Asian history Books

Book SynopsisWhen Peter Hessler went to China in the late 1990s, he expected to spend a couple of peaceful years teaching English in the town of Fuling on the Yangtze River. But what he experienced - the natural beauty, cultural tension, and complex process of understanding that takes place when one is thrust into a radically different society - surpassed anything he could have imagined. Hessler observes firsthand how major events such as the death of Deng Xiaoping, the return of Hong Kong to the mainland, and the controversial consturction of the Three Gorges Dam have affected even the people of a remote town like Fuling.Poignant, thoughtful and utterly compelling, River Town is an unforgettable portrait of a place caught mid-river in time, much like China itself - a country seeking to understand both what it was and what it will one day become.Trade ReviewWritten with great clarity and affection, River Town should be read by anyone with any interest in finding the Chinese less inscrutable * The Times *If you read only one book about China, let it be this * Jonathan Mirsky *Hessler's account superbly captures the spirit of a country in which he is an invader, albeit welcomed, understanding rather than merely describing it and, with consummate skill and literary style, bringing it alive in all its mesmerising complexity * Martin Booth, Sunday Times *To come across a Westerner patient enough and tolerant enough to try to understand the immense, exasperating and ultimately lovable entity that is China is always a pleasure. To encounter one who is as literate and sensitive as Peter Hessler is a joy. This tender, intelligent account of two years spent teaching deep in the country's heart is the work of a writer of rare talent: it deserves to become a classic * Simon Winchester *Studded with insight and humility, written with unshowy elegance, River Town is about ways of seeing * Daily Telegraph *Table of ContentsPart I: downstream; the city; Shakespeare with Chinese characteristics; raise the flag mountain; running; the white crane ridge; the dam; the Wu River; opium wars; white flat mountain; storm. Part II: summer; the priest; Chinese life; the restaurant owner; money; the teacher; Chinese new year; the land; spring again; the river; upstream.

Read more less

Book SynopsisJung Chang is the best-selling author of Wild Swans (1991, which the Asian Wall Street Journal called the most read book about China), and Mao: The Unknown Story (2005, with Jon Halliday), which was described by Time Magazine as an atom bomb of a book'. Her books have been translated into more than 40 languages and sold more than 15 million copies outside mainland China where they are both banned.. She was born in China in 1952, and came to Britain in 1978. She lives in London.Trade ReviewJung Chang tells a story and what a colourful tale it is…This is history at its most readable. -- George Walden * Evening Standard *A truly authoritative account of Cixi’s rule. Her story is both important and evocative. -- Orville Schell * New York Times *Filled with new revelations, it's a gripping and surprising story of an extraordinary woman in power. Using Chinese sources, totally untapped by western books, this reappraises one of the great monstresses of modern history... Jung Chang's revisionism means that this book reveals a new and different woman: ambitious, sometimes murderous, but pragmatic and unique. All of this adds up to make Empress Dowager Cixi a powerful read. -- Simon Sebag Montefiore * BBC History Magazine *If there is one woman who mattered in the history of modern China, it is the empress dowager Cixi…[Her] conventional image is queried in this detailed and beautifully narrated biography, which at long last restores the empress dowager to her rightful place. Chang’s book relies heavily on the vast holdings in the imperial archives in Beijing... She has a wonderful eye for the telling detail and excels at unravelling palace intrigues and corridor politics. -- Frank Dikotter * Sunday Times *Chang has a proven Midas touch... Empress Dowager, by returning to female experience in the style of Wild Swans yet focusing, like Mao, on a controversial ruler, should appeal to fans of both. -- Jeffrey Wasserstrom * Financial Times *A captivating cradle-to-grave biography * VOGUE *In this vivid biography, as colourful and intricate as the embroidery on a Chinese robe, [Jung Chang] uses new evidence and meticulous research to cast a spotlight on the amazing woman she regards as the mother of modern China…This is a rich, dramatic story of rebellions, battles, plotting, rivalry, foreign invasion, punishment and forbidden love. -- Bel Mooney * Daily Mail *An absorbing read. -- Josh Neicho * Independent on Sunday *This is an important book, drawing attention to a period in China's history that has received little, and usually only negative, attention. Chang writes with verve, energy and evident concern for the country in which her books are proscribed and her family was made to suffer during the Cultural Revolution. * BBC History Magazine *

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Let us turn our faces towards Asia'', exhorted Lenin when the long-awaited revolution in Europe failed to materialize. ''The East will help us conquer the West.'' Peter Hopkirk''s book tells for the first time the story of the Bolshevik attempt to set the East ablaze with the heady new gospel of Marxism. Lenin''s dream was to liberate the whole of Asia, but his starting point was British India. A shadowy undeclared war followed. Among the players in this new Great Game were British spies, Communist revolutionaries, Muslim visionaries and Chinese warlords - as well as a White Russian baron who roasted his Bolshevik captives alive. Here is an extraordinary tale of intrigue and treachery, barbarism and civil war, whose violent repercussions continue to be felt in Central Asia today.Trade Review'The stuff of a dozen adventure movies . . . everything a ripping good yarn should be' * New York Times *'A classic example of truth outpacing fiction' * Times Literary Supplement *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFrom Herodotus's day to the present political upheavals, the steady flow of the Nile has been Egypt's heartbeat. It has shaped its geography, controlled its economy and moulded its civilisation. The same stretch of water which conveyed Pharaonic battleships, Ptolemaic grain ships, Roman troop-carriers and Victorian steamers today carries modern-day tourists past bankside settlements in which rural life fishing, farming, flooding continues much as it has for millennia. At this most critical juncture in the country's history, foremost Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson takes us on a journey up the Nile, north from Lake Victoria, from Cataract to Cataract, past the Aswan Dam, to the delta. The country is a palimpsest, every age has left its trace: as we pass the Nilometer on the island of Elephantine which since the days of the Pharaohs has measured the height of Nile floodwaters to predict the following season's agricultural yield and set the parameters for the entire Egyptian economy, the woTrade ReviewToby Wilkinson is an acclaimed Cambridge-based Egyptologist and the author of seminal books on life in ancient Egypt. His take on ancient and colonial history is impeccable ... His ancient sources are as thorough and as fascinating as any I have ever read ... Wilkinson’s eye for significant detail, his great curiosity about and affection for his subject, justify the retelling ... The most compelling parts are the ones where Wilkinson draws on his extensive knowledge of Egypt’s ancient past * Anthony Sattin, Observer *Colourful … Without the River Nile there would be no Egypt. That might seem like entry-level geography, but Toby Wilkinson’s achievement in his enjoyable survey of the Egyptian Nile’s key stretch from Aswan to Cairo is to illustrate the point so compellingly ... Dexterously done and rich in detail ... Brilliant * Sunday Telegraph *Thorough, erudite and enthusiastic … Wilkinson does his best to bring the ancient Egyptians to life, and he is a great authority on the subject * Sunday Times *I had always presumed, before I read Wilkinson's book, that it was impossible to write a history of Egypt which combined scholarship, accessibility, and a genuine sense of revelation. I was wrong * Tom Holland, Observer *The foremost Egyptologist of his time ... shares his erudition with us in easy prose which never talks down to us, bringing those times and places splendidly to life * Nicholas Bagnall, Sunday Telegraph *The eminent Egyptologist from Cambridge University blends contemporary description with digestible doses of history and anecdote from the time of the Pharaohs to the present day. The book is made timely by a reference to recent events * Independent *

Read more less

Book SynopsisFor more than a hundred years, Central Asia was the heartland of the mightiest military power on the planet. But after the fragmentation of the all-conquering Mongol polity, the region began a steep decline which rendered this former domain of horse lords peripheral to world affairs. The process of deterioration reached its nadir in the second half of the nineteenth century, when the former territories and sweeping steppes of the great khans were overrun by Tsarist Russia. In the concluding volume of his acclaimed Central Asia quartet, Christoph Baumer shows how China in the east, and Russia in the northwest, succeeded in throwing off the Mongol yoke to become the masters of their own previous rulers. He suggests that, as traditional transcontinental trade routes declined in importance, it was the `Great Game' - or cold war between Imperial Russia and Great Britain - which finally brought Central Asia back into play as a region of strategic importance. This epic history concludes with an assessment of the transition to modern independence of the Central Asian states and their struggle to contain radical Islamism.Trade Review`Christoph Baumer’s highly anticipated “The Age of Decline and Revival” completes his four-volume The History of Central Asia and takes the story of this important region up to the present-day. The text is beautifully produced and illustrated, featuring excellent maps, and is informed by a high level of scholarship that comprehensively and uniquely integrates history and archaeology with artistic, cultural and economic developments. Another remarkable aspect of Baumer’s work is its inclusiveness, drawing on an extensive range of materials from the Caucasus to China. The series is a must-have for anyone interested in this vast area lying at the very centre of world history.’ – John E Woods, Professor of Iranian and Central Asian History, University of Chicago

Read more less

Book SynopsisA major film, co-written and directed by Angelina Jolie Until the age of five, Loung Ung lived in Phnom Penh, one of seven children of a high-ranking government official. She was a precocious child who loved the open city markets, fried crickets, chicken fights and being cheeky to her parents.When Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge army stormed into Phnom Penh in April 1975, Loung's family fled their home and were eventually forced to disperse to survive. Loung was trained as a child soldier while her brothers and sisters were sent to labour camps. The surviving siblings were only finally reunited after the Vietnamese penetrated Cambodia and started to destroy the Khmer Rouge.Bolstered by the bravery of one brother, the vision of the others and the gentle kindness of her sister, Loung forged on to create for herself a courageous new life.First They Killed My Father is an unforgettable book told through the voice of the young and fearless Loung. It is a shocking and tragic tale of a girl who was determined to survive despite the odds.Trade ReviewSo sharp with pain that when I read it, the words plunged into me like a knife -- Jon Swain * Sunday Times *There can be absolutely no doubt about the innate power of [Ung's] story, the passion with which she tells it or its enduring importance * Washington Post Book World *Ung's memoir should serve as a reminder that some history is best not left just to historians but to those left behind when the terror ends * Booklist *I was deeply affected by Loung’s book. It deepened my understanding of how children experience war and are affected by the emotional memory of it * Angelina Jolie Pitt *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA courageous and intimate memoir of China framed in ten telling words: a Duckworth contemporary classic, beautifully repackaged for our 125th anniversaryTrade Review‘A brilliant memoir of China… Throughout this beautifully narrated, carefully analytical and at times personally courageous book, Yu shows the dark side of China’s economic “miracle” Guardian'Caustic and difficult to forget, China in Ten Words is a people’s eye view of a world in which the people have little place' The Times'Gripping… it astounds me that Yu Hua has not already joined Nobel Peace Prize-winner Liu Xiaobo and a growing number of other outspoken intellectuals behind bars' Jonathan Mirsky, Literary Review

Read more less

Book SynopsisGeorgina Howell began working in magazine journalism at the age of seventeen. She was Fashion Editor of the Observer, Features Editor of Vogue, Deputy Editor of Tatler and a principal feature writer for the Sunday Times. Georgina Howell died in January 2016.

Read more less

Book SynopsisSpend 24 hours with the ancient Chinese. The year is AD 17. The Han dynasty is in power and we are in and around Chang’an, the capital and one of the most developed regions of the empire, which is enjoying a prolonged economic and cultural pinnacle.There are extraordinary palaces, military bases and city walls. Households are benefitting from the invention of numerous agricultural technologies and an unprecedented level of craft production, which includes ceramics, bronzes, iron objects and many other elaborate goods.This is an age that is both vibrant and innovative but also riven with conflict and contradictions. For as successful as the empire is, the reality is that life for the ordinary inhabitants is still about the same problems: earning money, work struggles and family dramas.Discover what one day in ancient China is like by spending twenty-four hours with the people who lived there. Every hour we meet a different person – from dancers to doctors, priests to convicts, textile workers to tomb looters – and build a multi-layered picture of the social fabric of ancient China and this fascinating period in history.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisPankaj Mishra''s provocative account of how China, India and the Muslim World are remaking the world in their own image - shortlisted for the Orwell Prize 2013SHORTLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 2013Viewed in the West as a time of self-confident progress, the Victorian period was experienced by Asians as a catastrophe. As the British gunned down the last heirs to the Mughal Empire or burned down the Summer Palace in Beijing, it was clear that for Asia to recover a new way of thinking was needed. Pankaj Mishra re-tells the history of the past two centuries, showing how a remarkable, disparate group of thinkers, journalists, radicals and charismatics emerged from the ruins of empire to create an unstoppable Asian renaissance, one whose ideas lie behind everything from the Chinese Communist Party to the Muslim Brotherhood, and have made our world what it is today.Reviews:''Arrestingly original ... this penetrating and disquieting book should be on the reading list of anybody who wants to understand where we are today'' John Gray, Independent ''A riveting account that makes new and illuminating connections ... deeply entertaining and deeply humane'' Hisham Matar''Fascinating ... a rich and genuinely thought-provoking book'' Noel Malcolm, Sunday Telegraph''Provocative, shaming and convincing'' Michael Binyon, The Times ''Lively ... engaging ... retains the power to shock'' Mark Mazower, Financial Times''Subtle, erudite and entertaining'' Economist, New DelhiAbout the author:Pankaj Mishra is the author of Butter Chicken in Ludiana, The Romantics, An End to Suffering and Temptations of the West. He writes principally for the Guardian, The New York Times, London Review of Books and New York Review of Books. He lives in London, Shimla and New York.Trade ReviewMeticulous scholarship ... History, as Mishra insists, has been glossed and distorted by the conqueror ... [This] passionate account of the relentless subjugation of Asian empires by European, especially British, imperialism, is provocative, shaming and convincing -- Michael Binyon * The Times *One can only be thankful for writers like Mishra. From The Ruins Of Empire is erudite, provocative, inspiring and unremittingly complex; a model kind of non-fiction for our disordered days ... May well be seen in years to come as a defining volume of its kind -- Stuart Kelly * Scotsman *Deeply researched and arrestingly original ... this penetrating and disquieting book should be on the reading list of anybody who wants to understand where we are today -- John Gray * Independent *From the Ruins of Empire gives eloquent voice to [the] curious, complex intellectual odysseys ... of some of Asia's most educated, thoughtful men -- Julia Lovell * Guardian *Fascinating ... a rich and genuinely thought-provoking book -- Noel Malcolm * Telegraph *Superb and ground-breaking. Not just a brilliant history of Asia, but a vital history for Asians -- Mohsin HamidLively ... engaging ... From the Ruins of Empire retains the power to instruct and even to shock. It provides us with an exciting glimpse of the vast and still largely unexplored terrain of anti-colonial thought that shaped so much of the post-western world in which we now live -- Mark Mazower * Financial Times *Brilliant ... Mishra reverses the long gaze of the West upon the East, showing modern history as it has been felt by the majority of the world's population - from Turkey to China. These are the amazing stories of the grandfathers of today's angry Asians. Excellent -- Orhan PamukJolts our historical imagination ... a book of vast and wondrous learning and delightful and surprising associations that will give a new meaning to liberation geography -- Hamid Dabashi (Professor of Iranian Studies, Columbia University, New York)After Edward Said's masterpiece Orientalism, From the Ruins of Empire offers another bracing view of the history of the modern world. Pankaj Mishra [is] a brilliant author of wide learning ... skillful and captivating narration -- Wang Hui (Professor of Chinese Intellectual History, Tsinghua University, Beijing)Pankaj Mishra has produced a riveting account that makes new and illuminating connections. He follows the intellectual trail of this contested history with both intelligence and moral clarity. In the end we realise that what we are holding in our hands is not only a deeply entertaining and deeply humane book, but a balance sheet of the nature and mentality of colonisation -- Hisham MatarHighly readable and illuminating ... Mishra's analysis of Muslim reactions is particularly topical -- David Goodall * Tablet *Enormously ambitious but thoroughly readable, this book is essential reading for everyone who is interested in the processes of change that have led to the emergence of today's Asia -- Amitav Ghosh * Wall Street Journal *Sophisticated ... not so much polemic as cri de coeur, motivated by Mishra's keen sense of the world, East and West, hurtling towards its own destruction * Tehelka, New Delhi *Outstanding ... Mishra wears his scholarship lightly and weaves together the many strands of history into a gripping narrative ... The insights afforded by this book are too many to be enumerated ... Mishra performs a signal service to the future - by making us read the past in a fresh light * The Hindu, New Delhi *[Full of] complexity and nuance * Mail Today *Subtle, erudite and entertaining * Financial Express *Mishra allows the reader to see the events of two centuries anew, through the eyes of the journalists, poets, radicals and charismatics who criss-crossed Europe and Asia * Free Press Journal *A vital, nuanced argument ... prodigious * Mint *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA journey along the greatest land route on earth, from the master of travel writing Colin Thubron On buses, donkey carts, trains, jeeps and camels, Colin Thubron traces the drifts of the first great trade route out of the heart of China into the mountains of Central Asia, across northern Afghanistan and the plains of Iran into Kurdish Turkey. Covering over 7000 miles in eight months Thubron recounts extraordinary adventures - a near-miss with a drunk-driver, incarceration in a Chinese cell during the SARS epidemic, undergoing root canal treatment without anaesthetic in Iran - in inimitable prose. Shadow of the Silk Road is about Asia today; a magnificent account of an ancient world in modern ferment. ''It is hard to think of a better travel book written this century'' Times''Thubron is the pre-eminent travel writer of his generation'' Sunday TelegraphTrade ReviewIt is hard to think of a better travel book written this century * The Times *Shadow of the Silk Road is a work of boundless riches. Every paragraph carries a captivating phrase...offering up an understanding of our world today that is as immediate as tomorrow's news, yet infinitely profound -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *One of Thubron's great strengths is his compassion...his shimmering prose creates a wonderful book, so multilayered that, when I reached the end, I wanted to read it all over again * Sunday Times *Rich in humour, compassion and history, another confirmation, if any more were needed, that Thubron is the pre-eminent travel writer of his generation * Sunday Telegraph *A poetic volume - interesting, shocking and deeply engaging, the work of a mature writer at the top of his game -- Sara Wheeler * Daily Telegraph *

Read more less

Book SynopsisMahjongteaches readers how to play mahjong and showcases mahjong culture, both past and present, through essays and vignettes on the history of the game, design elements (dating your inherited or thrifted sets), and more.

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis''Riveting. This highly readable and entertaining book ... finally sets the record straight on the history of the Koh-i-Noor'' Tarquin Hall, Sunday Times''Dynamic, original and supremely readable'' Maya Jasanoff, GuardianThe first comprehensive and authoritative history of the Koh-i-Noor, arguably the most celebrated and mythologised jewel in the world.On 29 March 1849, the ten-year-old maharaja of the Punjab was ushered into the magnificent Mirrored Hall at the centre of the great fort in Lahore. There, in a public ceremony, the frightened but dignified child handed over great swathes of the richest country in India in a formal Act of Submission to a private corporation, the East India Company. He was also compelled to hand over to the British monarch, Queen Victoria, perhaps the single most valuable object on the subcontinent: the celebrated Koh-i-Noor diamond. The Mountain of Light.The history of the Koh-i-Noor may haTrade ReviewExtraordinary. William Dalrymple and Anita Anand have found previously ignored and untranslated Persian and Afghan sources to give us fresh information -- Ysenda Maxtone Graham * The Times *Riveting. Dalrymple and Anand present as evocative a rendering as the most enthralling bazaar storyteller while providing an astute and empathetic study of the historical landscape through which the diamond has made its troubled way … This highly readable and entertaining book ... finally sets the record straight on the history of the Koh-i-Noor -- Tarquin Hall * Sunday Times *Dalrymple and Anand’s tale is a writer’s gift -- Robert Leigh-Pemberton * Daily Telegraph *The history of the many who have coveted the diamond is long and involved, full of wonder and awe, treachery and bloodshed * Observer *Dalrymple tracks its tortuous journey across the Indian subcontinent and Afghanistan to its arrival in the Punjabi treasury; Anand tells the subsequent story of British ownership. Their two narratives are neatly spliced and stylistically harmonious ***** -- Matthew Dennison * Mail on Sunday *[Dalrymple and Anand] have a real story to tell … for anyone with a taste for that classic blend of blood and bling, for “oceans of pearls and gold” and hecatombs of severed heads, for monstrous heaps of eyeballs – 20,000 of them – and precious stones “in quantities that beggar all description” this is an oriental Games of Thrones – Dalrymple’s own reference – in spades -- David Crane * Spectator *Meticulously researched and brilliantly written ... In fewer than 300 quick-reading pages, Dalrymple and Anand bust myth after myth -- Jon Wilson * BBC History Magazine *Dalrymple tells this complicated story with verve and admirable brevity, drawing on a wide range of literature and memoirs. He paints a picture in which elegance and refinement are married to treachery and hideous brutality … This is a book which anyone interested in 19th century India and Indio-British relations will want to read -- Allan Massie * Scotsman *Gruesome and ceaselessly dramatic * Daily Telegraph *For all that the Koh-i-Noor may be a doubtful best friend, there is no doubting the fascination of its story, told so engagingly here -- John Ure * Country Life *Koh-i-Noor offers memorable tales of Indian courtly intrigue and violence, and explores the shifting fortunes of South Asian dynasties, the consolidation of British power in the subcontinent, and the British monarchy during and after Queen Victoria’s reign * Times Literary Supplement *Dalrymple and Anand bring every stage of the Koh-i-Noor’s turbulent past to life. It is an utterly fascinating story, revealing the nature of power through the history of one of its most potent symbols -- Lucy Moore * Literary Review *In this vivid history of one of the world’s most celebrated gemstones, the Indian diamond known as the Koh-i-Noor, Anita Anand and William Dalrymple put an inventive twist on the old maxim. “Follow the diamond,” they realise, and it can lead into a dynamic, original and supremely readable history of empires -- Maya Jasanoff * Guardian *The fascinating story of this enormous jewel, currently kept in the Tower of London, is told in a compelling new book by Radio 4’s Anita Anand (Any Answers) and historian William Dalrymple … The book comes out on June 15 and I can’t wait to get my hands on it -- Richard and Judy * Daily Express *William Dalrymple is to non-fiction what JK Rowling is to fiction ... This joint project with Anita Anand is bound to fly off the shelves as quickly as readers can devour it * Bookseller *

Read more less

Book SynopsisBetween South and Central Asia, in the high mountains and cold deserts, India, Pakistan and China have fought brutal wars over barren, uninhabited territory in a bid for control over their national peripheries, including Xinjiang and Tibet in China, and Jammu and Kashmir on the Indian subcontinent. White as the Shroud explores this broader story through the most surreal of such conflicts: the Siachen war, fought between India and Pakistan for control of the eponymous glacier. The tale of Siachen highlights the absurdity of seeking hard borders in such desolate mountains, as well as the brutality of high-altitude warfare-- more soldiers were killed by the weather and terrain than by the fighting. As one of the few people to have visited both sides of the glacier, Indian and Pakistani, Myra MacDonald provides a first-hand view of the battlefield and a wealth of eyewitness testimony from combatants. She sets this account in the overarching narrative of the Kashmir conflict, India's defeat by China in 1962, and the 1999 India-Pakistan Kargil war. White as the Shroud brings a fresh perspective to one of the most volatile corners of the world, raising questions about borders and the wars fought to defend them.Trade Review'Essential reading.' -- Asian Affairs'This region is one of the world's most volatile flashpoints, where three nuclear powers persistently confront each other. MacDonald has penned a definitive tour de force, helping us to better understand the terrain and region--and why it's so dangerous.' -- Vipin Narang, Associate Professor of Political Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology'Myra MacDonald's narrative about the inhumane and pitiless battlefields in, or involving, disputed Jammu and Kashmir is engrossing. Her highly informative book is invaluable for anyone wanting to understand the dangers and futilities of these heavily militarised and contested areas.' -- Christopher Snedden, author of 'Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris''This essential and hard-hitting book unpacks India and Pakistan’s military contest over remote heights not meant for human survival. Based on extensive travels and immense sensitivity to the human condition at Siachen, MacDonald reminds us how confusing and nebulous such borders truly are.' -- Avinash Paliwal, Senior Lecturer in International Relations, SOAS University of London'A searching analysis of a little-known war in the Himalayan glaciers. MacDonald's fresh perspective shows how the national ambitions of India, Pakistan, and China have prolonged a bloody and absurd conflict for more than three decades.' -- Farzana Shaikh, author of 'Making Sense of Pakistan'

Read more less

Book SynopsisThis book has been in the making for nearly a decade. In 1982, when I returned from Spain, life as a student burning a hole in my parent's pocket came to an abrupt end and the stark reality of making ends meet became the order of the day. And all I had, besides best wishes of family and friends, was a working knowledge of Spanish. Fortunately, this asset was worth its weight in gold for it is my karma to unveil the secrets of the land of my birth to travellers from across the planet.Not that I was the last word on the wonderful melange that is India. Indeed, as I got to know my own country, I discovered there are a thousand India's and the quest to know each of them has kept me on the move ever since. And every time a visitor asks a simple question, I'm amazed that there are so many things about this wonderful land that not only baffle, amuse, horrify and attract foreigners. In fact, even a lifetime of study is not enough to produce a single volume which answers all questions.India has a long tradition of transmitting knowledge by way of parables and stories. In this small book, I have attempted to tell the reader, through stories and pictures, what India its historical tradition, religious customs and societal structure is all about.So, when you return home and your friends want to ask you why cows are worshipped in India, why love is expressed in marble as in the Taj Mahal, why it's a boon to die and be cremated on the Ghats at Varanasi or, indeed, why the temples at Khajuraho are adorned with erotic art, this book has the answers.Of course, if you want to know more, you can always ask more questions. Or wait for my next book!

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Second Edition of Thomas Friedman's stunning book, the first edition of which won the American National Book Award.If you're only going to read one book on the Middle East, this is it.' Seymour HershIn this lucid, incisive and memorable book, acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic, Friedman reaches deeper into the traumatic and complex recent history of the conflicts in the Middle East than any previous writer.For this new edition, Friedman has added a further two chapters that bring the book up to 1995 and the unfolding and stalling of the Middle Eastern peace process.From Beirut to Jerusalem is wonderully shrewd, surprisingly funny and indispensable to anyone seeking a fuller understanding of the political causes and psychological effects of the seemingly endless strife which besets this embattled region.Trade Review‘Jubilantly intelligent – a dashing hybrid of autobiography and journalism… a lifeline to the sane, a beacon to the hopeful.’Michael Coren, The Times ‘Friedman fills the yawning gap between verbiage and understanding with grace, precision and insight.’Economist. ‘A striking achievement.’Financial Times.

Read more less

Book Synopsis ‘This is history bursting at the seams with English eccentrics and Indian gentry…the charm of Tunzelmann’s approach is to restore her cast to full and vital life’ Observer‘A compelling narrative, sometimes controversial, occasionally perverse, never boring or unintelligent’ SpectatorFully revised and updated for the 70th anniversary. The stroke of midnight on 15 August 1947 liberated 400 million Indians from the British Empire. One of the defining moments of world history had been brought about by a tiny number of people, including Jawaharlal Nehru, the fiery prime minister-to-be; Gandhi, the mystical figure who enthralled a nation; and Louis and Edwina Mountbatten, the glamorous but unlikely couple who had been dispatched to get Britain out of India without delay. Within hours of the midnight chimes, however, the two new nations of India and Pakistan would descend into ana

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe first volume of Steven Runciman''s classic, hugely influential trilogy on the history of the Crusades''On a February day in the year AD 638 the Caliph Omar entered Jerusalem, riding upon a white camel''An enthralling work of grand historical narrative, Steven Runciman''s A History of the Crusades overturned the traditional view of the Crusades as a romantic Christian adventure, and instead shifted the focus of the story to the East. With verve and drama, volume one of Runciman''s trilogy tells the story of the First Crusade - from its unlikely beginnings in pilgrimage to the horrors of the siege of Jerusalem and the carving out of new territory on the edge of the eastern Mediterranean.''Without question one of the major feats of contemporary historical writing'' The New York Times''The historian whose magisterial works transformed our understanding of Byzantium, the medieval church and the crusades'' Guardian

Read more less

Book Synopsis'A brilliant personal account of China's borderlands and peoples' Francis Fukuyama'Edward Wong is about as knowledgeable a guide to China as a reader could ever hope to find' Barbara Demick'Finely crafted ... opens up the complexities of Chinese politics and Chinese life in a way that general readers will find fascinating' GuardianThe son of Chinese immigrants in Washington, DC, Edward Wong grew up among family secrets. His father toiled in restaurants and rarely spoke of his childhood during the Japanese occupation of China and his years in the People's Liberation Army under Mao. His journey as a soldier took him from Manchuria during the Korean War to Xinjiang on the Central Asian frontier. In 1962, disillusioned with the Communist Party, he planned a desperate escape to Hong Kong.When Edward Wong became the Beijing bureau chief for The New York Times, he investigated his father's past while assessing for himself the dream of a resurgent China. He met the citizens driving the natio

Read more less

Book Synopsis''A magnificent achievement'' Nikolai Tolstoy, The TimesAmong the Russians is a marvellous account of a solitary journey by car from St. Petersburg and the Baltic States south to Georgia and Armenia. A gifted writer and intrepid traveller, Thubron grapples with the complexities of Russian identity and relays his extraordinary journey in characteristically lyrical style. This is an enthralling and revealing account of the habits and idiosyncrasies of a fascinating nation along with a sharp and insightful social commentary of Russian life.''Superb... one of the best books on Russia to appear in years'' New York TimesTrade ReviewThe Soviet Union is seen through a glass brightly... What makes the book so readable is Thubron's combination of an artist's aesthetic sensitivity with the literary craftsmanship to convey it. He sees things with the freshness of an innocent and the erudition of a scholar * Daily Telegraph *Superb... one of the best books on Russia to appear in years * New York Times *Travel writing has never been more provocative, profound or poetic * Time Out *The Thubron approach to travelling has an integrity that belongs to another age. And this author's way with words gives his books a value far transcending their topical interest; it is safe to predict they will be read a century hence * Irish Times *The perfect guide to one of the world’s most enigmatic cultures -- Christie Hickman * Sunday Express *

Read more less

Book Synopsis''A rich history Harding writes with energy and insight, wearing a tremendous amount of learning lightly'' - Rana Mitter, Financial Times This rich and enjoyable book by the acclaimed author of Japan Story explores the many ways in which Asia has influenced Europe and North America over centuries of tangled, dynamic encountersFrom the time of the ancient Greeks onwards the West''s relationship with Asia consisted for the most part of outrageous tales of strange beasts and monsters, of silk and spices shipped over vast distances and an uneasy sense of unknowable empires fantastically far away. By the twentieth century much of Asia might have come under Western rule after centuries of warfare, but its intellectual, artistic and spiritual influence was fighting back.The Light of Asia is a wonderfully varied and entertaining history of the many ways in which Asia has shaped European and North American culture over centuries of tangled, dynamic encounters, and the central importance of this vexed, often confused relationship. From Marco Polo onwards Asia has been both a source of genuine fascination and equally genuine failures of comprehension. China, India and Japan were all acknowledged to be both great civilizations and in crude ways seen as superseded by the West. From Chicago to Calcutta, and from antiquity to the new millennium, this is a rich, involving story of misunderstandings and sincere connection, of inspiration and falsehood, of geniuses, adventurers and con-men.Christopher Harding''s captivating gallery of people and places celebrates Asia''s impact on the West in all its variety.

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book Synopsis''A masterpiece of research, The Last Kings of Shanghai is a vivid and fascinating story of wealth, family intrigue, and political strategy on the world stage from colonialism to communism to globalized capitalism'' Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth CollegeAn epic, multigenerational story of two rival dynasties who flourished in Shanghai and Hong Kong as twentieth-century China surged into the modern eraShanghai, 1936. The Cathay Hotel, located on the city''s famous waterfront, is one of the most glamorous in the world. Built by Victor Sassoon - billionaire playboy and scion of the Sassoon dynasty - the hotel hosts a who''s who of global celebrities: Noel Coward has written a draft of Private Lives in his suite, Charlie Chaplin entertained his wife-to-be, and the American socialite Wallis Simpson reportedly posed for ''glamour'' photographs. A few miles away, Mao and the nascent Communist party have beeTrade ReviewWhat's even less likely than a clan of displaced Baghdadi Jews who find themselves in twentieth-century Shanghai and change it forever? Try two clans of displaced Baghdadi Jews. This is the tale that Jonathan Kaufman tells in The Last Kings of Shanghai, his remarkable history of the Sassoon and Kadoorie families. Read it and the Bund will never look the same -- Peter Hessler, author of Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in ChinaJonathan Kaufman brings to life the extraordinary forgotten history of two Jewish families who helped transform China into a global economic powerhouse. A masterpiece of research, The Last Kings of Shanghai is a vivid and fascinating story of wealth, family intrigue, and political strategy on the world stage from colonialism to communism to globalized capitalism -- Susannah Heschel, Eli Black Professor of Jewish Studies, Dartmouth CollegeAn illuminating book * The Economist *Complementing histories of modern China that focus on political developments, Kaufman uses a rich mix of materials including memoir and private correspondence to bring us the people who greased the wheels of change . . . [the Sassoons and Kadoories'] part in the development of modern China offers drama enough to make them worthy of our attention. Kaufman ensures that they gain and retain it, with a well-paced narrative and plenty of helpful historical context * Telegraph *This heady era is brought vividly to life in Jonathan Kaufman's Kings of Shanghai - a multigenerational epic of the Sassoon and Kadoorie dynasties, which rightly takes business out of the shadows and puts it at the heart of modern China's history. The book is excellent too on China's tumultuous history - the pernicious colonial influence, the collapse of Imperial China, and the Communist Revolution, which swept away both families' Shanghai holdings. Victor Sassoon never recovered but the Kadoories had hedged their bets and invested early enough in Hong Kong to start again. Kaufman deserves praise for highlighting a story that ought to be better known * Financial Times *

Read more less

Book SynopsisThe acclaimed memoir from the bestselling author of Empress OrchidTrade Review'Historically remarkable ... intensely moving and erotic' Sunday Times 'This is not just another book on the Cultural Revolution ... This is a riveting account told in language that is distinctly Min's yet accessible to any heart' Amy Tan 'Mysterious and moving ... brave and uplifting' Independent on Sunday 'The book sings. It is a small masterpiece ... no one has written more honestly and poignantly than Min about the desert of solitude and human alienation at the centre of the Chinese Communist revolution' Vogue

Read more less

Book SynopsisAs a working palace, the Istana is tradition firmly rooted in the present. It has links with Singapore's colonial past, being first a nutmeg plantation owned by a British businessman, then office to the colonial government and later becoming the seat of Singapore's first President after independence. Today, it houses the offices of the highest office holders in Singapore - the President and the Prime Minister. It is also a place where ordinary Singaporeans celebrate extraordinary achievements. The grounds of the Istana reflect Singapore's vision of its future as a city in a garden, flowing from its old rain trees, orchids, spice shrubs and formal gardens. From its perch on a slight hill, the Istana looks upon the heart of Orchard Road, in many ways acting as the country's heartbeat. This book presents the definitive work on the Istana - its history, its building, its grounds, and the people that are part of it. With authoritative, accessible text and stunning photography to guide you along the way, let us welcome you to the Istana.

Read more less

Book SynopsisThree thousand years of Chinese history in an accessible and authoritative single volume.Despite the recent rise of China to a position of dominance on the world economic stage, Chinese history remains an elusive subject. Yet it is this vast narrative of appalling loss, superhuman endeavour and incredible invention that has made China the superpower it is today. From the dawn of legend to the succession of great dynasties, from Confucius to Chairman Mao and from the clamour of revolution to the lure of slick capitalism, John Keay takes the reader on a sweeping tour through Chinese history. This is a definitive and indispensable account of a country set to play a major part in our future.Trade Review‘There is no understanding China, present or future, without a sense of its past…Anybody fascinated by the puzzle of what comes next for our frail, perplexed planet will find unexpected answers in this crisp, often witty chronicle of amazements.’ Peter Preston, Observer 'Dynasties lead to world domination: John Keay's forensic analysis of China's history makes the world of the ancient emperors strikingly modern and relevant.' Observer ‘As John Keay’s ambitious new book makes clear…China’s history is intoxicatingly interesting and is sure to keep us on the edge of our geopolitical seats.’ Independent on Sunday ‘Absorbingly readable.’ Independent ‘An epic history of China…There’s no way of understanding China’s stirring future without a sense of its awe-inspiring past.’ Traveller magazine

Read more less

Book SynopsisHenrietta is a true original. Clever, vivacious and interested in everything, she managed to balance the demands of high profile public life with that of a caring mother. She was the home-schooled daughter of a bankrupt Earl and more than just a little bit in love with her handsome wayward brother, but had been married off to a plump pudding of a man, the nabob Edward Clive, governor of Madras. And her partial escape was to ride across southern India (in a vast tented caravan propelled by dozens of elephants, camels and a hundred bullock carts) and write home. For centuries this account, the first joyful description of India by a British woman, remained unread in a Welsh castle. Fortunately it was transcribed by a Texan traveller, who went on to splice this already evocative memoir with complementary sections from the diary of Henrietta's precocious daughter, the 12-year old Charly and images of their artist companion, Anna Tonelli. The resulting labour of love and scholarship is Birds of Passage, a unique trifocular account of three very different women travelling across southern India in the late 18th century, in the immediate aftermath of the last of the Mysore Wars between Tipoo Sahib and the Raj. Half a generation later, the well travelled Charly would be chosen as tutor for the young princess Victoria, the First Empress of India.

Read more less

Book SynopsisFocuses on the Dutch East India Company’s clashes with Tokugawa Japan over diplomacy, violence, and sovereignty.Trade ReviewClulow provides a superb study of the establishment of the relationship between the Dutch East India Company and the Tokugawa shogunate in the 17th and early 18th centuries... Well-researched and well-written... Highly recommended. CHOICE Not only a thoroughly researched political and economic history, but... a fascinating maritime adventure as well... Highly recommended. Northern Mariner Well-researched and tightly argued study... Clulow's book makes a most valuable and welcome contribution to a fresh understanding of the history of the VOC and the European presence in Early Modern Asia. -- Michael Facius H-Soz-u-Kult This carefully documented analysis of difficult primary sources is unquestionably a contribution to the field and an important resource for better understanding early modern Japan, its foreign relationships, and the formative years of the joint-stock companies in Asia. American Historical Review Clulow's book makes a most valuable and welcome contribution to a fresh understanding of the history of the VOC and the European presence in Early Modern Asia, as well as to the ongoing debate about the characteristics of the global "early modern." Rezensiert fur geschichte.transnational An engaging, tightly knit, and timely study of the origins of the Dutch East India Company's experience in Tokugawa Japan. Journal of Japanese Studies Both a gold mine for scholars... and a great model for students who take classes on transnational communication... An inspiring study. H-War A provocative achievement in scholarship and one strongly recommended for devoted instructors of world history. Education About Asia Clulow offers an excellent analysis of how the VOC adapted itself... The Company and the Shogun is a welcome contribution to the field of international relations in pre modern East Asia. -- Nam-lin Hur Japan Review A fascinating reassessment of previously held assumptions about international relations in 17th-century Japan. The Japan Times Original, well written, and provocative in the best sense of the word... The Company and the Shogun is a seminal work, one that offers a bold new vision of the intersection of Japanese and global history in the seventeenth century. Monumenta Nipponica Well-written, clearly argued, solidly based on Japanese and Dutch sources...a valuable reminder of the limited influence of European colonial powers in the early modern world. Sixteenth Century Journal A focused and well-researched book... It is a welcome addition to literature. Business History Review This engrossing monograph offers a succinct and original interpretation of the early encounter between the fledging Dutch East India Company (VOC) and the Tokugawa Shogunate. Economic History Review Commendable and highly engaging. History: Review of New Books A superb analysis of the VOC's changing relationship with Japan's political and mercantile elites. Low Countries Historical Review A most valuable contribution to Japanese political history. The International Journal of Maritime HistoryTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Archival Sources Introduction: Taming the Dutch Part 1. Diplomacy 1. Royal Letters from the Republic 2. The Lord of Batavia 3. The Shogun's Loyal Vassals Part 2. Violence 4. The Violent Sea 5. Power and Petition Part 3. Sovereignty 6. Planting the Flag in Asia 7. Giving Up the Governor Conclusion: The Dutch Experience in Japan Notes Bibliography Index

Read more less

Book SynopsisA Short History of Byzantium is renowned historian, and author of A History of Venice, John Julius Norwich''s classic history of Byzantium Constantine the Great moved the seat of Roman power to Constantinople in AD 330 and for eleven brutal, bloody centuries, the Byzantine Empire became a beacon of grand magnificence and depraved decadence . . .Here then are the centuries dominated by ferocious arguments over the nature of Christ and his Church. By knowledge, where scholars and scribes preserved the heritage of the ancient world. By emperors like Justinian the Great and Basil the Bulgar-Slayer - men pious, heroic or monstrous. By creativity, as art and architecture soared to new heights. In this abridgement of his celebrated trilogy, John Julius Norwich provides the definitive introduction to the savage, scintillating world of Byzantium.''Norwich has the gift of historical perspective, as well as clarity and wit. Few can tell a goo

Read more less

Book Synopsis'Magisterial' - The Financial TimesAn updated edition of Ramachandra Guha's India After Gandhi with new material that explains the major events, policy shifts and controversies of the past decade, placing them in their proper sociological and historical context and setting out the author's justifiable concerns for the decline of democracy in India.Born against a background of privation and civil war, divided along lines of caste, class, language and religion, independent India emerged, somehow, as a united and democratic country. Ramachandra Guha’s hugely acclaimed book tells the full story – the pain and the struggle, the humiliations and the glories – of the world’s largest and least likely democracy.While India is sometimes the most exasperating country in the world, it is also the most interesting. Ramachandra Guha writes compellingly of the myriad protests and conflicts that have peppereTrade ReviewFinally, here is a history of democratic India that is every bit as sweeping as the country itself. A magisterial work * Financial Times *Guha has given democratic India the rich, well-paced history it deserves * Washington Post *An insightful, spirited and elegantly crafted account of India since 1947. * Times Literary Supplement *India after Gandhi is a magnificently told history of the world's largest democracy. It is a riveting story with unforgettable characters and towering challenges, immense greatness and extraordinary venality, soaring hopes and profound disappointment. * India Today *It is a formidable undertaking to write in a single volume a history of this vast country ... Keeping in proportion the separate elements of so huge and sprawling a history calls for the finest judgement .... Guha rises noble to the challenges: his history is as comprehensive, balanced and elegantly crafted as any reasonable reader could expect. * Spectator *

Read more less

Book SynopsisA first-hand account of China''s cultural revolution.Nien Cheng, an anglophile and fluent English-speaker who worked for Shell in Shanghai under Mao, was put under house arrest by Red Guards in 1966 and subsequently jailed. All attempts to make her confess to the charges of being a British spy failed; all efforts to indoctrinate her were met by a steadfast and fearless refusal to accept the terms offered by her interrogators. When she was released from prison she was told that her daughter had committed suicide. In fact Meiping had been beaten to death by Maoist revolutionaries.

Read more less

Book SynopsisChina’s dismantling of the Mao-era commune system under Deng Xiaoping has been seen as a successful turn away from a misguided social experiment. Joshua Eisenman marshals previously inaccessible data to overturn this narrative, showing that the commune modernized agriculture, increased productivity, and laid the foundation for future rapid growth.Trade ReviewIn this thought-provoking volume, Eisenman offers a unique analysis of China's most important local institution in Mao's time: the people's commune. * Choice *Mr. Eisenman calls for readers to look anew at one of the darker periods of human history. It's a worthy intellectual exercise and a useful check on lazy approaches to China's modern history. * Wall Street Journal *Joshua Eisenman brings a refreshing perspective to the field because his book challenges the mainstream evaluation – both inside and outside China – of the era of Mao Zedong. -- Mobo Gao * China Information *The book is well researched, drawing on careful readings of government documents, newspapers and other materials from the period. -- Li Zhang * Journal of Asian Studies *Incredibly well-researched . . . Red China’s Green Revolution is a fascinating book. -- Fabio Lanza * Asia Maior *This book is unquestionably well-researched. -- Brian DeMare * Journal of Chinese History *Exceptionally written. -- John A. Donaldson * Journal of Chinese Political Science *Red China’s Green Revolution is a great book. It develops an innovative and contrarian interpretation of China’s rural communes, describing a technological revolution that occurred in China’s countryside in the 1970s. What makes this book truly outstanding is that Eisenman provides new perspectives on the importance of commune organization and incentive structures, as well as a reassessment of what Maoism meant in the lives of ordinary rural people. One after another, he drags into the sunshine topics that have been overshadowed in recent years by over-simplification and myth-making. The book concludes with a compelling new narrative of elite politics in the late 1970s that explains why the commune was ultimately abolished. -- Barry Naughton, Sokwanlok Chair of Chinese International Affairs, University of California, San DiegoThis is a truly important book. Eisenman shows how the People’s Communes created contemporary China, both through what they built and through what they destroyed. His work is of enormous significance for anyone trying to understand China’s road from revolution to reform. -- Odd Arne Westad, S. T. Lee Professor of U.S.-Asia Relations, Harvard UniversityRed China’s Green Revolution revolutionizes our understanding of the Maoist period and history's biggest experiment with collective agriculture. It challenges the widely held view that the commune was a failure that required privatization, and thus calls into question the very basis by which structural reforms have been legitimated and propagated to shape economic development, not just in China, but around the globe. Everyone who studies contemporary China—and, indeed, the entire neo-liberal project—must confront this book. -- Marc Blecher, James Monroe Professor of Politics and East Asian Studies, Oberlin CollegeRed China’s Green Revolution totally remakes our understanding of Chinese economic development on the eve of Deng Xiaoping’s reforms. This carefully documented study shows that rather than being a total failure on the verge of collapse, the commune system introduced under Mao actually resulted in considerable increases in agricultural productivity, which provided a positive foundation for Deng’s economic reforms. Joshua Eisenman opens the way for an important reconsideration of how political motivations, rather than economic concerns, were a main driver behind Deng’s reforms. -- Edward A. McCord, George Washington UniversityJoshua Eisenman questions the conventional wisdom that China’s communes, which were failing institutions in the Great Leap Forward of 1958, continued to be so. Eisenman offers hard data to refute the conventional, quasi-official story that before 1978 China’s rural economy was in dire straits, requiring neoliberal efficiencies to fix it. -- Lynn T. White, Princeton UniversityTable of ContentsList of Figures and IllustrationForeword, by Lynn T. White IIIPrologue: China’s Missing Institution1. Introduction: Assessing Commune Productivity Part I: Creating China’s Green Revolution2. Institutional Origins & Evolution 3. China’s Green Revolution Part II: Sources of Commune Productivity 4. Economics: Super-Optimal Investment 5. Politics: Maoism 6. Organization: Size and Structure 7. Burying the Commune 8. Conclusion Appendix A. Essential Official Agricultural Policy Statements on the Commune, 1958–1983Appendix B. National and Provincial Agricultural Production Data, 1949–1979Appendix C. Essential Official Agricultural Policy Statements on the Commune, 1958–1983NotesBibliography

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis**LONGLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2024****WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR HISTORY**This is the authoritative history of South Asia in the 20th century.''A classic ... wonderfully enjoyable'' WILLIAM DALRYMPLE''Chatterji writes with infectious relish'' DOMINIC SANDBROOKShadows at Noon tells the subcontinent''s story from the British Raj through independence and partition to the forging of the modern nations of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Unlike other histories of the region which concentrate exclusively on politics, here food, leisure and the household are given as much importance as nationhood, migration, and the state.Chatterji makes contemporary South Asia - its cultural vibrancy, diversity, social structures and political make-up - accesible to everyone. In so doing this bold, innovative, and personal work rallies against narratives of ''inherent'' differences between In

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

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

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisAn inside account of the Chinese invasion of Tibet told through the voices of three persecuted monks. Providing an inside view into the Chinese occupation of Tibet and the tenets of Bon, one of the world’s oldest but least known religions, this book chronicles the true story of three Bon monks who heroically escaped occupied Tibet and went on to rebuild their culture through incredible resilience, determination, and passion. After taking his vows to become a Bon monk and completing a pilgrimage around 22,000-foot Mt. Kailash, the holiest mountain in Tibet, Tenzin Namdak envisions a life of quiet contemplation at Menri, Bon’s mother monastery. Instead, he finds himself fleeing for his life across the highest and most difficult terrain on the planet. After being joined by a CIA-backed warlord, Tenzin’s escape party is ambushed and he is severely wounded. Narrowly escaping execution by Chinese soldiers, the dying Tenzin is taken to a concen

Read more less

Book Synopsis

Read more less

Book SynopsisIn the summer of 1967, not long after the Six Day War, three young Palestinian men ventured into the town of Ramla in Israel. They were cousins, on a pilgrimage to see their childhood homes, from which they and their families had been driven out nearly twenty years earlier. One cousin had the door slammed in his face, one found that his old house had been converted into a school. But the third, Bashir, was met at the door by a young woman named Dalia, who invited him in...This poignant encounter is the starting point for the story of two families - one Arab, one Jewish - which spans the fraught modern history of the region. In the lemon tree his father planted in the backyard of his childhood home, Bashir sees a symbol of occupation; Dalia, who arrived in 1948 as an infant with her family, as a fugitive from Bulgaria, sees hope for a people devastated by the Holocaust. Both are inevitably swept up in the fates of their people and the stories of their lives form a microcosm oTrade ReviewAt a time when peace seems remote and darkness deepens, this lucid, humane, hopeful book shines like a ray of light * The Times *A superb, sustained piece of narrative non-fiction * The Sunday Times *Extraordinary... Tolan's narrative provides a much needed human dimension to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict... a highly readable and evocative history * Washington Post *Reads like a novel... an informed take for anyone interested in the human stories behind a conflict * New Statesman *A fascinating and highly absorbing account full of warmth, compassion and hope * Scotland on Sunday *

Read more less