Asian history Books

Book SynopsisTamara Chalabi highlights the development of a 'politics of demand' and the increased political activism of this community in a time of great change. It also explores how Arab nationalism was transformed from an ideology of opposition and empowerment of marginal communities, into a tool for the assertion of political domination.Trade Review"This is a very well-researched and well-written monograph on how the Shi a of South Lebanon negotiated a Lebanese Shi i identity for themselves amid two dominant ideologies - Libanism and Arabism - in both of which Shi a were marginalized . . .the book will be required reading for scholars generally interested in sectarian politics in the Middle East and scholars specifically interested in Lebanese Shi i history and politics because the rich account it offers is also helpful for positioning Shi i activism in Lebanon since the 1960s." - International Journal Middle East Studies "This path- breaking contribution to the changing role of the Shi'i community in Lebanon brings it into the Lebanese picture in a way never done before. Based on extensive use of new private sources, it is a model of scholarship and enhances our understanding of an increasingly prominent community." - Roger Owen, Professor of Middle East History, Harvard "This book sheds new light on the history of the Shi`is of Jabal`Amil in their formative years and therefore it contributes significantly to the literature on Shi`is and Shi`ism in the Arab world." - Marius Deeb, Middle East Politics, School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University"Chalabi masterfully brings this missing history to life ...required reading for any scholar or policy practitioner working on modern Lebanon." - Middle East Quarterly "Tamara Chalabi has written an accessible but learned account of the Shiite community of Lebanon. In view of the important role of this community in recent history, this book is strongly recommended for all intelligent readers interested in the Middle East." - Roy Mottahedeh, Harvard UniversityTable of ContentsIntroduction PART I: WITH THE NEW LEBANON: POLITICAL EVOLUTION In the Beirut Vilayet: A Description of Jabal 'Amil Jabal 'Amil and the Arab Awakening Turmoil and New Order: Jabal 'Amil in 1920 PART II: IN THE NEW LEBANON: SOCIO-CULTURAL TRANSFORMATION Jabal 'Amil Redefined Out of the Margin Venues for Integration History and Culture

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Book SynopsisThis one-volume handbook explores the history of Taiwan, from its prehistory to its Japanese colonization to its tumultuous relationship with China in the 21st century.This addition to the Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations series focuses on significant events in the history of Taiwan, from ancient history to the present.Trade ReviewRecommended. General readers through faculty. * Choice *Table of ContentsSeries Foreword Acknowledgments Timeline of Important Events 1 A Pearl in the Pacific Ocean 2 Prehistory and Aboriginal Cultures to 1100 3 Emperors, Immigrants, and Pirates, 1100–1624 4 Formosa: The Dutch Colony, 1624–1662 5 Zheng's Control and the Qing's Administration, 1662–1894 6 Japanese Colonization, 1895–1945 7 From Colonial Rule to Authoritarian Government, 1945–1950 8 Cold War Island: Conflict and Control, 1950–1972 9 Aftershock: Reform and Transformation, 1972–1995 10 Democratization and Independence Movement, 1996–2004 11 Taiwan in the New Century Notable People in the History of Taiwan Bibliographic Essay Index

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Book SynopsisNow in an updated paperback edition, Why Taiwan Matters offers a comprehensive but compact introduction to a country that exercises a role in the world far greater than its tiny size would indicate. Leading expert Shelley Rigger explains how Taiwan became such a key global player, highlighting economic and political breakthroughs so impressive they have been called miracles. She links these accomplishments to Taiwan''s determined society, vibrant culture, and unique history. Drawing on arts, economics, politics, and international relations, Rigger explores Taiwan''s importance to China, the United States, and the world. Considering where Taiwan may be headed in its wary standoff with China, she traces how the focus of Taiwan''s domestic politics has shifted to a Taiwan-centered strategy. All readers interested in Asia and international affairs will find this an accessible and entertaining overview, replete with human interest stories and colorful examples of daily life in Taiwan.Trade ReviewMany books have recounted Taiwan's economic and political 'miracles,' and readers may wonder why they should be interested in another. Rigger gives two answers: Taiwan is inherently of interest because of its rapid economic growth and democratization, and its vibrant society and cultures; and Taiwan matters because of the island's high-tech global economic role and the strategic security niche it occupies in the western Pacific. Rigger's account is comprehensive and detailed for the last two decades in which she's done research there. She attempts balance, and that is never easy in an area that has been a global hotspot for 62 years. The portrayal is engaging, well written, and sympathetic to the Taiwanese without being cloying. Moreover, it is provocative. For example, Rigger argues that the increased economic interdependence of Taiwan and China 'exposes just how different the two sides have become over the past sixty years.' Both general readers and specialists will enjoy this volume. Summing Up: Recommended. All readership levels. * CHOICE *For anyone who wants to truly understand the origins of modern day Taiwan and its relationship with the world, Shelley Rigger’s new book is a must-read. Rigger crafts a concise and insightful volume that is accessible to scholars and non-academic readers alike. As well as addressing the crucial question of why Taiwan is important to the United States, she chronicles the island’s deep political split and helps the reader understand the complexities surrounding the different factions at work. Through Rigger’s insightful observations, it is easy to understand why the small island of Taiwan has survived and thrived. * Taiwan Insights.com *Shelley's newest volume, Why Taiwan Matters, offers a comprehensive and engaging introduction to a country that exercises a role in the world far greater than its tiny size would indicate. * Davidsonnews.Net *Throughout Why Taiwan Matters, Rigger portrays Taiwan as a complex, rich and sophisticated country, so much so that the idea it could conceivably not matter becomes a ridiculous one. And the feeling of affront and incredulity that one gets while reading the final chapter is more than powerful enough to drive the point home. An excellent and well-researched cultural/political breakdown of Taiwanese society, this book is not only interesting but thoroughly enjoyable, and also manages to turn the reader into a fervent polemicist—a remarkable feat in just over 200 pages. * The Wild East *Rigger’s well-written and engaging book highlights the strength and vitality of Taiwan’s economic and political miracle, but it also shows its inherent vulnerabilities and challenges on the world stage. Why should the U.S. care about Taiwan? The answers to this question are complex and provocative, and leave the reader with a sense of the challenge that diplomats and security analysts face in maintaining a stable U.S.-PRC-Taiwan relationship. For these reasons, Ms. Rigger’s book is highly recommended for those interested in current U.S. security affairs and East Asian geopolitics. * National Strategy Forum Review *Why Taiwan Matters performs a useful service in outlining Taiwan's signal contributions to democratic development and its crucial role in the international economy. At a time when so much of the world's focus seems to be riveted on China, the book provides a case for why Taiwan also deserves attention. * Taiwan Business Topics *Describing Taiwan as a ‘key global player’ despite its small size, Rigger looks at the country’s political and economic achievements, paying particular attention to the way it has managed its relations with China and the United States. * Survival *Rigger delivers a very important and frequently overlooked argument, namely that there is growing consensus in Taiwan about the desire to conduct trade with mainland China, while staving off political negotiations with Beijing that could undermine Taiwan’s hard-won system of democratic government and political independence. * Taiwan Review *I found this book a pleasure to read. It’s crammed with information, pleasantly informal, judicious and notably even-handed. . . . Rigger’s account [is] credible and astute, and hence recommendable to anyone looking for a concise and reliable account of this island’s very remarkable story. * Taipei Times *Taiwan is the quiet success story that no one ever heard of, but there’s no one better than Shelley Rigger to reveal why it deserves to be noticed. She knows the society from the inside out and has a deep sympathy for its people. Her account is always balanced and keeps an eye on why Taiwan really is important for the United States. -- Richard C. Bush, director, Center for East Asia Policy Studies, The Brookings InstitutionThis lively look at Taiwan is a superb primer for those who should know more about the island’s successes and an entertaining review of political, economic, security, and societal developments for specialists. Bringing to bear a wealth of knowledge and experience, Rigger vividly evokes the forces that have allowed Taiwan to survive and thrive through difficult times. Her insight into the significance of Taiwan’s democracy, free market, cultural dynamics, generational change, cross-Strait ties, and participation in the international community are persuasive and valuable. -- Nancy Bernkopf Tucker, Georgetown UniversityWhat a delight! Rigger offers a masterfully crafted volume—part paean, part history, part ethnography, and part prescription—that brims with insight to an island and observations about a people she has come to know intimately but writes of with a critical perspective and affection. Vivid prose and Rigger’s faultless eye for the telling detail yields a splendid volume that is sure to appeal to the uninformed first-time visitor as well as the seasoned analyst seeking to fill gaps in understanding. -- Alan M. Wachman, Tufts UniversityTable of ContentsChapter 1: The World's Tallest Building Chapter 2: Building Taiwan Chapter 3: From Farmers to Manufacturers Chapter 4: From "Free China" to Democratic Taiwan Chapter 5: "America Is Boring at Night" Chapter 6: "An Opportunity Full of Threats": Cross-Strait Economic Interaction Chapter 7: Making Peace with the China Inside and the China Outside Chapter 8: The International Birdcage Chapter 9: Why Taiwan Matters to America and the World Epilogue Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThis compelling book explores the explosive pace of change in China and how its citizens are grappling with a dramatically new world, both in the public and private spheres. China's stratospheric growth has made it the second largest economy in the worldand one of the most unequal. Marxist ideology and socialist ideals have almost completely collapsed, replaced by a combination of materialism and assertive nationalism. The vast migration of labor from countryside to city has continued apace. The pressures of a hypercompetitive market economy are ripping apart the traditional family and threatening the environment. Corruption has reached new heights. The political system is even more rigid, but perhaps more brittle, than a decade ago. There is enormous popular pride in the ascension of China to the rank of global superpower and general satisfaction in the material benefits that the poor as well as the rich have been gaining from an expanding economy. But there is also great restlessnessTrade Review[An] excellent interdisciplinary collection with chapters on everything from courtship to consumerism. * The Wall Street Journal *The book’s material, culled from personal interviews, Chinese-language periodicals and websites, and other sources, is remarkably rich and wide-ranging, as is the expert analysis of its thirteen contributors. * Los Angeles Review of Books *In a rapidly evolving China, there have been real economic gains for different social classes, but injustice and political corruption remain. Through a variety of case studies, this book seeks to offer a better understanding of what it means to be Chinese today. * Survival: Global Politics and Strategy *[A]s the editors of this timely volume put it, 'What does it mean now to be Chinese?'. . . .[A]nyone wishing to get a sense of the popular ferment that lies beneath the rapid growth and strict political controls emphasized in daily headlines will find much of value in this book. * Foreign Affairs *The editors of Restless China have provided us with a stimulating and wide-ranging collection of essays exploring important issues and trends in contemporary China. The book would be a useful addition to reading lists for undergraduate courses on contemporary Chinese popular culture and urban social issues. Readers will certainly understand the editors’ characterization of China as restless, but it is likely that a range of other adjectives will also come to mind as they make their way through these rich and provocative analyses. * The China Journal *Restless China sets the same high standards as Unofficial China and Popular China, the previous very well-received compilations from the editors. In a crowded marketplace, this volume stands out by focusing on the most exciting current developments in Chinese society and popular culture, and by a close examination of Chinese language sources that reveal what the Chinese themselves are thinking about and debating as they seek an appropriate value system and identity to reflect the new prosperity, all under the continuing influences of the Maoist legacy and the impact of globalization. As with the previous volumes, Restless China will be great for teaching and stimulating class discussion. -- Stanley Rosen, University of Southern CaliforniaFor 25 years Perry Link, Richard Madsen, and Paul Pickowicz, three of the most insightful Western scholars studying China, have collaborated in studying the life and thought of Chinese people. This is the third volume in their series, pulling together recent work by Westerners and Chinese. The contributors have read widely in Chinese literature on the internet and engaged in long conversations with their Chinese friends. Many of them have conducted lengthy fieldwork in China. They highlight fascinating examples that reveal the issues faced by ordinary citizens: how they are treated by officials after they have been involved in accidents, jokes they tell about the Soviet Union, preparations many well-to-do businesspeople make in case they decide to emigrate, discussions about the holy and the sacred, responses to food safety. The result is a book that has the vitality of first-hand experiences and that helps foreigners to better understand the restlessness so many feel as their country gets richer and their problems become more complex. -- Ezra F. Vogel, Harvard UniversityTable of ContentsRestless China: An Introduction Perry Link, Richard P. Madsen, and Paul G. Pickowicz Part I: Legacies Chapter 1: When Things Go Wrong: Accidents and the Legacy of the Mao Era in Today’s China Jeremy Brown Chapter 2: "The Only Reliability Is That These Guys Aren't Reliable!": The Business Culture of Red Capitalism X. L. Ding Chapter 3: Political Humor in Postsocialist China: Transnational and Still Funny Paul G. Pickowicz Part II: A New Electronic Community Chapter 4: From Grass-Mud Equestrians to Rights-Conscious Citizens: Language and Thought on the Chinese Internet Perry Link and Xiao Qiang Chapter 5: Han Han and the Public Yang Lijun Chapter 6: Are You the One?: The Competing Public Voices of China’s Post-1980s Generation Shuyu Kong Part III: Values Chapter 7: The Sacred and the Holy: Religious Power and Cultural Creativity in China Today Richard P. Madsen Chapter 8: An Invisible Path: “Urban Buddhists” in Beijing and Their Search for Meaning David Moser Chapter 9: Chinese Youth: Hot Romance and Cold Calculation William Jankowiak Part IV: Global Standards Chapter 10: A Collapsing Natural Environment? Su Xiaokang and Perry Link Chapter 11: Awash in Money and Searching for Excellence: The Restlessness of Chinese Universities Hsiung Ping-chen Chapter 12: Food Safety and Social Risk in Contemporary China Yunxiang Yan

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Book SynopsisNow in a thoroughly updated edition, Resistant Islands offers the first comprehensive overview of Okinawan history from earliest times to the present, focusing especially on the recent period of colonization by Japan, its disastrous fate during World War II, and its current status as a glorified US military base. The base is a hot-button issue in Japan and has become more widely known in the wake of Japan's 2011 natural disasters and the US military role in emergency relief. Okinawa rejects the base-dominated role allocated it by the US and Japanese governments under which priority attaches to its military functions, as a kind of stationary aircraft carrier. The result has been to throw US-Japan relations into crisis, bringing down one prime minister who tried to stop construction of yet another base on the island and threatening the incumbent if he is unable to deliver Okinawan approval of the new base. Okinawa thus has become a template for reassessing the troubled US-Japan relationsTrade ReviewIn recent years, the main source of friction in the US–Japanese defense relationship has been local opposition to the basing of U.S. marines on the Japanese island of Okinawa. . . . McCormack and Norimatsu lay bare the resentment’s deeper historical roots. . . . The larger frame for McCormack and Norimatsu’s analysis is their sharply worded indictment of the US–Japanese relationship, which they believe is constructed not so much to defend Japan as to serve a US forward deployment strategy aimed at Southeast Asia and China. -- Andrew J. Nathan, Columbia University * Foreign Affairs *The U.S. bases in Okinawa continue to be an irritant in bilateral relations. This book shifts our focus from Tokyo and Washington to the perceptions and grievances of Okinawans and why they oppose the US presence. The authors help readers understand a grassroots democratic movement challenging the garrison island status quo. * Japan Times *Resistant Islands draws a wide picture around the efforts by the people of the Okinawa island chain, Japan's southernmost prefecture, to throw off the enormous US military presence lodged on their limited land area since the horrific battles of early 1945, when a quarter of the Okinawan population died as drafted civilian pawns in the defense. * Interpreter *Deeply informed and rich in insight, this study brings to light the conquest of the peaceful and prosperous territory of Okinawa, its brutal integration into the nation-state/imperial system of East Asia, and after the murderous slaughter of World War II its conversion to a U.S. military base under the administration of America’s Japanese client state. And finally the courageous resistance of a proud people determined to regain what has been lost in centuries of oppression and to lead the way to an Asian community of justice and hope. It is a tale of horror and inspiration, with lessons of large and enduring significance. -- Noam Chomsky, MITYou may pick up this book because you think you ought to read an "Okinawan-centered" view of modern Japanese history, but you will find yourself riveted and wanting to recommend it to friends with no particular ties to Japan or Okinawa. The peculiar and noxious US-Japan dance designed to defer, preferably forever, respect for sovereignty, constitutionality, and democracy, in Japan as a whole and in Okinawa especially, makes for sober reading for citizens of the United States and the world. The outlines may be familiar to those who’ve had US interests reign paramount in their own societies, but the painstakingly researched details will find all readers catching their breath. The whole is written with the graceful clarity of principled commitment. The penultimate chapter, devoted to transmitting the voices of Okinawan activists spanning several generations, an enactment of such principle, is a gift to all readers. -- Norma Field, University of ChicagoResistant Islands is a tour de force—not only a stunning introduction to the resilience and vision of the people of Okinawa but also a devastating critique of official Tokyo’s obsequiousness to dictates emanating from Washington. -- John Dower, Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyThe Okinawa problem is a key pivot of modern Japan. It condenses the internal tensions between East Asia and the West, between war and peace; within it the most basic contradictions of the contemporary world are concentrated. This book possesses keen and spirited insight, revealing that these deep contradictions belong to Okinawa and to human kind. -- Sun Ge, Chinese Academy of Social Science, BeijingWhy, despite the end of the Cold War and the end of Liberal Democratic Party predominant party rule, does Okinawa still host 75 percent of US military installations in a prefecture making up no more than 0.6 percent of the land mass of the Japanese archipelago? Placing the base issue in the historical context of Japan's incorporation of the Ryukyu Islands into the Japanese state in the 1870s and the 'smoke and mirrors' reversion of Okinawa from US control to formal Japanese sovereignty in 1972, Gavan McCormack and Satoko Oka Norimatsu offer a trenchant analysis of the fate of the islands as a military outpost of the American eagle. With chapters on the current battle over the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to Henoko in the face of local resistance, along with a penetrating analysis of the alliance under Prime Ministers Hatoyama and Kan, this book should be read by everyone interested in understanding the true nature of the US-Japan alliance from the perspective of the inhabitants of Okinawa. -- Glenn D. Hook, University of SheffieldEssential reading for all those interested in Pacific politics, even if they do not share the authors' passionate sympathy for the underdog. Apart from the book's readability, its historical depth and accuracy explains why the possibility that the Okinawan public might opt for Chinese rather than Japanese sovereignty—which is already agitating Japan's right-wing—will play a crucial role in the coming US-Chinese Cold War. The Japanese government is caught between a rock and a hard place. The hard place is Okinawa, but the rock, the deep military alliance with the United States, is of the Japanese governmental elite's own choosing. -- Ronald Dore, Grizzana, ItalyResistant Islands offers unique perspectives on the island’s tragic history and current plight. * Asian Studies Review *This book is essential reading for anyone interested in contemporary US-Japan relations. It draws on public statements and 'confidential' communications by officials of both governments . . . They reveal, in graphic detail and colorful language, the unrelieved condescension of US officials and the shameless subservience of their Japanese counterparts in this decidedly '[un]equal partnership.' The messages include 'secret accords' to maintain extraterritorial status for U.S. forces in Japan and to perpetuate the disproportionate US military presence in Okinawa with the option to introduce nuclear weapons even after its reversion to Japanese administration in 1972. . . .The most moving portions of this book are the personal statements by individuals who have resisted US and Japanese oppression through their public protests, their writings, and their policies as elected officials. * The Journal of Japanese Studies *Frankly speaking, there are things here that I myself [as Prime Minister of Japan, 2009-2010] was unaware of, including the documents published by Wikileaks. I am impressed at what a thorough job the authors have done. -- Hatoyama Yukio, Former Prime Minister of JapanAt last the indispensable book has appeared. These two non-Okinawan authors have a sensitivity to Okinawa greater than that of many Okinawans. They dig deeply to give us an extremely persuasive account of the problems facing Okinawa, For scholars who would seek the truth about Okinawa. For scholars who would seek the truth about Okinawa, this is a must-have book. -- Ota Masahide, Former Governor of OkinawaTable of ContentsPreface to the Second Edition Notes on Names Chronology Chapter 1: Ryukyu/Okinawa: From Disposal to Resistance Chapter 2: War, Memory, and Commemoration Chapter 3: Japan’s American Embrace and the “Partnership” for Peace and Prosperity Chapter 4: Okinawa: Separation and Reversion Chapter 5: Henoko: The Unwanted Base Chapter 6: The Hatoyama Revolt Chapter 7: Post–Cold War: Elections and Democracy Chapter 8: Environment: The “Nonassessment” Chapter 9: “Deepening” the Alliance: The Kan Agenda Chapter 10: “Deepening” the Alliance: Washington Agendas Chapter 11: Senkaku/Diaoyu: Okinawa as Militarized Outpost or as Bridge of Nations? Chapter 12: Turning History Around: History as Lived Experience Chapter 13: Prospect Chapter 14: The All-Okinawa Movement since 2013 Bibliography Index About the Authors

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Book SynopsisThis unique book, now fully updated, provides a comprehensive overview of all aspects of life in North Korea today. Drawing on decades of experience, noted experts Ralph Hassig and Kongdan Oh explore a world few outsiders can imagine. In vivid detail, the authors describe how the secretive and authoritarian government of Kim Jong-un shapes every aspect of its citizens'' lives, how the command socialist economy has utterly failed, and how ordinary individuals struggle to survive through small-scale capitalism. Weighing the very limited individual rights allowed, the authors illustrate how the political class system and the legal system serve solely as tools of the regime.The key to understanding how the North Korean people live, the authors argue, is to realize that their only allowed role is to support Kim Jong-un, whose grandfather founded the country in the late 1940s. Still a cypher, Kim Jong-un, as did his father before him, controls his people by keeping them isolated and banning Trade ReviewAs extreme economic hardship has driven more North Koreans to the south, they are bringing with them an inside look at a very closed nation. In an updated edition of their 2009 book, Hassig and Oh look at the slowly fracturing secretiveness of the Hermit Kingdom. From the defectors come details of numerous individual efforts to quietly subvert the dictates of the Kim dynasty by illegally growing crops on patches of appropriated land or trading goods on black markets to survive. Since the late 1940s when Kim Il-sung took control, the country has been controlled by the Kim dynasty, demanding loyalty and obedience in the face of continued failure to provide for citizens despite overblown claims of collectivist harmony and abundance. In their highly secretive and regimented society, citizens are compelled to join mandatory groups that meet to discuss work or community issues and to criticize themselves for purported shortcomings in service to the government. This is a fascinating look at the very slow infiltration of outside influences despite efforts by the North Korean government to maintain isolation. * Booklist *Hassig and Oh give a panoramic view of this hermit nation. It is probably the most comprehensive work currently available because it covers almost every aspect of life in this isolated society. The authors provide rich data in their examination of the three-generation Kim regime to let readers understand its historical development, its tight political control over its citizens, and its failures in agriculture, health care, other economic areas, and international relationships. More important, based on surveys and interviews with numerous northern defectors, the authors illustrate the lives of ordinary people in the north, such as how they cope with their daily lives under political control, how they doggedly try to survive during natural and economic hardships, and how they perceive the Kim regime and the outside world. Most important, the authors emphasize the change of people in the change of a regime. Continuous exposure to external information is the most important way for North Koreans to better understand their lives under dictatorship and broaden their perceptions of the outside world, which will eventually lead to fundamental changes in the nation. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels/libraries. * CHOICE *

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Book SynopsisState, Economy and the Great Divergence provides a new analysis of what has become the central debate in global economic history: the ''great divergence'' between European and Asian growth. Focusing on early modern China and Western Europe, in particular Great Britain, this book offers a new level of detail on comparative state formation that has wide-reaching implications for European, Eurasian and global history.Beginning with an overview of the historiography, Peer Vries goes on to extend and develop the debate, critically engaging with the huge volume of literature published on the topic to date. Incorporating recent insights, he offers a compelling alternative to the claims to East-West equivalence, or Asian superiority, which have come to dominate discourse surrounding this issue.This is a vital update to a key issue in global economic history and, as such, is essential reading for students and scholars interested in keeping up to speed with the on-going debates.Trade ReviewVries’ formidable book ... can be fairly described as a tour de force ... [Vries’] arguments are developed slowly and carefully, and supported by masses of evidence. * Anand Swamy in Journal of Economic History *I agree with the basic truth of the contrast he [Vries] draws in state-building between early modern Europe and Qing China. Revisionist historians are essentially correct in asserting that political and economic institutions in Qing China were conducive to a Smithian dynamic of market expansion. But the Qing leaders’ agrarian paternalist policies diminished rather than enhanced the extractive power of the state. In their efforts to enrich the people, Qing statesmen abjured interventionist state action. In contrast, Britain promoted a Schumpeterian dynamic of innovation and entrepreneurship harnessed to the goals of state-making and empire-building that ultimately propelled the breakthrough to modern economic growth. * Richard von Glahn in American Historical Review *Vries offers an important contribution to the debate about "The Great Divergence". His study is impressive in depth as well as scale ... A vivid and sharply-written book. * Juergen Osterhammel in Neue Politische Literatur (Bloomsbury translation) *This book is an impressive economic comparison between Western Europe (especially Britain) and China during the long eighteenth century. It is a much needed and balanced account that tries, I think on the whole successfully, to not succumb to either a Euro-centric or China-centric interpretation. It engages with all the main themes pertinent to such a history but, ultimately, its originality lies in emphasising the Western European, particularly Britain’s, form of state. The ability to raise revenues to fund expensive wars and colonial expansion has a ramification that, ultimately, is the primary key to the “Great Divergence” with China. * William J. Ashworth, Senior Lecturer in History, University of Liverpool, UK *Peer Vries turns traditional political economy on its head: instead of an open, laissez-faire British economy confronting an oppressive and centralized Imperial state in China in the 18th century, Vries shows us a fiscal-mercantilist Britain extracting enormous taxes and a decentralized and inefficient Chinese government receiving rather few. Moreover, Vries argues that British industrial success arose because of – not in spite of – Britain’s high taxation supporting an aggressively mercantilist and imperialist state. This deeply learned book will challenge both traditionalists’ and “California School” revisionists’ view of the Great Divergence; it marks a powerful new turn and major advance in understanding the origins of modern economies. * Jack A. Goldstone, Professor of Public Policy, George Mason University, USA *Professor Peer Vries’ new book is a continuation of his decade-long pursuit for a better answer to a cluster of puzzles associated with the ‘Great Divergence’ that set Western Europe and China historically apart. Unlike the conventional views that look at a wide range of variables such as natural endowments, population, factor productivities, market activities, real wages and GDP, the author identifies the state as the prime mover in Eurasian history. The rise of the West was thus a result of a pushy ‘visible hand’ that dictated the allocation of key resources. He also probes further into the process and mechanisms of state-building by the elite that held political, ideological, legal, economic and military powers. Thus, the seed of the Great Divergence was planted by the elites in Western Europe and China long before 1700 AD. Professor Vries’s path-breaking work re-sets our debate in global history. * Kent G. Deng, Professor of Economic History, London School of Economics, UK *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Revenue 2. (Over-)Expenditure 3. Finance and Money 4. People 5. The Military and the Economy 6. Economic Policies 7. Empire and Economy 8. State-Building, Nation-Building and ‘Legibility’ Concluding Remarks Appendices Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisKaushik Roy is Reader in History at Jadavpur University, India, and Senior Researcher at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, Norway.Trade ReviewA volume in the Bloomsbury series "Studies in Military History," edited by Jeremy Black, Roy’s The Army in British India is an excellent overview of the history and character of the Indian Army, stripped of much of the colonial fiction. -- A. A. Nofi * StrategyPage *Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. The Uprising of 1857-59 2. 'Small War' on the Indus Frontier 1859-1913 3. Counter-insurgency in North-East India 1859-1913 4. The Army in India in World War I 5. Modernisation and Nationalism in the Inter-War Era 1919-38 6. The Armed Forces of British India and World War II 7. Demobilisation and Decolonisation 1947-49 Conclusion

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Book SynopsisSir Winston S. Churchill (1874-1965) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom on two occasions, from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. Celebrated as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the 20th century, he was also a gifted orator, statesman and historian. The author of more than 40 books, he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1953 and in 1963 was made an honorary citizen of the United States.Table of Contents1. The Theatre of War 2. The Malakand Camps 3. The Outbreak 4. The Attack on the Malakand 5. The Relief of Chakdara 6. The Defence of Chakdara 7. The Gate of Swat 8. The Advance Against the Mohmands 9. Reconnaissance 10. The March to Nawagai 11. The Action of the Mamund Valley, 16th September 12. At Inayat Kila 13. Nawagai 14. Back to the Mamund Valley 15. The Work of the Cavalry 16. Submission 17. Military Observations 18. The Riddle of the Frontier Appendix: Extracts from Official Despatches

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Book SynopsisJan Bardsley is Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Asian Studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, USA.Trade Review[This] valuable book … will be a great read for both students and scholars of postwar discourses on gender in Japan. * Journal of Japanese Studies *Richly evidenced and engrossing ... This volume provides the reader with an insightful and well researched analysis of gender roles and discussions in post-war Japan, and is a welcome addition to the literature. * English Historical Review *[T]his a fascinating book that offers a compelling look at how the ‘Japanese housewife’ was mobilized in debates over postwar democracy. It will be of great interest to those who study postwar Japanese women’s history and literature. * Japan Forum *The richness and variety of the book’s sources, and the consistently high level of Bardsley’s analysis across multiple textual and visual genres, make her account convincing, informative, and even entertaining ... Women and Democracy in Cold War Japan is an engaging and intellectually stimulating piece of scholarship that will enhance discussions on the history of Japan’s Allied Occupation and of postwar Japan, on gender in modern Japan and in Cold War politics, and on the cultural dimensions of U.S.-Japan relations. * Monumenta Nipponica *Through close readings of popular media—from contentious letters to newspaper editors to debates covered in women's magazines, from tales of flawed fashionistas to satirical cartoons—Women and Democracy in Cold War Japan takes an innovative approach to the gender politics shaping Japan in the 1950s. Jan Bardsley effectively challenges the notion that the liberation of Japanese women was primarily the result of the American occupation of Japan after World War II. In addition, her analysis of the media construction of housewives, princesses, and beauty queens places Japan’s postwar era squarely in the geopolitics of the Cold War. Accessible and provocative, Women and Democracy in Cold War Japan will be a very useful book for classes in gender studies in a variety of disciplines. * Barbara Molony, Professor of History, Santa Clara University, USA *In Women and Democracy in Cold War Japan, Jan Bardsley invites us into a dynamic world of post-WWII Japan where the process of “democratization” initiated by American occupiers has unleashed a series of events and controversies involving women, homes, and nation. Offering fascinating tales of “Kitchen Princess,” “Beauty Queen,” “Real Estate Siren,” and “Desiring Women,” all of whom enlivened the Cold War Japan with their womanly determination and domestic ingenuity, Bardsley gives us an enchanting moment to re-imagine Japan in a manner far more complex and nuanced than ever attempted before. Against the backdrop of constitutional reform, gender democratization, and domestic modernization, Japanese women were historical agents of exceptional complexity, whose sentiments and practices hardly if ever followed any predictable route. Re-introducing women and the home to the center stage of the postwar Japanese history, Bardsley’s book charts a new territory of analysis where richness of archival research is coupled with deftness of storytelling to reward its readers. * Mire Koikari, Associate Professor, Women’s Studies, University of Hawaii, USA *Table of Contents1. Introduction: Tales of the Kitchen Princess 2. Dueling Etiquettes: Mrs. Mogi takes on the Occupationnaires 3. The Housewife Debate of 1955 4. What Women Want: The Postwar Appetite 5. Fashioning the People’s Princess: Shoda Michiko and the Royal Wedding of 1959 6. Japan’s Miss Universe: Beauty Contests and Postwar Democracy 7. From the Housewife’s Kitchen to the Witches' Den: Fantasies of Female Power in Enchi Fumiko’s Masks Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisEmily Anderson is Assistant Professor of History at Washington State University, USA.Trade ReviewAnderson uses sources such as personal notebooks and diaries to great effect ... A solidly researched and sympathetically written work of scholarship. * American Historical Review *Anderson portrays a fascinating journey of interwoven lives and dreams on a sweeping scale ... manag[ing] to capture the often overlooked Christian dimension of imperial Japan. * English Historical Review *[W]ell-researched and engaging ... [A] thought-provoking and interesting book that deserves a wide audience among both those interested in the intellectual and religious history of Meiji and Taisho Japan and specialists in colonial and imperial studies. * Monumenta Nipponica *Anderson’s research provides numerous insights into Christian history in Japan before 1945 … [She] has given us a well-researched and original investigation into a part of Japanese history too long neglected. * Japan Review *Table of ContentsIntroduction: All Roads Lead to Annaka: The Place of Imperial Christianity in Japan’s Modern History 1. The Problem of Two Masters: The Imperial Rescript on Education and the Quandary of Japanese Christians 2. Fields Ready for Harvest: Russo-Japanese War as Holy War 3. Nation without Borders: Casting a Vision for a Transnational Church 4. Making Koreans Japanese: A Gospel for Japan’s New Colonial Subjects 5. After the March First Movement: The “Korean Problem” Just Beyond Empire’s Edge 6. Becoming a Small Country: The Imperial Countryside Imagined as the Kingdom of God 7. Following in Abraham’s Footsteps: Building an Imperial Christian Utopia in Manchukuo Bibliography Index

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