifully composed monograph takes...‘photo-forms’—repurposed historical photographs—and their circulation as the point of departure for her fascinating excursus of public secrecy in contemporary China…. Her work could not have come at a more opportune time.” -- Patricia M. Thornton * China Quarterly *“Hillenbrand focuses on the medium of photography and its treatment of three key historical moments—the Nanjing Massacre, the Cultural Revolution, and the Tiananmen Movement of 1989.... This is a beautifully conceived and nicely written book that is always interesting and thought-provoking.” -- Kirk A. Denton * MCLC Resource Center *“This timely book by Margaret Hillenbrand...examines the mechanism of ‘secrecy’ as a main structuring force in contemporary Chinese society.... A courageous and revelatory work like this, also beautifully written, surely blazes new trails and opens up many questions.” -- Mia Yinxing Liu * Chinese Literature *“One of the great contributions of the book is its intricate navigation across different disciplines and fields.... Filled with self-reflexive arguments, sophisticated analyses, and elegant prose, this engaging study is destined to be an important work.” -- Kun Qian * Journal of Asian Studies *“Margaret Hillenbrand’s Negative Exposures is a theoretically rich and provocative study that offers a new paradigm for thinking about Chinese cultural production under repressive governance.” -- Belinda Kong * The China Journal *“How could I write a review that could possibly do justice to this eloquently written monograph?... Negative Exposures is thought-provoking reading for scholars and research students interested in culture and history, in creativity and politics, and in control and resistance, both in China and beyond.” -- Yiu Fai Chow * China Review International *Table of ContentsSeries Editor's Preface ix Acknowledgments xi Preface xiii Introduction. Staking Out Secrecy 1 1. Don't Look Now 45 2. Keeping It in the Family 89 3. Cracking the Ice 131 4. Ducking the Firewall 168 Conclusion. Out of the Darkroom 209 Notes 225 References 245 Index 277

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Book SynopsisIn Cultural Revolution and Revolutionary Culture, Alessandro Russo presents a dramatic new reading of China''s Cultural Revolution as a mass political experiment aimed at thoroughly reexamining the tenets of communism. Russo explores four critical phases of the Cultural Revolution, each with its own reworking of communist political subjectivity: the historical-theatrical “prologue” of 1965; Mao''s attempts to shape the Cultural Revolution in 1965 and 1966; the movements and organizing between 1966 and 1968 and the factional divides that ended them; and the mass study campaigns from 1973 to 1976 and the unfinished attempt to evaluate the inadequacies of the political decade that brought the Revolution to a close. Among other topics, Russo shows how the dispute around the play Hai Rui Dismissed from Office was not the result of a Maoist conspiracy, but rather a series of intense and unresolved political and intellectual controversies. He also examines the ShanghTrade Review“Published forty years after Mao's death, Alessandro Russo's Cultural Revolution and Revolutionary Culture must be seen as the first book that studies China's Cultural Revolution from the intellectual point of view of the central question of this extraordinary movement itself: what can the real destiny of the communist idea be after fundamental experiments at the level of the state power in Russia and China? Across a precise experience made of readings of all sort of texts written in the fire of the movement or after, historical clarifications of some crucial sequences, personal inquiries, and intellectual synthesis, Russo simultaneously proposes a sort of complex but clear image of the event and an essential examination of its strategic goals and final failure. All that in the direction of a clear understanding of the possibility of a new communism.” -- Alain Badiou“This book should be widely read. Alessandro Russo is an inventive, creative philosopher who contributes new materials, new interpretations, and new ways of examining the Cultural Revolution.” -- Tani Barlow, George and Nancy Rupp Professor of Humanities, Rice University" A model of historical inquiry that should be read by those interested in modern Chinese and East Asian history and revolutionary movements in general." -- M. J. Wert * Choice *"For all who would pose the question, What is a Revolution? in its political and theoretical registers, Russo’s book is invaluable. It should be widely read, both inside and outside the China field." -- Christopher Connery * PRC History Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments vii Introduction 1 Part I. A Theatrical Prologue 1. Afterlives of an "Upright Official" 11 2. Political and Historical Dilemmas 26 3. An Unresolved Controversy 48 Part II. Mao's Anxiety and Resolve 4. A Probable Defeat and Revisionism 91 5. Shrinking the Cultural Superego 104 Part III. A Political Test for Class Politics 6. Testing the Organization 141 7. A Subjective Split in the Working Class 167 8. Facing a Self-Defeat 204 Part IV. At the Edge of an Epochal Turning Point 9. Intellectual Conditions for a Political Assessment 239 10. Foundations of Deng Xiaoping's Strategy 263 Notes 285 Bibliography 323 Index 343

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Book SynopsisThe Mekong River has undergone vast infrastructural changes in recent years, including the construction of dams across its main stream. These projects, along with the introduction of new fish species, changing political fortunes, and international migrant labor, have all made a profound impact upon the lives of those residing on the great river. It also impacts how they dream. In Mekong Dreaming, Andrew Alan Johnson explores the changing relationship between the river and the residents of Ban Beuk, a village on the Thailand-Laos border, by focusing on the effect that construction has had on human and inhuman elements of the villagers' world. Johnson shows how inhabitants come to terms with the profound impact that remote, intangible, and yet powerful forces-from global markets and remote bureaucrats to ghosts, spirits, and gods-have on their livelihoods. Through dreams, migration, new religious practices, and new ways of dwelling on a changed river, inhabitants struggle to understand and affect the distant, the inassimilable, and the occult, which offer both sources of power and potential disaster.Trade Review“Mekong Dreaming is both an exemplary work of ethnography and a timely and important intervention in contemporary debates in anthropological theory. Focusing on northeast Thailand and the effects of dam construction on the Mekong among local fishing and farming communities, this book's original contribution consists in its foregrounding of uncertainty and unknowability in the lived experience of non-western cosmologies.” -- Stuart J. McLean, coeditor of * Crumpled Paper Boat: Experiments in Ethnographic Writing *“Andrew Alan Johnson's lucid and richly detailed ethnography of the Thai-Lao border shows how the inchoate and the unknowable can be apprehended through genuinely empirical research. In this masterful analysis, Johnson shows how a marginalized population grapples with the intensified environmental uncertainties generated by modern technology and political upheaval by deploying a cosmological vision that enfolds piety, potentiality, and materiality in a tangled experiential frame.” -- Michael Herzfeld, author of * Siege of the Spirits: Community and Polity in Bangkok *"The book is clearly written, presenting a compelling narrative of daily life and also delving into complex topics without drowning in academic jargon. As such it is accessible for both students and experts. . . . The power of Johnson’s approach is that rather than simply casting uncertainty as a negative, he explores the ways in which uncertainty—the power of 'maybe'—can act as a potency rather than simply something to be worked around." -- Erin B. Taylor * Anthropology Book Forum *“Mekong Dreaming is a lovely, fluent ethnography of a river and its political ecology, focusing on the people on one bank of the Mekong where it forms a border between Thailand and Laos…. Johnson’s style is crisp and engaging and his dealings with recent theory are all concrete and pointed…. Johnson has produced political ethnography of a high order.” -- Leo Coleman * PoLAR Online *“This accessible anthropological work, Mekong Dreaming, demonstrates how infrastructural projects—in this case, hydropower dams on the Mekong—interrupt and reconfigure the social life of the river and relations of those whose fate has long been intertwined with its currents.” -- Dominique Dillabough-Lefebvre * LSE Review of Books *“Johnson’s argument is complex, deftly interweaving fields as diverse as environmental anthropology, migration studies, Thai animism and mediumship, border studies, and more. The resulting ethnography is illuminating and compelling.” -- Mary Beth Mills * Journal of Anthropological Research *“Johnson’s writing is a pleasure: eclectic, erudite and sometimes eccentric.... He handles weighty concepts lightly, and doesn’t let unwieldy terminology upset the flow of the very reader-friendly text. He comes across as a committed, skilled and very human fieldworker.” -- Ashley Carruthers * Asia Pacific Journal of Anthropology *“[Mekong Dreaming] will be a useful text in anthropology courses. I highly recommend this book as it...provides new and important insights.” -- Ian G. Baird * Sojourn *“[Mekong Dreaming] provides crucial insights into the interconnectedness between daily life, environment, and religious experiences.” -- Grzegorz Fraszczak * Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction. Through a Glass, Darkly 1 1. Naga and Garuda 29 2. River Beings 69 3. Dwelling under Distant Suns 104 4. The River Grew Tired of Us 130 5. Human and Inhuman Worlds 161 Notes 171 Bibliography 179 Index 193

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Book SynopsisJasmine Nadua Trice examines the politics of cinema circulation in early-2000s Manila, showing how the rising independent Philippine cinema movement has been a site of contestation between filmmakers and the state, each constructing different notions of a prospective, national public film audience.Trade Review“From the pirate video stalls of the old city center to the shopping mall multiplexes of Manila, Jasmine Nadua Trice examines the fragmented and multifaceted assemblage of alternative Philippine cinema. Her passionate attention to detail and wide-ranging engagement with critical theory provide a compelling model for the study of cinema cultures in the global South.” -- Michael Curtin, Distinguished Professor of Film and Media Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara“Jasmine Nadua Trice persuasively argues that film circulation both envisions and occasionally actualizes the dream of a national film audience for counterdominant cinema in the Philippines. She confronts head-on one of the thorniest problems of politically or aesthetically progressive Philippine film: filmmakers’ attempts to reach the alienated domestic moviegoer. Her fresh, syncretic approach and elegant thinking make City of Screens a groundbreaking, must-read book not only for readers not only interested in Philippine cinema but also for those attuned to the dynamics of distribution, exhibition, and circulation beyond Hollywood. Representing a wholly original and highly generative departure from previous scholarship, City of Screens is a major intervention.” -- Bliss Cua Lim, author of * Translating Time: Cinema, the Fantastic, and Temporal Critique *"Overall, there are a number of themes to appreciate in City of Screens, especially if one is not familiar with local independent cinema and its circuits of distribution. The book’s contribution also lies in its use of interdisciplinarity, applying rhetoric, urban studies, geography, and anthropology to explain why alternative cinema remains limited in its circulation. . . . The book’s most poignant yet most grounded point may be Trice’s assertion that the formation of alternative film culture and speculative publics will remain an asymptotic process—never being fully finished but always within reach." -- Cherish Aileen A Brillon * Philippine Studies *"Trice displays a generosity to her marginalized objects of study by offering possible questions and connections instead of forcing predetermined approaches and interpretations. Her book is distinguished by its careful selection of less obvious examples, which are described and analyzed in rich language that yields compelling insights with every reading. . . . With its innovative methods and unexpected ideas, which distill the lost vibrancy of a transitional historical moment, this monograph will reverberate with readers yet to come." -- Elmo Gonzaga * Journal of Cinema and Media Studies *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1. Revanchist Cinemas and Bad Audiences, Multiplex Fiestas and Ideal Publics 39 2. The Quiapo Cinematheque and Urban-Cinematic Authenticity 79 3. Alternative Exhibition and the Rhythms of the City 113 4. "Not for Public Exhibition": Cinema Regulation, Alternative Cinema, and a Rational Body Politic 153 5. "Hollywood Is Not Us": National Circulation and the Speculative State 189 Epilogue 230 Notes 241 Bibliography 281 Index 299

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Book SynopsisA Region of Regimes traces the relationship between politics and economicspower and prosperityin the Asia-Pacific in the decades since the Second World War. This book complicates familiar and incomplete narratives of the Asian economic miracle to show radically different paths leading to high growth for many but abject failure for some. T. J. Pempel analyzes policies and data from ten East Asian countries, categorizing them into three distinct regime types, each historically contingent and the product of specific configurations of domestic institutions, socio-economic resources, and external support. Pempel identifies Japan, Korea, and Taiwan as developmental regimes, showing how each then diverged due to domestic and international forces. North Korea, Myanmar, and the Philippines (under Marcos) comprise rapacious regimes in this analysis, while Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand form ersatz developmental regimes. Uniquely, China emerges as an evolving hybTrade ReviewT. J. Pempel, one of our leading scholars on Japan in its regional and international context, has written a wide-ranging book on the political economy of the post-war Asia–Pacific. * The Developing Economies *T.J. Pempel offers a major theoretical and empirical update to [the "East Asia miracle"]. This book will be of great help for readers to grasp East Asia's post-war shared transformation in a theoretically rich perspective. * Global Asia *Table of ContentsIntroduction PART ONE 1. Developmental Regimes: Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan 2. Ersatz Developmental Regimes: Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand: Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand 3. Rapacious Regimes: Plunder over Prosperity: Philippines North Korea, Myanmar PART TWO 4. Developmental Regimes Reconstructed 5. China: Composite Regime? Conclusion: Regimes and the Regional Order

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Book SynopsisPolice Matters moves beyond the city to examine the intertwined nature of police and caste in the Tamil countryside. Radha Kumar argues that the colonial police deployed rigid notions of caste in their everyday tasks, refashioning rural identities in a process that has cast long postcolonial shadows.Kumar draws on previously unexplored police archives to enter the dusty streets and market squares where local constables walked, following their gaze and observing their actions towards potential subversives. Station records present a textured view of ordinary interactions between police and society, showing that state coercion was not only exceptional and spectacular; it was also subtle and continuous, woven into everyday life. The colonial police categorized Indian subjects based on caste to ensure the security of agriculture and trade, and thus the smooth running of the economy. Among policemen and among the objects of their coercive gaze, caste became a pTrade ReviewThis book contributes a great deal to the study of policing and to Tamil Nadu studies. * Choice *

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Book SynopsisFor centuries, Persian was the language of power and learning across Central, South, and West Asia, and Persians received a particular basic education through which they understood and engaged with the world. Not everyone who lived in the land of Iran was Persian, and Persians lived in many other lands as well. Thus to be Persian was to be embedded in a set of connections with people we today consider members of different groups. Persianate selfhood encompassed a broader range of possibilities than contemporary nationalist claims to place and origin allow. We cannot grasp these older connections without historicizing our conceptions of difference and affiliation. Mana Kia sketches the contours of a larger Persianate world, historicizing place, origin, and selfhood through its tradition of proper form: adab. In this shared culture, proximities and similarities constituted a logic that distinguished between people while simultaneously accommodating plurality. Adab was the basis of cohesion for self and community over the turbulent eighteenth century, as populations dispersed and centers of power shifted, disrupting the circulations that linked Persianate regions. Challenging the bases of protonationalist community, Persianate Selves seeks to make sense of an earlier transregional Persianate culture outside the anachronistic shadow of nationalisms. Trade Review"Few questions are more vexed in the study of early modern Asia, with evidence more evanescent, than how people identified before nationalism. Drawing on dozens of Persian texts, Mana Kia scrutinizes their conceptions of place, movement, memory, lineage, origins, and onomastics to denaturalize the nationalist ties between land and language. Persianate Selves is an invaluable vade mecum for navigating the transregional Persianate past." -- Nile Green * editor of The Persianate World: The Frontiers of a Eurasian Lingua Franca *"Persianate Selves disturbs our national imaginaries and challenges the way we write Persianate history. Instead of dynastic, ethnic, and blood bound categories, we encounter kindred voices who embody Persianate adab and reveal multiple experiences of place. Whether one contests or agrees, we will all have to engage with the different terms of analysis Mana Kia offers in this pioneering work." -- Kathryn Babayan * University of Michigan *"Persianate Selves traverses a now-vanished cosmopolitan world and suggests a fascinating new approach to conceptualizing a shared cultural space. This engaging book is sure to generate considerable discussion among scholars interested in the intellectual cultures of the world before the nationalist divide." -- Muzaffar Alam * University of Chicago *"Besides its scholarly contribution, Persianate Selves is an indispensable and highly recommended book for world leaders, policymakers and anyone interested in curing their monological ways of thinking about Islamic pasts." -- Aqsa Ijaz * Dawn *"In dislodging protonationalist categories in the understanding of affiliation, belonging, and selfhood, Kia offers sharp analytic tools for rethinking what it meant to be Persian before the rise of nationalism." -- Alireza Doostdar * Critical Inquiry *"Dissecting notions of home, landscape, kinship and memory, Kia provides us with a radically new framework for understanding Persianate culture. ... An excellent scholarly study worthy of close study for anyone looking to make sense of our past and present." -- Usman Butt * The New Arab *"Mana Kia's book is a rich and multilayered contribution to the scholarship that addresses questions of cosmopolitanism and hybridity, the possibilities of selves and collectives, the relevance of place and origin in the language ideologies, and the cultural and linguistic meanings people endow to physical spaces. ... The book itself is a beautiful ode to symbiosis, lineage and learning in the making of a cultural self." -- Irena Grigoryan * Journal of Belonging, Identity, Language, and Diversity *"Kia's subtle reconstructions of eighteenth-century Persian ways of belonging should provoke anyone engaged with the textual legacies of adab to read with eyes unblinkered by nationalism." -- Prashant Keshavmurthy * International Journal of Middle East Studies *"Persianate Selves... is novel in its use of Derridean deconstruction to distill shared forms of belonging and affiliation during the political disarray of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Kia is part of a growing and important chorus of scholars who are questioning primordialist conceptualizations of identity by challenging widely held assumptions that Persian is a language that has always belonged to Iran or that its use in India was a foreign import, out of place and unnatural. More broadly, Kia's work holds a mirror up to historians of precolonial contexts, encouraging us to think more carefully about the fundamental conceptual and descriptive language that we use to describe how people inhabited those worlds." -- Naveena Naqvi * History and Theory *

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Book SynopsisIn 1938, one year into the Second Sino-Japanese War, the Chinese military found itself in dire medical straits. Soldiers were suffering from deadly illnesses, and were unable to receive blood transfusions for their wounds. The urgent need for medical assistance prompted an unprecedented flowering of scientific knowledge in China and Taiwan throughout the twentieth century. Wayne Soon draws on archives from three continents to argue that Overseas Chinese were key to this development, utilizing their global connections and diasporic links to procure much-needed money, supplies, and medical expertise. The remarkable expansion of care and education that they spurred saved more than four million lives and trained more than fifteen thousand medical personnel. Moreover, the introduction of military medicine shifted biomedicine out of elite, urban civilian institutions and laboratories and transformed it into an adaptive field-based practice for all. Universal care, practical medical education, and mobile medicine are all lasting legacies of this effort.Trade Review"Wayne Soon's excellent book shows how elite diasporic actors were a powerful force in the development of Chinese biomedicine. They injected their visions into policy discussions, mobilized their networks, and led with an authority based on their experiences and expertise. Drawing on an impressive range of sources, Soon breaks new ground in illustrating how diaspora is a rich category of analysis for knowledge and institutional production."—Shelly Chan, Associate Professor of History, University of California, Santa Cruz"Global Medicine in China could not be more-timely or more relevant. As we face a life-altering pandemic in the twenty-first century, this study provides powerful historical lessons about how the local and global have always been intertwined in the history of public health and modern medicine. Opening with the Manchurian Plague of 1911 and moving to wartime medicine, the book sheds important light on how overseas Chinese diasporic figures played a crucial role in the making of biomedicine in modern China. This book is a must read for all of us today as we are reminded daily of the global entanglements of health and politics."—Eugenia Lean, Columbia University"Global Medicine in China demonstrates the central roles Overseas Chinese played to integrate biomedicine into the military medicine of war-torn Republican China. This illuminating transnational history integrates major biomedical transformations within the dramatic political convulsions of mid-century China."—Marta Hanson, Johns Hopkins University"Wayne Soon's book on the rise of global medicine in China in the first half of the twentieth century addresses its lessons directly to the People's Republic of China in the midst of a global pandemic—transparency and global cooperation are key to coming to terms with a health crisis... It offers a necessary corrective to a false dichotomy that medical developments were either indigenous or imperialist interventions."—David Luesink, Technology and Culture"Although scholars have paid plenty of attention to Dr Wu Lien-Teh, the efforts of other prominent medical personalities and Overseas Chinese as a whole have as yet been under-researched. Soon's new book represents a timely effort to fill this academic gap and offers a new lens through which to understand how China and the world have been connected through the Chinese diaspora."—Yan Yang, Journal of Chinese Overseas"This meticulous study is based upon research in more than twenty archives and libraries on three continents. In addition to re-centering the role of the Chinese diaspora in global health history, Soon follows both monetary donations and disagreements about how to best develop biomedicine across boundaries, both geopolitical and temporal."—Rachel Core, Bulletin of the History of MedicineTable of ContentsIntroductory Chapter: Diasporic Medicine 1. Prewar International Strategies 2. Wartime Military Medicine 3. Making Blood Banking Work 4. Transnational Politics of Military Medical Education 5. Reconstructing Biomedicine across the Taiwan Straits Concluding Chapter: Legacies of Wartime Medicine

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Book SynopsisFrom the 1850s until the mid-twentieth century, a period marked by global conflicts and anxiety about dwindling resources and closing opportunities after decades of expansion, the frontier became a mirror for historically and geographically specific hopes and fears. From Asia to Europe and the Americas, countries around the world engaged with new interpretations of empire and the deployment of science and technology to aid frontier development in extreme environments. Through a century of political turmoil and war, China nevertheless is the only nation to successfully navigate the twentieth century with its imperial territorial expanse largely intact. In Birth of the Geopolitical Age, Shellen Xiao Wu demonstrates how global examples of frontier settlements refracted through China's unique history and informed the making of the modern Chinese state. Wu weaves a narrative that moves through time and space, the lives of individuals, and empires' rise and fall and rebirth, to show how the subsequent reshaping of Chinese geopolitical ambitions in the twentieth century, and the global transformation of frontiers into colonial laboratories, continues to reorder global power dynamics in East Asia and the wider world to this day.Trade Review"Wu's Birth of the Geopolitical Age is the most exciting study in the history of science, empire, and nation I have read in recent years. The book is brilliantly conceptualized, tracing the circulation and translation of geographical and agricultural sciences among the United States, Germany, Japan, and particularly China. Its central idea, geo-modernity, is an illuminating concept that will be widely referenced. Based on extensive research in multiple languages, Birth of the Geopolitical Age tells a rich narrative about a wide range of historical actors, institutions, and discourses. The book is a marvel of scholarly ambition, erudition, and compression. Despite its impressive scope, the narrative is exceptionally clear and readable. This superb book is a model study in global and comparative history. I can't wait to recommend it to every historian interested in the topic."—Fa-ti Fan, Binghamton University"By recounting the roles of academic disciplines and individual intellectuals in forming a spatial awareness of agricultural development and natural resource exploitation occurring in places distant from the corridors of power, Shellen Xiao Wu presents the pursuit of geopolitical power by economic and political elites through the construction of new forms of empire. Comparing and connecting her narrative of China's twentieth-century transformation with those in the U.S., Germany, and Japan, she offers a new global historical perspective on the emergence of China's contemporary importance."—R. Bin Wong, University of California, Los Angeles"Shellen Wu has written an eye-opening study that centers China in the history of expansion into the great inland spaces by the world powers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Readers will see the age of empire anew."—Charles S. Maier, Harvard UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction: Why Empires Matter in the Age of the Nation-State 1. 1852 and the Afterlife of Revolutions 2. The Experimental Grounds of New Imperialism 3. In Search of New Frontiers 4. Versailles and the Birth of the Geopolitical Age 5. Rural Development and Its Discontents 6. The Devil's Handwriting 7. Cold War New Empires

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisThe position of India’s princely states is a relatively under-studied aspect of the British withdrawal from India and the early years of Indian and Pakistani independence. Far from playing second fiddle to events in the British Indian provinces, the princely states played an integral role in the transfer of power in 1947. Under the British Raj, the princely states were politically autonomous, and the rulers of each state had to be cajoled and, in some cases, forced to accede to India or Pakistan. The princes’ commitment to preserving their sovereignty not only threatened the territorial integrity of both South Asian countries but brought them to the brink of war on multiple occasions. Conquering the maharajas tells the often overlooked history of Princely India through the tumultuous end of empire in South Asia and the early years of Indian and Pakistani independence.Trade Review'Conquering the Maharajas is a marvellous piece of scholarship that provides both nuanced empirical accounts and a sophisticated analysis of the integration of princely states into the sovereignty projects of both India and Pakistan. It provides a novel historical perspective of the dramas of nation-building in South Asia over two decades that spanned late colonial constitutional debates, Partition and immediate post-colonial statehood. By focusing on the politics of late colonial India from the standpoint of princely rulers and by analysing various “problem cases” in comparative perspective, Akins provides powerful lessons about the complicated and ambivalent processes involved in the making of modern South Asia.'Adnan Naseemullah, Reader in International Politics, King’s College London'Many histories of the accession of the Indian princely states following the lapse of British paramountcy focus solely on the elite actors. Harrison Akins’ accessible account gives an insight into the role of violence as a strategic tool and the pressures on the princes from below. The book is closely researched and combines narrative and sharp analysis in locating the end of princely India in the wider process of South Asian decolonisation.'Ian Talbot, Emeritus Professor in the History of Modern South Asia, University of Southampton -- .Table of ContentsIntroduction: Conquering the maharajas 1 British paramountcy and the princely states 2 The nationalist movement and the princely states 3 The All-India Federation, or the first failed accession 4 The debates over India’s constitutional future 5 The princes’ resistance to accession 6 Jammu and Kashmir: ‘The Switzerland of the East’ 7 Hyderabad: The Nizam’s gambit 8 Junagadh: Between the sea and a hard place 9 Kalat: Pakistan’s frontier challenge Conclusion: The false promise of autonomy

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Book SynopsisThis book is the first study of political and legal thinking about the partitions of India and Palestine in 1947. The chapters in the volume, authored by leading scholars of partition, draw attention to the pathways of peoples, geographic spaces, colonial policies, laws, and institutions that connect them from the vantage point of those most engaged by the process: political actors, party activists, jurists, diplomats, philosophers, and international representatives from the Middle East, South Asia, and beyond. Additionally, the volume investigates some of the underlying causes of partition in both places such as the hardening of religious fault-lines, majoritarian politics, and the failure to construct viable forms of government in deeply divided societies.Trade Review'This fascinating essay collection offers systematic analysis of partition in India and Palestine as processes connected through supranational politics, international law, and transnational networks. Thought provoking, often harrowing and always original, the essays collected here make essential reading for anyone interested in where partitions fit within global decolonisation.' Martin Thomas, University of Exeter'An expert team of authors assembled by Victor Kattan and Amit Rajan have produced an original book on the momentous years of 1947 and 1948 in the Indian subcontinent and Palestine. By showing how partition failed to resolve the nationality ‘problems’ it was designed to solve, the multi-scalar analyses in The breakup of India and Palestine demonstrate how the seeds were sown for the illiberal majoritarian democracies there today. A brilliant achievement.' A. Dirk Moses, Anne and Bernard Spitzer Professor of International Relations at the Colin Powell School for Civic and International Leadership at the City College of New York, CUNY -- .Table of ContentsForeword by Lucy ChesterAcknowledgementsIntroduction: Connecting the partitions of India and Palestine: institutions, policies, laws and people – Victor Kattan and Amit RanjanPart I The partition of British India1 The Mountbatten Viceroyalty reconsidered: personality, prestige and strategic vision in the partition of India – Ian Talbot2 The paradigmatic partition? The Pakistan demand revisited – Ayesha JalalPart II The partition of Palestine3 Partition and the question of international governance: the 1947 United Nations Special Committee on Palestine – Laura Robson4 Fighting for Palestine as a holy duty? The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and the partition of Palestine in 1947 – Mohamed-Ali AdraouiPart III The partitions of India and Palestine compared5 The communal question and partition in British India and mandate Palestine – Amrita Shodhan6 India’s dilemmas of pragmatism v. principles: Nehru’s preference for a partitioned India but a federal Palestine – P. R. KumaraswamyPart IV The consequences of partition for South Asia, the Middle East and beyond7 The partitions of India and Palestine and the dawn of majority rule in Africa and Asia – Victor Kattan8 ‘Unfinished’ partition: territorial disputes, unequal citizens and the rise of majoritarian nationalism in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh – Amit Ranjan9 Civil war, total war or a war of partition? Reassessing the 1948 war in Palestine from a global perspective – Arie M. Dubnov10 Partitioned identities? Regional, caste and national identity in Pakistan – Iqbal Singh SeveaAfterword: Partition as imperial inheritance – Penny Sinanoglou

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Book SynopsisA household name throughout India, B. R. Ambedkar is one of the country’s most important figures, second only to Mahatma Gandhi. He played a major role in drafting the constitution for a newly independent India and led the fight against caste-based discrimination.Ambedkar was born into a Dalit caste (the so-called ‘untouchables’), but his academic brilliance saw him study at Columbia University and London School of Economics. As a politician, he fought to overturn centuries of discrimination and promoted liberal constitutionalism in a traditionally illiberal society. He did more than anyone to articulate a cogent and enduring case for the principles of democracy in a country emerging from imperial rule.This book is also a reminder of how far the practice of politics has strayed from the high standards Ambedkar set – of intellectual distinction, policy positions animated by serious scholarship, the infusion of moral values and the upholding of democracy for the many, not just the privileged few.Trade Review'During his lifetime, as well as after his death, Ambedkar remains a controversial figure, highly admired, almost deified by some, and attacked by others. A judiciously balanced view of him has been eluding Indians, partly because the cause for which he fought continues to do so. Shashi Tharoor’s book marks a welcome departure. Well researched, beautifully written, and skilfully argued, it traces the development of Ambedkar’s thought and explains why he remains a powerful presence in India’s political and cultural life. I strongly recommend it and hope it will generate a much needed public debate on the man and his legacy.'Professor Lord Bhikhu Parekh'Shashi Tharoor's B.R. Ambedkar is no ordinary biography. It is the first major book to evaluate not only Ambedkar's life, but also to delve deeply into his enduring legacy -- to follow Ambedkar not only through his own times, but to place him firmly into our own. That already is a remarkable achievement. The fact that this is done by one statesman looking at another makes it all the more remarkable.'Aakash Singh Rathore, author of Becoming Babasaheb: The Life and Times of Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar -- .Table of ContentsPrefacePart I: Life1 Laying the foundations 2 Mounting the podium 3 Scaling the peaks4 View from the mountaintop 5 Triumph and disillusion Part II: Legacy6 A life well-lived Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThese chapters provide deeply researched narratives of the links between partition in India and Palestine in 1947. It focuses on the shared dynamics that shaped both regions, such as violence, the role of religion in politics, majoritarian politics, and the persistence of imperial modes of power. -- .

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Book SynopsisAt the height of the savage and bitter Indian Mutiny, the British garrison at Cawnpore found itself surrounded in June 1857\. Through a lack of resources, its commander, Major General Wheeler, agreed to surrender the city providing all the British inhabitants were granted free passage out of Cawnpore. But, just as the men women and children were about to embark on the boats that would take them to safety, the Mutineers attacked. All the British troops were killed, as were some of the women and children, with others being wounded. Those who survived, approximately 200 in number, were moved to a small villa called Bibighar. Held in awful conditions, many subsequently died from cholera and dysentery. When the rebel leader, Nana Sahib, learned that a large British force was approaching to relieve the captives, he ordered all the women and children to be killed. Though some of the sepoys refused to act, others began to hack about them with swords and cleavers. In the orgy of horror that followed, women were raped and mutilated, children stripped and murdered. In a bid to conceal the atrocity from the revengeful British troops, the corpses were thrown into a deep well. Just four of the original 200 people captured at Cawnpore lived to tell the gruesome tale by hiding under the bodies of the dead. Over many years James Bancroft has collected information on the victims and has interviewed some of the descendants. This has enabled him to examine the events at Cawnpore in 1857 through the lives of those who died and survived the atrocity, throwing new light on this very dark tale. The book is completed with photographs of the sites in India taken by one the families of the victims.

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Book SynopsisThe Ismaili Assassins were an underground group of political killers who were ready to kill Christians and Muslims alike with complete disregard for their own lives. These devoted murderers were under the powerful control of a grand master who used assassination as part of a grand strategic vision that embraced Egypt, the Levant and Persia and even reached the court of the Mongol Khans in far away Qaraqorum. The Assassins were often slayed their victims in public, cultivating their terrifying reputation. They assumed disguises and their weapon of choice was a dagger. The dagger was blessed by the grand master and killing with it was a holy and sanctified act poison or other methods of murder were forbidden to the followers of the sect. Surviving a mission was considered a deep dishonour and mothers rejoiced when they heard that their Assassin sons had died having completed their deadly acts. Their formidable reputation spread far and wide. In 1253, the Mongol chiefs were so fearful of them that they massacred and enslaved the Assassins women and children in an attempt to liquidate the sect. The English monarch, Edward I, was nearly dispatched by their blades and Richard the Lionhearts reputation was sullied by his association with the Assassins murder of Conrad of Montferrat. The Ismaili Assassins explores the origins, actions and legacy of this notorious sect. Enriched with eyewitness accounts from Islamic and Western sources, this important book unlocks the history of the Crusades and the early Islamic period, giving the reader entry into a historical epoch that is thrilling and pertinent.Trade Review" ...weaves the Assassin's history, their political ideology, and their determined, deadly tactics into a broader tapestry of the region's history from their origination to the height of their influence to their fading historical force."--Midwest Book Review

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Book SynopsisRichard Laird's previously unpublished record of his wartime experience as a Japanese prisoner of war ranks among the most graphic of this shocking and deservedly popular genre. Captured after fighting in the Malayan Campaign he was incarcerated in Changi before being drafted as slave labour with F' Force on the notorious Burma Railway. He was one of only 400 out of 1600 to survive Songkurai No 2 Camp, despite disease and terrible hardship. His moving memoir begins with a rare description of ex-patriate life in 1930's Shanghai with the Sino-Japanese war raging around the European cantonments. An additional dimension to his story is the developing relationship between the author and Bobbie Coupar Patrick to whom he became engaged shortly before the fall of Singapore. Bobbie's letters graphically described her dramatic escape to Australia and work for Force 136\. They were reunited in Colombo, Ceylon and their son has been instrumental in compiling this exceptional record. Three appendices round off this superb book including the official report on the hardships and losses suffered by F' Force.

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Book Synopsis'A galloping journey through thousands of years of Chinese culinary history . . . a timely reminder that the country's modern cuisine is the delicious fruit of a rich, ancient and perhaps surprisingly multicultural tradition' FUCHSIA DUNLOP, SPECTATOR'A tasty portrait of a nation' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH'A splendid introduction to the complex history of China' GUARDIAN'A terrific read . . . Jonathan Clements writes with erudition and humour' DAILY MAIL'This book is itself a feast, each chapter a sumptuous course'Frederik L. Schodt, author of My Heart Sutra'Witty and insightful' Derek Sandhaus, author of Drunk in China****************The history of China - not according to emperors or battles, but according to its food and drink.The Emperor's Feast is the epic story of a nation and a people, told through one of its most fundamental pillars and successful exports: food. Following the journeys of different ingredients, dishes and eating habits over 5,000 years of history, author and presenter Jonathan Clements examines how China's political, cultural and technological evolution and her remarkable entrance onto the world stage have impacted how the Chinese - and the rest of the world - eat, drink and cook.We see the influence of invaders such as the Mongols and the Manchus, and discover how food - like the fiery cuisine of Sichuan or the hardy dishes of the north - often became a stand-in for regional and national identities. We also follow Chinese flavours to the shores of Europe and America, where enterprising chefs and home cooks created new traditions and dishes unheard of in the homeland.From dim sum to mooncakes to General Tso's chicken, The Emperor's Feast shows us that the story of Chinese food is ultimately the story of a nation: not just the one that history tells us, but also the one that China tells us about itself.

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Book SynopsisIn May 1923, when Shanghai publisher and reporter John Benjamin Powell bought a first-class ticket for the Peking Express, he pictured an idyllic overnight journey on a brand-new train of unprecedented luxury-exactly what the advertisements promised. Seeing his fellow passengers, including mysterious Italian lawyer Giuseppe Musso, a confidante of Mussolini and lawyer for the opium trade, and American heiress Lucy Aldrich, sister-in-law of John D. Rockefeller Jr., he knew it would be an unforgettable trip.Charismatic bandit leader and populist rabble rouser Sun Mei-yao had also taken notice of the new train from Shanghai to Peking. On the night of Powell's trip of a lifetime, Sun launched his plan to make a brazen political statement: he and a thousand fellow bandits descended on the train, capturing dozens of hostages.Aided by local proxy authorities, the humiliated Peking government soon furiously gave chase. At the bandits' mountain stronghold, a five-week siege began.Brilliantly written, with new and original research, The Peking Express tells the incredible true story of a clash that shocked the world-becoming so celebrated it inspired several Hollywood movies-and set the course for China's two-decade civil war.

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Book SynopsisAn in-depth, on-the ground view of how Chinese officials have co-opted technology, infrastructure and the minds of their people to establish the definitive police state.When blocked from facts and truth, and constantly under surveillance, most citizens cannot discern between enemy and friend and don't have the information they need to challenge the government. Society quickly breaks down. Friends betray each other, bosses snitch on employees, teachers rat on their students, and children turn on their parents. Everyone must turn to their government for protection. even if the government is not their true protector. This is the Perfect Police State, and China has created one. In The Perfect Police State Geoffrey Cain, an Asia-based reporter, recounts his travels and investigations into the multifaceted and comprehensive surveillance network in the Western Chinese province of Xinjiang. Drawing on first-hand testimony, and one citizen's tumultuous life and escape from Xinjiang, Cain describes the emergence of China's tech surveillance giants, and the implications for our global order, in an age of Covid-19 and police brutality protests. What results is a vivid and haunting investigation into how China established an effective and enduring technological dystopia.

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Book SynopsisWhen Gao Wenqian first published this ground-breaking, provocative biography in Hong Kong, it was immediately banned in the People's Republic. Using classified documents spirited out of the China, he offers an objective human portrait of the real Zhou Enlai, the premier of the People's Republic of China from 1949 until his death in 1976. Often touted as the last perfect revolutionary," Zhou is a modern saint" who offered protection to his people during the Cultural Revolution, and an icon who allows modern Chinese to find an admirable figure in what was a traumatic and bloody era. But his greatest gift was to survive, at almost any price, thanks to his acute understanding of where political power resided at any one time.Trade Review"a valuable and revealing book on the brutish and incredibly cruel nature of the Maoist regime... For a sense of what life as a top Communist leader under Mao was like look no further." BBC History Magazine "(Gao Wenqian) offers valuable insights into the "brutal mafia-like battle that is Chinese politics". Daily Telegraph"

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Book SynopsisThe history of modern Afghanistan is an epic drama, a thriller, a tragedy, a surreal farce. Every forty years or so, over the last two centuries, some great global power has attempted to take control of Afghanistan, only to slink away wounded and bewildered. Games without Rules recounts this strange story, not from the outside looking in, as is usually the case, but from the inside looking out. Here, the interventions and invasions by foreign powers are not the main event. They are interruptions of the main event, for Afghans have a story of their own, quite apart from all the invasions (a story often interrupted by invasions!) Drawing on his Afghan background, Muslim roots, and Western and Afghan sources, Tamim Ansary weaves an epic story that moves from a universe of village republics,the old Afghanistan,through a tumultuous drama of tribes, factions, and forces, to the current struggle. The drama involves a dazzling array of colourful characters,such as the towering warrior-poet Ahmad Shah, who founded the country the wily spider-king Dost Mohammed the Great, who told the British I am like a wooden spoon you can toss me about, but I will not be broken" and the late nineteenth-century Iron Amir," who said a telescope would interest him only if it could shoot bullets, since what use had he for the moon? A compelling narrative told in an accessible, conversational style, Games without Rules offers revelatory insight into a country long at the centre of international debate, but never fully understood by the outside world.Trade ReviewRajiv Chandrasekaran, author of Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan"In Games Without Rules, Tamim Ansary has written the most engaging, accessible and insightful history of Afghanistan. With gifted prose and revealing details, Ansary gives us the oft-neglected Afghan perspective of the wars, foreign meddling and palace intrigue that has defined the past few centuries between the Indus and Oxus. This brilliant book should be required reading for anyone involved in the current war there -- and anyone who wants to understand why Afghanistan will not be at peace anytime soon." Kirkus "A breezy, accessible overview of centuries of messy Afghan history, including the present military quagmire... As a native of Kabul, Ansary lends precious insight into the makeup of the typical Afghan village, with its tidy, self-sufficient, patriarchal hierarchy and need to keep the nomads at bay... Lively instruction on how Afghanistan has coped, and continues to cope, with being a strategic flash point." Christian Science Monitor"Games without Rules" explains longstanding problems and internal difficulties encountered in efforts toward nation-building in Afghanistan and shows how great power politics (and invasion) have been stalling the process for the past two centuries." San Jose Mercury News"Despite extensive reporting on the war in Afghanistan, San Francisco journalist and author Ansary thinks there's still a great deal of misunderstanding about the reasons for the conflict. In this history, he focuses on key developments that shaped current events." Middle East Journal "Ansary ... sheds light on over two centuries of Afghan history, giving an account of the historical struggles undertaken by a fractious people across a landscape of rugged steppes and unforgiving deserts... [He] argues that the fatal error of ... unsuccessful modern invaders lies in their inability to recognize the internal struggles of those with whom they intervened." Booklist"Ansary tells the history of modern Afghanistan with a master storyteller's confidence...this is a nuanced, sophisticated historical narrative that strives to tell Afghan history from an Afghan perspective...The author's love for his native land and his optimism for its future shine through." Publishers Weekly, STARRED review "Ansary, an Afghan-born US citizen... offers an illuminating history of the country, providing not only a chronology but a deep cultural analysis that allows outsiders a comprehensive picture of Afghan mores and practices. This insider's perspective fills large gaps in contemporary outsiders' understandings of why these powers have failed and hopefully points the way towards forms of international cooperation that will work for Afghanistan rather than against it. Ansary has a gift for using informal language to illustrate his points in a way that doesn't compromise the legitimacy of his narrative. His ability to contextualize the history and situate it in culture, as well as to remind readers of when to keep track of important figures (sometimes for decades) is refreshing. Ansary has produced an invaluable resource to those curious about this tumultuous region." Geographical Magazine"As an Afghan-American, Tamim Ansary is well placed to present the Western reader with a penetrating view of his complex and often baffling native land. With the 2014 draw-down of NATO combat forces from Afghanistan approaching a better-late-than-never understanding of how the country works and its history is crucial if we're to avoid the mistakes of the past." New Statesman"(Ansary's) is an authentically Afghan voice, offering not an authoritative account of the ebb and flow of foreign entanglement in Afghanistan but a personal account of how an intelligent Afghan observer sees the course of events from the outside." Irish Times"Ansary has that rare gift of being able to blend an academic's knowledge with the skill of a natural storyteller. He if Afghanistan-born, and although he left when he was just 16, in 1964, he has clearly spent a lifetime collecting stories, which he has edited masterfully, knowing exactly when to move away from the major events and focus on the tiny details that give you a sense of what life must have been like for the country's many poor villagers, who often had no idea what was happening in their capital city. Refreshingly he keeps his focus on Afghans, with the foreigners appearing for brief periods, usually offering little and understanding less. I was gripped as I read the first 200 pages of GAMES WITHOUT RULES... The author brilliantly describes the personalities of these men and the conflict, conceit or foreign intervention that brought them to power."

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Book SynopsisWho founded China? Are Chinese people religious? What is Chinese culture and how has it changed over time? The accessible and fun Understanding China Through Comics series answers those questions and more. For all ages, Foundations of Chinese Civilization covers China's early history in comic form, introducing philosophies like Confucianism and Daoism, the story of the Silk Road, famous emperors like Han Wudi, and the process of China's unification. Includes a handy timeline. This is volume one of the Understanding China Through Comics series. Jing Liu is a Beijing native now living in Davis, California. A successful designer and entrepreneur who helped brands tell their stories, Jing currently uses his artistry to tell the story of China.Trade Review"A great way to learn about China's vast history!"--Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club Excels at clarifying the often-confusing transitional periods between dynasties... An excellent introduction to the large trends of early Chinese history."--School Library Journal "The lucid, economical text makes one eager for the successive volumes."--Booklist "Simple and effective...This direct, appealing introduction to the foundations of one of the world's oldest civilizations is recommended for teens and adults."--Library Journal "An excellent history that clearly explains the great (and ordinary) people who have made China what it is and the conflicts and debates that have shaped Chinese history. There is nothing else like it in English or Chinese."--Alan Baumler, Professor of History at Indiana University of Pennsylvania "No more burying yourself in text-heavy history books to learn about China, this comic-style book manages to be rich in information and bring Chinese history to readers in a more clear, fun, and accessible way than it's ever been done before. Easily integrated into a social studies or Chinese culture curriculum, I can't wait to get a copy for my class."--Grace Zeng, Chinese Teacher and Middle School Chinese Curriculum Area Leader at International School of Beijing "It is certainly a fascinating look at Chinese history, and doing it in comics has certainly made it more accessible to people, especially for the Western world."--Radio Australia "Jing Liu has brought to life the long and complex early period of Chinese history in this wonderful graphic novel. Foundations of Chinese Civilization is a delight to read; humorous, informative, and truly captivating."--Alexandra Pearson, Founder of The Bookworm Literary Festival "This book is "The Magic School Bus" for those starting to explore Chinese culture."--Dan Cao, Instructor at Confucius Institute at UC Davis "Since the 1990s, Jing Liu has been entertaining and informing foreigners about China with his cartoons. His new series of comic books is a fun, easy, accessible way to gain a basic understanding of Chinese history and culture."--Jeremy Goldkorn, Founder of Danwei 4.5/5 Stars "Entertaining, engaging, and informative, this is a perfect doorway for the student new to ancient China."--Seattle Book Review "Informed and informative, Division to Unification in Imperial China is especially recommended for young readers ages 11 to 17 and should be a part of every school and community library's History of China collection."--The Midwest Book Review "The book does what it says it does: a child will come away with a basic understanding of early Chinese history, what makes the Chinese tick as a people and culture."--Asian Review of Books "With Donald Trump's focus on China, with no signs of letting up, it is a perfect time to gain a better understanding of a very misunderstood country. This is a highly accessible work tailored to fast learning while also very entertaining."--The Comics Grinder

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Book Synopsis"Does what it sets out to do and serves as a Chinese history text teenagers might actually read." —Asian Review of Books on Division to Unification in Imperial ChinaThe fourth volume in the Understanding China Through Comics series covers the stunningly productive Ming dynasty and its fall to the Manchus under the Qing, the last Chinese dynasty. The book also addresses Wang Yangming's School of Mind and the painful process of modernization and conflict with the West and Japan, including the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion. Includes timeline.Jing Liu is a Beijing- and Davis, CA–based designer and entrepreneur who uses his artistry to tell the story of China.Trade Review"A great way to learn about China's vast history!"—Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club "Excels at clarifying the often-confusing transitional periods between dynasties… An excellent introduction to the large trends of early Chinese history.”—School Library Journal 5/5 Stars "An invaluable source... Chinese history is a vast subject, but Jing Liu has a skillful ability to condense it all into an interesting and manageable narrative."—Kids' Book Buzz "Combines breezy style with historical rigor to strike just the right gong-tone for a middle school audience approaching the vast scope of Chinese history."—Education About Asia "The combination of silhouettes—often threatening, martial ones—with open-faced, expressively individualized figures of many social classes adds dramatic tension while neatly balancing the big-picture narrative. There's a lot to absorb even in this abbreviated form, but the visual approach lightens the load considerably."—Kirkus Reviews "The lucid, economical text makes one eager for successive volumes."—Booklist "Simple and effective…This direct, appealing introduction to the foundations of one of the world’s oldest civilizations is recommended for teens and adults."—Library Journal "The book does what it says it does: a child will come away with a basic understanding of early Chinese history, what makes the Chinese tick as a people and culture."—Asian Review of Books "This book is “The Magic School Bus” for those starting to explore Chinese culture."—Dan Cao, Instructor at Confucius Institute at UC Davis "An excellent history that clearly explains the great (and ordinary) people who have made China what it is and the conflicts and debates that have shaped Chinese history. There is nothing else like it in English or Chinese."—Alan Baumler, Professor of History at Indiana University of Pennsylvania "No more burying yourself in text-heavy history books to learn about China, this comic-style book manages to be rich in information and bring Chinese history to readers in a more clear, fun, and accessible way than it’s ever been done before. Easily integrated into a social studies or Chinese culture curriculum, I can’t wait to get a copy for my class."—Grace Zeng, Chinese Teacher and Middle School Chinese Curriculum Area Leader at International School of Beijing "Jing Liu has brought to life the long and complex early period of Chinese history in this wonderful graphic novel. Foundations of Chinese Civilization is a delight to read; humorous, informative, and truly captivating."—Alexandra Pearson, Founder of The Bookworm Literary Festival "Since the 1990s, Jing Liu has been entertaining and informing foreigners about China with his cartoons. His new series of comic books is a fun, easy, accessible way to gain a basic understanding of Chinese history and culture."—Jeremy Goldkorn, Founder of DanweiTable of ContentsPreviously in Understanding China through Comics . From penniless farm boy to emperor of China . Nanjing Reunifying China Turning inward: The Ming Dynasty, 1368 – 1644 . Protector of the poor . Low tax . Labor duties . Leave people alone . Low pay and corruption . Local officials . Central government officials . Warehouse administrators . Students . “What a difficult situation this is!” . Short-term measures with long-term implications . Losing control of its own currency . Failure of copper coins . Overspending destroys paper money . Retreat . Turning to silver . Japanese pirates . Tax monetization for war . Macau . “Why are we fighting with our money supply?” . Spanish Americas . “We don’t control the trade or the source of silver.” . Conscientious individuals in a flawed system . Wang Yangming and the School of Mind . Core teaching . Impact . Hai Rui, the oddball . Zhang Juzheng and a last attempt to save the empire . “It’s a bad time to run out of money” . Final years of the Ming Dynasty . “Bandits can tear my body apart, but don’t hurt my people” Manchus and the West: The Qing Dynasty, 1644 – 1912 “We’re here to protect Chinese tradition” . The last Ming resistance in Taiwan Century of peace . Growing economy . Territorial expansion . Early contact with the West . Re-establishing trade . American crops . Jesuits . Turning point . System failure . Rise of industrial Britain . Bankruptcy . Opium trade . The first Opium War . The invisible hand . Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace rebellion “Jesus is my brother!” . Scholars against the rebels . The second Opium War . Self-strengthening Empress Dowager Cixi to the rescue . Sir Robert Hart, head of the Chinese customs service. Burlingame, ambassador for America and China . New hope - the Beiyang force . Philo McGiffin and the Chinese navy . Incompatible with tradition . A new academy at Weihai Wei . When the dragon meets the rising sun . Rise of industrial Japan . Line of advantage . The first Sino-Japanese war . The Korean crisis . Declaration of war . Getting ready . The Battle of Yalu River . Encounter . Outnumbered battle . Fire in the forecastle . Withdraw . Battle results . Total defeat Aftermath . Peace treaty . Diaoyu Islands . Japan’s path to imperial power . Carving up China Hundred Days’ Reform Society on the eve of revolution . Modern city life . Impoverished countryside . “Now you must turn to God!” . Tensions in the birthplace of Confucius . Last straw from the Forbidden City The storm of 1900 . Battle of Beijing . Eight-nation alliance . Boxer Protocol . Final humiliation . Revolution Sun Zhongshan, father of modern China .

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