Asian history Books

Book SynopsisUsing primary source information, including interviews with the key decision-makers, this is an examination of the process leading to the British decision in 1966 to abandon its 127 year old military presence in Aden and thereby begin its retreat from East of Suez.

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Book SynopsisYijiang Zhong is Associate Professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia at the University of Tokyo, Japan and a Research Fellow at the Center for Interdisciplinary Study of Monotheistic Religions at Doshisha University, Kyoto, Japan.Trade ReviewZhong’s book maintains a refreshingly wide gaze, focusing simultaneously on local, transregional, and transcultural flows that, by his argument, all impacted the internal developments of the Izumo Shrine and its shifting position within the nascent intellectual and political fields of early modern and modern Japan. Such a dynamic framework is new, and its expanding scope is yielding exciting results. * American Historical Review *Zhong moves away from the traditional understanding of Shinto history as something completely internal to the nation of Japan, and instead situates the formation of Shinto within a larger geopolitical context involving intellectual and political developments in the East Asian region and the role of western colonial expansion. * Reading Religion *Fills a prominent hole in the existing literature by addressing the early modern and modern history of Izumo Shrine and its deity … Zhong’s volume is timely, well researched, and focused … An important contribution to our understanding of Shinto in the Edo- and early-Meiji periods. * Japanese Journal of Religious Studies *This volume contains a collection of insightful materials for those scholars, students, and practitioners who are in Japanese studies, or the fields of history, philosophy, ethnology, cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, and religious studies. * Journal of Religion in Japan *This book presents a stimulating case study of the interdependent relationship between the secular and the religious. Yijiang Zhong convincingly argues that the establishment of the public and secular Japanese nation-state was possible only by consigning some Shinto schools to the private, religious sphere. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Shinto and Japanese history as well as critical study of religion and secularization. -- Jun'ichi Isomae, Professor, International Research Center for Japanese Studies, JapanWith this rich, nuanced, carefully researched and deeply thoughtful work, the sophistication and maturation of Shinto studies continues. Too long over-looked, Izumo, its grand shrine, and complex tradition, are illuminated by Zhong in ways that nothing else in English gets close to. A tour de force, this work sets new standards for works in Japanese religion and thought. -- James E. Ketelaar, Professor of Japanese History, East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Chicago, USATable of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgements Note on Text/Translation Introduction 1: Resurrecting the Great Lord of the Land, 1653-1667 2: The Month without the Gods, 1600-1871 3: True Pillar of the Soul, 1792-1846 4: Converting Japan, 1825-1875 5: Competing Ways of the Gods, 1872-1889 Conclusion The Izumo Gods, Nation, and Empire Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisMark Teeuwen is Professor of Japanese Studies at the University of Oslo, Norway. He has published widely on the history of Japanese religions, with a special focus on Shinto. His books include Watarai Shinto: An Intellectual History of the Outer Shrine in Ise (1996) and A New History of Shinto (2010), co-authored by John Breen. John Breen is Professor at the International Research Center for Japanese Studies, Japan. He has published widely on the imperial institution and religion and state in modern Japan. His books include A New History of Shinto (2010), co-authored with Mark Teeuwen, Girei to kenryoku: Tenno no Meiji ishin (2011) and Shinto monogatari: Ise no kingendaishi (2015).Trade ReviewTeeuwen and Breen present the narrative strata that make up Ise’s historical identity and recount a dynamic history in which the Ise shrines have been transformed many times over the centuries. The result of their thorough research is a fascinating and eye-opening book, an excellent resource for both researchers and teachers in the field of Japanese religions. * Reading Religion *Offers a rich, multifaceted account and analysis of the Ise Shrines. * Monumenta Nipponica *A welcome contribution to the English-language scholarship on this important site in Japan’s religious, political, and cultural imagination ... The authors efficiently synthesize voluminous information and trace complex relationships between different actors by adhering to three analytical strategies, an approach that allows the volume’s narrative to flow relatively seamlessly. * Journal of Religion in Japan *In this engaging social history of the Ise Shrines, Mark Teeuwen and John Breen challenge cherished notions holding that Ise is the primal locus of Shinto, unifying and providing the standard for all other Shinto shrines since ancient times … Their book is a balanced and authoritative study of a central subject in the history of Japanese religions that will be warmly welcomed and widely appreciated. -- Helen Hardacre, Reischauer Institute Professor of Japanese Religions and Society, Harvard University, USAThis book takes us on a journey into the multilayered history of the Ise Shrines … The book is very well documented and sharp and is a must read study for scholars and students interested in Shinto, religion, and Japan. -- Elisabetta Porcu, Senior Lecturer in Asian Religions, University of Cape Town, South AfricaThis book is ... highly recommended to students of Japanese religious history. * Religious Studies Review *Table of ContentsList of Maps and Illustrations Prologue Note to the Reader Introduction: Divine capital: Ise and its agents Chapter 1. Divine wrath and court politics Chapter 2. Classical Ise: Hosophobia codified Chapter 3. Amaterasu’s escape from Ise Chapter 4. Ise in the Kamakura period: Lands and secrets Chapter 5. Ise in the Muromachi period: War and pilgrims Chapter 6. Ise restored and Shintoised Chapter 7. Pilgrims’ pleasures: Ise and its patrons in the Edo period Chapter 8. Meiji Ise: The emperor’s mausoleum and the modern pilgrim Chapter 9. Ise and nation in Taisho and early Showa Japan Chapter 10. Crisis and recovery: Ise’s postwar transformations Conclusion: Phases of redevelopment Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisHiromi Mizuno is Associate Professor of History at the University of Minnesota, USA. She is the author of Science for the Empire: Scientific Nationalism in Modern Japan (2009).Aaron S. Moore is Associate Professor of History at Arizona State University, USA. He is the author of Constructing East Asia: Technology, Ideology, and Empire in Japan's Wartime Era, 1931-1945 (2013).John DiMoia is Associate Professor of Korean History at Seoul National University, South Korea. He is the author of Reconstructing Bodies: Biomedicine, Health, and Nation-Building in South Korea since 1945 (2013).Trade Review[One] of the most important edited volumes to come out in recent memory … Engineering Asia represents a significant intervention in the history of science and technology, foreign relations, and economic nationalism in cold war Asia. It is essential reading for scholars and graduate students in Japanese and East Asian history ... Scholars of the postcolonial history of science and technology in Latin America, Africa, and Asia will find the volume equally thought provoking. * The Journal of Japanese Studies *Focusing on science and technology in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia– and in concrete rice, chemicals, highways, dams, oil, and more – this extraordinary collaboration provides a unique and critical perspective on both colonialism and its postcolonial reincarnation as Cold War developmentalism and overseas aid. While based upon meticulous empirical research, the book also provides sweeping insights into the intra-Asian connections among the major players that both depended upon and yet exceeded U.S. Cold War projects in the region. Sophisticated and yet eminently accessible, this is transnational history writing at its best and should be read by a wide audience both inside and outside of Asian Studies. * Takashi Fujitani, Professor in Asia-Pacific Studies, University of Toronto, Canada *Table of Contents1. Introduction: A Kula Ring for the Flying Geese: Japan's Technology Aid and Postwar Asia, Hiromi Mizuno (University of Minnesota, USA) Part 1: Engineering Asia at Home - Japan's Institutional Infrastructure for Asian Development 2. Tokyo's Vision of Southeast Asia: Private Interests and Economic Cooperation in the 1950s, Jin Sato (University of Tokyo, Japan) 3. Itagaki Yoichi and the Formation of the Postwar Knowledge Infrastructure for Japan's Overseas Development Assistance in Asia, Masato Karashima (Kobe University, Japan) Part 2: Engineering Asia on the Ground 4. From 'Constructing' to 'Developing' Asia: Japanese Engineers and the Formation of the Post-Colonial, Cold War Discourse of Development in Asia, Aaron S Moore (Arizona State University, USA) 5. The Hydrocarbon Ring: Indonesian Fossil Fuel, "Japanese Cooperation," and American Neo-Imperialism, 1941-1975, Eric Dinmore (Hampden-Sydney College, USA) 6. Colonial Seeds and Imperialist Genes: Japanese Colonial Agricultural Development and the Cold-War Green Revolution, Tatsushi Fujihara (Kyoto University, Japan) Part 3: South Korea - Engineering Asia as a Developing Nation 7. Postcolonial Desire and the Tripartite Alliance in East Asia: the Hybrid Origins of a Modern Scientific and Technological System in South Korea, Manyong Moon, (Chonbuk National University, South Korea) 8. Making Miracle Rice: Tongil and Mobilizing a Domestic “Green Revolution” in South Korea, Tae-ho Kim, (Chonbuk National University, South Korea) 9. In Pursuit of “Peace and Construction”: Hyundai Construction and Infrastructure in Southeast Asia, 1965-1973, John P DiMoia, (Seoul National University, South Korea)

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Book SynopsisHere are explored the actual extent of Barbary Coast slavery, the dynamic relationship between master and slave, and the effects of this slaving on Italy, one of the slave takers' primary targets and victims.Trade Review'Christian Slaves, Muslim Masters is about a subject of immense importance, which has been strangely neglected...It is very well researched, and... at a time of unprecedented interest in racial slavery in America, it is interesting to read a crucial and informative preview to that subject.' - David Brion Davis, Yale UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction and Acknowledgements PART ONE: WHITE SLAVERY How Many Slaves? Slave Taking and Slave Breaking PART TWO: BARBARY Slave Labour Slaves' Life PART THREE: ITALY The Home Front Celebrating Slavery

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Book SynopsisA Sketch of the Sikhs Missionaries Nabobs News Military Men Great Gamers Academics AppendixTrade Review"A fascinating account of the Sikhs as seen by foreign travellers in the land which was to become their kingdom. They give us an insight into the macho self-image that Sikhs have to this day - anything you can do I can do better. This spirit of upmanship has sustained the community miniscule in numbers but grand in achievements." - Khushwant Singh, author, A History of the Sikhs "Better than time travel... a richly-peopled, intimate journey through the dawn of Sikh history." - Christy Campbell, author of The Maharajah's and Fenian Fire: The British Government Plot to Assassinate Queen Victoria "This is a splendid compilation of documents which should have an appeal beyond the narrowly academic to a range of readers, including many with general interests in the expansion of British rule in northern India as well as those particularly interested in early Sikh history at whom the book is most directly targeted." - Journal of the Royal Asiatic SocietyTable of ContentsA Sketch of the Sikhs Missionaries Nabobs News Military Men Great Gamers Academics Appendix

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Book SynopsisThe intricate diplomacy that led to the peace agreement in Bosnia, known as the Dayton Accords, is here revealed in unprecedented detail. Based on thousands of still-classified government documents and dozens of interviews with key participants, this is a comprehensive story of high-level diplomacy, told from the inside.Trade Review'This vivid, absorbing account brings you deep inside the truculent negotiations that brought an imperfect peace to the Bosnia War in 1995. Among its many lessons for today is how indispensable the United States is to the resolution of the world's most difficult crises.' - Warren Christopher, former U.S. Secretary of State 'In this fast-paced narrative, Derek Chollet brings an historian's skill and an insider's eye to a complex and consequential story - the American-led diplomacy backed by force that ended the worst outbreak of genocide in Europe since the Holocaust. An essential source for students and practitioners of statecraft - and for citizens who want to understand one of the defining episodes of the post-cold war era.' - Strobe Talbott, President, Brookings Institution, and former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State 'The tortuous path that led first through humiliation and failure in Bosnia and ultimately to triumph with the Dayton Peace Accords is one of the great dramas of Bill Clinton's presidency. No historian better understands this fascinating episode more than Derek Chollet, whose narrative benefits at every turn from his unparalleled access to the key players on the American side. Chollet tells a gripping story about the agony of choice, as U.S. policymakers faced a humanitarian and diplomatic disaster in the Balkans but recoiled from the political and military costs of acting to halt it. In the end, Bill Clinton and his team did act and this is the story of that bold decision. This book is indispensable reading for anyone who wants to understand Clinton's foreign policy.' - John F. Harris, author of The Survivor: Bill Clinton in the White House, and National Politics Editor, The Washington Post 'Derek Chollet takes us through the Bosnian problem from hell with all its agonies and failures, to the other side - the rare foreign policy triumph. With his unique perspective and insight, he explains how American power can be well used to actually solve problems.' - Leslie H. Gelb, President Emeritus, Council on Foreign Relations "Almost no one understands how, when, and why the US ended up intervening in Bosnia after years of resisting. In a major achievement, Chollet's book finally unravells the processes and thinking involved. It is not a pretty story, but it is an instructive one for both scholars and members of the concerned public." - Robert Jervis, Adlai E. Stevenson Professor of International Politics, Columbia UniversityTable of ContentsAmerica and Bosnia The Summer Crisis: June-July 1995 Over the Waterfall: The Endgame Strategy Tragedy as Turning Point: The First Shuttle, Mount Igman and Operations Deliberate Force The Road to Geneva: The Patriarch Letter and NATO Bombing Force and Diplomacy: NATO Bombing Ends, The Western Offensive Heats Up The New York Agreement, Negotiating a Ceasefire, and Approaching a Settlement Preparing for Proximity Talks Dayton Conclusion

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