Best Selling Asian History Books

Chart of the top 50 most popular and best selling Asian history ebooks at the Apple Books.

Chart list of the top Asian history ebooks was last updated:

History Ebook Best Sellers

Top Asian History Ebooks

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Nagasaki - M. G. SHEFTALL Cover Art

Nagasaki

Nagasaki The Last Witnesses by M. G. SHEFTALL

The second volume in a prize-worthy two-book series based on years of irreplicable personal interviews with survivors about each of the atomic bomb drops, first in Hiroshima and then Nagasaki, that hastened the end of the Pacific War. On August 6, 1945, the United States unleashed a weapon unlike anything the world had ever seen. Then, just three days later, when Japan showed no sign of surrender, the United States took aim at Nagasaki. Rendered in harrowing detail, this historical narrative is the second and final volume in M. G. Sheftall’s series Embers. Sheftall has spent years personally interviewing hibakusha —the Japanese word for atomic bomb survivors. These last living witnesses are a vanishing memory resource, the only people who can still provide us with reliable and detailed testimony about life in their cities before the use of nuclear weaponry. The result is an intimate, firsthand account of life in Nagasaki, and the story of incomprehensible devastation and resilience in the aftermath of the second atomic bomb drop. This blow-by-blow account takes us from the city streets, as word of the attack on Hiroshima reaches civilians, to the cockpit of Bockscar, when Charles Sweeney dropped “Fat Man,"  to the interminable six days while the world waited to see if Japan would surrender to the Allies--or if more bombs would fall.

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Hiroshima - John Hersey Cover Art

Hiroshima

Hiroshima by John Hersey

On August 6, 1945, Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atom bomb ever dropped on a city. This book, John Hersey's journalistic masterpiece, tells what happened on that day. Told through the memories of survivors, this timeless, powerful and compassionate document has become a classic "that stirs the conscience of humanity" (The New York Times).

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Shattered Lands - Sam Dalrymple Cover Art

Shattered Lands

Shattered Lands Five Partitions and the Making of Modern Asia by Sam Dalrymple

A Financial Times, NPR, and BBC History Best Book of the Year A bold and sweeping history of modern South Asia, told through the five partitions that reshaped it. As recently as 1928, a vast swath of Asia stretching from the Red Sea to the borders of Thailand was bound together under a single imperial banner, an entity known officially as the “Indian Empire” or, more simply, as the Raj. It was the British Empire’s crown jewel, home to a quarter of the world’s population. In the span of just fifty years, that empire shattered. Five partitions tore it apart, carving it into twelve modern nations, including not only India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, but also Burma, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. In vivid and compulsively readable prose, Sam Dalrymple presents, for the first time, the whole story of how the Indian Empire was unmade. It’s a story of maps being redrawn in boardrooms and on battlefields, bumbling politicians in London and idealist revolutionaries in Delhi, kings in remote palaces and ordinary citizens swept up in wars and mass migrations. It is a history of ambition and betrayal, of forgotten wars and unlikely alliances, of borders carved with ink and fire. And it has left behind a legacy of exile and division. It began in 1937, when Burma was carved out of India, to devastating result. The partition of the Arabian Peninsula started the same year with the separation of Aden and was completed in 1947 with the transfer of the Gulf States. Also in 1947 was the “Great Partition,” culminating in the largest forced migration in history and the creation of Pakistan, swiftly followed by the partition of Princely India. Finally, in 1971, the fledgling nation of Pakistan was itself torn apart, and Bangladesh was born. Based on deep archival research, previously untranslated sources, and hundreds of interviews in English, Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Punjabi, Konyak, Arabic, and Burmese, Shattered Lands is an utterly gripping history that offers a new understanding of modern South Asia—one that brings to light the continuing legacy of empire.

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Embracing Defeat - John W. Dower Cover Art

Embracing Defeat

Embracing Defeat Japan in the Wake of World War II by John W. Dower

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award for Nonfiction Finalist for the Lionel Gelber Prize and the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize Embracing Defeat is John W. Dower's brilliant examination of Japan in the immediate, shattering aftermath of World War II. Drawing on a vast range of Japanese sources and illustrated with dozens of astonishing documentary photographs, Embracing Defeat is the fullest and most important history of the more than six years of American occupation, which affected every level of Japanese society, often in ways neither side could anticipate. Dower, whom Stephen E. Ambrose has called "America's foremost historian of the Second World War in the Pacific," gives us the rich and turbulent interplay between West and East, the victor and the vanquished, in a way never before attempted, from top-level manipulations concerning the fate of Emperor Hirohito to the hopes and fears of men and women in every walk of life. Already regarded as the benchmark in its field, Embracing Defeat is a work of colossal scholarship and history of the very first order.

5

The Last Kings of Shanghai - Jonathan Kaufman Cover Art

The Last Kings of Shanghai

The Last Kings of Shanghai The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China by Jonathan Kaufman

"In vivid detail... examines the little-known history of two extraordinary dynasties."— The Boston Globe "Not just a brilliant, well-researched, and highly readable book about China's past, it also reveals the contingencies and ironic twists of fate in China's modern history."— LA Review of Books An epic, multigenerational story of two rival dynasties who flourished in Shanghai and Hong Kong as twentieth-century China surged into the modern era, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Shanghai, 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 and Charlie Chaplin has entertained his wife-to-be. And a few miles away, Mao and the nascent Communist Party have been plotting revolution. By the 1930s, the Sassoons had been doing business in China for a century, rivaled in wealth and influence by only one other dynasty—the Kadoories. These two Jewish families, both originally from Baghdad, stood astride Chinese business and politics for more than 175 years, profiting from the Opium Wars; surviving Japanese occupation; courting Chiang Kai-shek; and losing nearly everything as the Communists swept into power. In The Last Kings of Shanghai, Jonathan Kaufman tells the remarkable history of how these families participated in an economic boom that opened China to the world, but remained blind to the country's deep inequality and to the political turmoil at their doorsteps. In a story stretching from Baghdad to Hong Kong to Shanghai to London, Kaufman enters the lives and minds of these ambitious men and women to forge a tale of opium smuggling, family rivalry, political intrigue, and survival. The book lays bare the moral compromises of the Kadoories and the Sassoons—and their exceptional foresight, success, and generosity. At the height of World War II, they joined together to rescue and protect eighteen thousand Jewish refugees fleeing Nazism. Though their stay in China started out as a business opportunity, the country became a home they were reluctant to leave, even on the eve of revolution. The lavish buildings they built and the booming businesses they nurtured continue to define Shanghai and Hong Kong to this day. As the United States confronts China's rise, and China grapples with the pressures of breakneck modernization and global power, the long-hidden odysseys of the Sassoons and the Kadoories hold a key to understanding the present moment.

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The Battle for Laos - Stephen Emerson Cover Art

The Battle for Laos

The Battle for Laos Vietnam's Proxy War, 1955–1975 by Stephen Emerson

A history of the "secret war" in Southeast Asia in which nearly three million tons of bombs decimated a newly independent nation.   By 1959 the newly independent Kingdom of Laos was transforming into a Cold War battleground for global superpower competition, having been born out of the chaos following the French military defeat and withdrawal from Indochina in 1954. The country was soon engulfed in a rapidly evolving civil war as rival forces jockeyed for power and swelling foreign intervention intensified the fighting.   Adding even more fuel to the fire, "neutral" Laos's geographic entanglement in the war in neighboring South Vietnam deepened in the early 1960s as Hanoi's reliance on the Ho Chi Minh Trail for moving men and matériel through the southern Laotian panhandle grew exponentially, making it a priority target of American interdiction efforts. For almost twenty years, the fighting between the Western-supported Royal Lao government and the communist-supported Pathet Lao would rage across the plains, jungles, and mountaintops largely unseen by most of the world. Thousands on each side would die and many more would be displaced as the conflict on the ground ebbed and flowed from season to season and year to year. And in the skies above, American and Royal Laotian aircraft would rain down their deadly payloads, decimating large swaths of the countryside in pursuit of victory. Nearly three million tons of bombs would be dropped on Laotian territory between 1965 and 1973, leaving a legacy of unexploded ordnance that lingers to this day. The battle for Laos is a tale of entire communities and generations caught up in a war seemingly without end, one that pitted competing foreign interests and their proxies against each other and was forever tied to Washington's pursuit of victory in Vietnam. This book tells the story of this so-called "secret war."

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Musashi - Eiji Yoshikawa Cover Art

Musashi

Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa

The classic samurai novel about the real exploits of the most famous swordsman. Musashi is a novel in the best tradition of Japanese story telling. It is a living story, subtle and imaginative, teeming with memorable characters, many of them historical. Interweaving themes of unrequited love, misguided revenge, filial piety and absolute dedication to the Way of the Samurai, it depicts vividly a world Westerners know only vaguely.

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The Wall Dancers - Yi-Ling Liu Cover Art

The Wall Dancers

The Wall Dancers Searching for Freedom and Connection on the Chinese Internet by Yi-Ling Liu

An eye-opening exploration of the Chinese internet that reveals the intricate dance between freedom and control in contemporary China “ The Wall Dancers is history told in a gripping, novelistic style. It is at once a crash course in contemporary Chinese politics and culture and an epic story about human drive, desperation, and ingenuity against inordinate odds. Yi-Ling Liu has written a masterwork.” —Jonathan Blitzer, New York Times bestselling author of Everyone Who Is Gone Is Here In the late 1990s, as the world was waking up to the power and emancipatory promise of the internet, Chinese authorities began constructing a system of online surveillance and censorship now known as the Great Firewall. But far from being a barren landscape, the digital world that sprouted up behind the firewall brimmed with new subcultures and tech innovations, offering many Chinese citizens previously unimaginable connection and opportunity. Today, as the country’s leadership intensifies its control of public discourse and Western headlines reduce the Chinese public to a faceless monolith, journalist Yi-Ling Liu presents an intimate portrait of China’s online ecosystem—and a crucial lens into the on-the-ground reality of life there. Tracing the last three decades of the Chinese internet’s evolution—from its lexicon to its memes to the precise nature of its censorship—she equips readers with a critical tool to assess the past, present, and future of a global power. Drawing on years of firsthand reporting, The Wall Dancers weaves together the stories of individuals navigating China’s transformation into both the world’s largest online user base and one of its most populous authoritarian states. As these entrepreneurs, activists, artists, and dreamers experience the internet’s power as a tool for both control and liberation, they grapple with universal questions of success and authenticity, love and solidarity, faith and resilience. The Wall Dancers is at once an unforgettable work of human storytelling and a vital exploration of what it means to live with dignity and hope within the technological systems that now shape all our lives.

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China in Ten Words - Yu Hua & Allan H. Barr Cover Art

China in Ten Words

China in Ten Words Essays by Yu Hua & Allan H. Barr

From one of China’s most acclaimed writers, his first work of nonfiction to appear in English: a unique, intimate look at the Chinese experience over the last several decades, told through personal stories and astute analysis that sharply illuminate the country’s meteoric economic and social transformation.   Framed by ten phrases common in the Chinese vernacular—“people,” “leader,” “reading,” “writing,” “Lu Xun” (one of the most influential Chinese writers of the twentieth century), “disparity,” “revolution,” “grassroots,” “copycat,” and “bamboozle”— China in Ten Words reveals as never before the world’s most populous yet oft-misunderstood nation. In “Disparity,” for example, Yu Hua illustrates the mind-boggling economic gaps that separate citizens of the country. In “Copycat,” he depicts the escalating trend of piracy and imitation as a creative new form of revolutionary action. And in “Bamboozle,” he describes the increasingly brazen practices of trickery, fraud, and chicanery that are, he suggests, becoming a way of life at every level of society.   Characterized by Yu Hua’s trademark wit, insight, and courage, China in Ten Words is a refreshingly candid vision of the “Chinese miracle” and all its consequences, from the singularly invaluable perspective of a writer living in China today.

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Japan Runs Wild, 1942–1943 - Peter Harmsen Cover Art

Japan Runs Wild, 1942–1943

Japan Runs Wild, 1942–1943 by Peter Harmsen

The author of Storm Clouds Over the Pacific, 1931–1941 chronicles Japan's dramatic reversal of fortune as Allied forces gained advantage during WWII. In early 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy were advancing on all fronts, humiliating Allied forces throughout the Pacific. In a matter of months, Japan had conquered an area larger than Hitler's empire at its apex. Hawaiians and Australians feared a future under Hirohito. The fate of half of mankind was hanging in the balance. But by the end of 1943, the tables had turned entirely. The American-led military machine had kicked into gear, and the Japanese were fighting a defensive battle along a frontline that crossed thousands of miles of land and sea. In Japan Runs Wild, 1942–1943 , historian Peter Harmsen details the astonishing transformation that took place in that period, setting the Allies on a path to ultimate victory over Japan. The second installment of Peter Harmsen's three-part history,  Japan Runs Wild, 1942–1943  continues his comprehensive chronicle of the Pacific Theater during the Second World War. Giving due emphasis to the Japanese-American struggle, Harmsen also sheds light on the other peoples involved, including the British, Australians, Soviets, Filipinos, Indians, and Koreans. Above all, the central importance of China is highlighted in a way that no previous general history of the war against Japan has achieved.

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Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden - Zhuqing Li Cover Art

Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden

Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden Two Sisters Separated by China's Civil War by Zhuqing Li

A BookBrowse Best Nonfiction for Book Clubs in 2024 “Exceptional…[A] gripping narrative of one family divided by the ‘bamboo curtain.’” —Deirdre Mask, New York Times Book Review Sisters separated by war forge new identities as they are forced to choose between family, nation, and their own independence. Jun and Hong were scions of a once great southern Chinese family. Each other’s best friend, they grew up in the 1930s during the final days of Old China before the tumult of the twentieth century brought political revolution, violence, and a fractured national identity. By a quirk of timing, at the end of the Chinese Civil War, Jun ended up on an island under Nationalist control, and then settled in Taiwan, married a Nationalist general, and lived among fellow exiles at odds with everything the new Communist regime stood for on the mainland. Hong found herself an ocean away on the mainland, forced to publicly disavow both her own family background and her sister’s decision to abandon the party. A doctor by training, to overcome the suspicion created by her family circumstances, Hong endured two waves of “re-education” and internal exile, forced to work in some of the most desperately poor, remote areas of the country. Ambitious, determined, and resourceful, both women faced morally fraught decisions as they forged careers and families in the midst of political and social upheaval. Jun established one of U.S.-allied Taiwan’s most important trading companies. Hong became one of the most celebrated doctors in China, appearing on national media and honored for her dedication to medicine. Niece to both sisters, linguist and East Asian scholar Zhuqing Li tells her aunts’ story for the first time, honoring her family’s history with sympathy and grace. Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden is a window into the lives of women in twentieth-century China, a time of traumatic change and unparalleled resilience. In this riveting and deeply personal account, Li confronts the bitter political rivals of mainland China and Taiwan with elegance and unique insight, while celebrating her aunts’ remarkable legacies.

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U.S.S. Seawolf: Submarine Raider of the Pacific - Gerold Frank, James D. Horan & J. M. Eckberg Cover Art

U.S.S. Seawolf: Submarine Raider of the Pacific

U.S.S. Seawolf: Submarine Raider of the Pacific by Gerold Frank, James D. Horan & J. M. Eckberg

U.S.S. Seawolf is the story of one of the Navy's most successful submarine's operating in the Pacific during World War II. Told from the viewpoint of Chief Radioman Joseph Eckberg, The Wolf's adventures are related with a gripping realism... the heat, sweat, depth-charge attacks are all portrayed in vivid detail.

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Samurai William - Giles Milton Cover Art

Samurai William

Samurai William The Englishman Who Opened Japan by Giles Milton

An eye-opening account of the first encounter between England and Japan, by the acclaimed author of Nathaniel's Nutmeg In 1611, the merchants of London's East India Company received a mysterious letter from Japan, written several years previously by a marooned English mariner named William Adams. Foreigners had been denied access to Japan for centuries, yet Adams had been living in this unknown land for years. He had risen to the highest levels in the ruling shogun's court, taken a Japanese name, and was now offering his services as adviser and interpreter. Seven adventurers were sent to Japan with orders to find and befriend Adams, in the belief that he held the key to exploiting the opulent riches of this forbidden land. Their arrival was to prove a momentous event in the history of Japan and the shogun suddenly found himself facing a stark choice: to expel the foreigners and continue with his policy of isolation, or to open his country to the world. For more than a decade the English, helped by Adams, were to attempt trade with the shogun, but confounded by a culture so different from their own, and hounded by scheming Jesuit monks and fearsome Dutch assassins, they found themselves in a desperate battle for their lives. Samurai William is the fascinating story of a clash of two cultures, and of the enormous impact one Westerner had on the opening of the East.

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Modern Japan - Christopher Goto-Jones Cover Art

Modern Japan

Modern Japan A Very Short Introduction by Christopher Goto-Jones

Japan is arguably today's most successful industrial economy, combining almost unprecedented affluence with social stability and apparent harmony. Japanese goods and cultural products are consumed all over the world, ranging from animated movies and computer games all the way through to cars, semiconductors, and management techniques. In many ways, Japan is an icon of the modern world, and yet it remains something of an enigma to many, who see it as a confusing montage of the alien and the familiar, the ancient and modern. The aim of this Very Short Introduction is to explode the myths and explore the reality of modern Japan - by taking a concise look at its history, economy, politics, and culture. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

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林彪 - Min Mao Cover Art

林彪

林彪 《复兴记》主题节选本之六 by Min Mao

本书是《复兴记》这部著作的一本专题节选本。《复兴记》这部著作记录中国在近代的复兴史。本节选本记叙林彪一生的主要作为,包括平型关战役(平型关战役,林彪的总结)、创建东北根据地(中共抢占东北,国民政府进入东北,苏军全部撤走,四平之战,林彪统领东北全局,三下江南、四保临江,又一次四平之战)、指挥辽沈战役(打锦州,取长春,围歼廖耀湘兵团,取沈阳)、主持军委工作(庐山会议之后的军委扩大会议,林彪高举毛泽东旗帜)、文化大革命之初(罗瑞卿受批判,陆定一受批判,贺龙的遭遇,朱德受批评,讲政变的一个报告,林彪成为毛泽东接班人)、军队的文化大革命(军队的文化大革命,京西宾馆风波,大闹怀仁堂)、林彪集团的形成(杨、余、傅事件,军委办事组与中央文革小组的矛盾,中共九大,政治局内的矛盾)、1970年的庐山会议(会前关于修改宪法的争论,又一次庐山会议,批陈整风)、林彪出逃(林立果的活动,毛泽东南巡,林立果打算杀害毛泽东,林彪出逃,林彪出逃后的毛泽东)。

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Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan: The Central and Western Rajput States of India (Complete) - James Tod Cover Art

Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan: The Central and Western Rajput States of India (Complete)

Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan: The Central and Western Rajput States of India (Complete) by James Tod

In placing before the public the concluding volume of the Annals of Rajputana I have fulfilled what I considered to be a sacred obligation to the races amongst whom I have passed the better portion of my life; and although no man can more highly appreciate public approbation, I am far less eager to court that approbation than to awaken a sympathy for the objects of my work, the interesting people of Rajputana. I need add nothing to what was urged in the Introduction to the First Volume on the subject of Indian History; and trust that, however slight the analogy between the chronicles of the Hindus and those of Europe, as historical works, they will serve to banish the reproach, which India has so long laboured under, of possessing no records of past events: my only fear now is, that they may be thought redundant. I think I may confidently affirm, that whoever, without being alarmed at their bulk, has the patience attentively to peruse these Annals, cannot fail to become well acquainted with all the peculiar features of Hindu society, and will be enabled to trace the foundation and progress of each State in Rajputana, as well as to form a just notion of the character of a people, upon whom, at a future period, our existence in India may depend. Whatever novelty the inquirer into the origin of nations may find in these pages, I am ambitious to claim for them a higher title than a mass of mere archaeological data. To see humanity under every aspect, and to observe the influence of different creeds upon man in his social capacity, must ever be one of the highest sources of mental enjoyment; and I may hope that the personal qualities herein delineated, will allow the labourer in this vast field of philosophy to enlarge his sphere of acquaintance with human varieties. In the present circumstances of our alliance with these States, every trait of national character, and even every traditional incident, which, by leading us to understand and respect their peculiarities, may enable us to secure their friendship and esteem, become of infinite importance. The more we study their history, the better shall we comprehend the causes of their international quarrels, the origin of their tributary engagements, the secret principles of their mutual repulsion, and the sources of their strength and their weakness as an aggregate body: without which knowledge it is impossible we can arbitrate with justice in their national disputes; and, as respects ourselves, we may convert a means of defence into a source of bitter hostility. It has been my aim to diversify as much as possible the details of this volume. In the Annals of Marwar I have traced the conquest and peopling of an immense region by a handful of strangers; and have dwelt, perhaps, with tedious minuteness on the long reign of Raja Ajit Singh and the Thirty Years’ War; to show what the energy of one of these petty States, impelled by a sense of oppression, effected against the colossal power of its enemies. It is a portion of their history which should be deeply studied by those who have succeeded to the paramount power; for Aurangzeb had less reason to distrust the stability of his dominion than we have: yet what is now the house of Timur? The resources of Marwar were reduced to as low an ebb at the close of Aurangzeb’s reign, as they are at the present time; yet did that State surmount all its difficulties, and bring armies into the field that annihilated the forces of the empire. Let us not, then, mistake the supineness engendered by long oppression, for want of feeling, nor mete out to these high-spirited people the same measure of contumely, with which we have treated the subjects of our earlier conquests.

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Producing India - Manu Goswami Cover Art

Producing India

Producing India From Colonial Economy to National Space by Manu Goswami

When did categories such as a national space and economy acquire self-evident meaning and a global reach? Why do nationalist movements demand a territorial fix between a particular space, economy, culture, and people? Producing India mounts a formidable challenge to the entrenched practice of methodological nationalism that has accorded an exaggerated privilege to the nation-state as a dominant unit of historical and political analysis. Manu Goswami locates the origins and contradictions of Indian nationalism in the convergence of the lived experience of colonial space, the expansive logic of capital, and interstate dynamics. Building on and critically extending subaltern and postcolonial perspectives, her study shows how nineteenth-century conceptions of India as a bounded national space and economy bequeathed an enduring tension between a universalistic political economy of nationhood and a nativist project that continues to haunt the present moment. Elegantly conceived and judiciously argued, Producing India will be invaluable to students of history, political economy, geography, and Asian studies.

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Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World - Jack Weatherford Cover Art

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The startling true history of how one extraordinary man from a remote corner of the world created an empire that led the world into the modern age—by the author featured in Echoes of the Empire: Beyond Genghis Khan . The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in twenty-five years than the Romans did in four hundred. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization. Vastly more progressive than his European or Asian counterparts, Genghis Khan abolished torture, granted universal religious freedom, and smashed feudal systems of aristocratic privilege. From the story of his rise through the tribal culture to the explosion of civilization that the Mongol Empire unleashed, this brilliant work of revisionist history is nothing less than the epic story of how the modern world was made.

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Lucky Child - Loung Ung Cover Art

Lucky Child

Lucky Child A Daughter of Cambodia Reunites with the Sister She Left Behind by Loung Ung

After enduring years of hunger, deprivation, and devastating loss at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, ten-year-old Loung Ung became the "lucky child," the sibling chosen to accompany her eldest brother to America while her one surviving sister and two brothers remained behind. In this poignant and elegiac memoir, Loung recalls her assimilation into an unfamiliar new culture while struggling to overcome dogged memories of violence and the deep scars of war. In alternating chapters, she gives voice to Chou, the beloved older sister whose life in war-torn Cambodia so easily could have been hers. Highlighting the harsh realities of chance and circumstance in times of war as well as in times of peace, Lucky Child is ultimately a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and to the salvaging strength of family bonds.

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The Pillow Book - Sei Shonagon & Meredith McKinney Cover Art

The Pillow Book

The Pillow Book by Sei Shonagon & Meredith McKinney

A new translation of the idiosyncratic diary of a C10 court lady in Heian Japan. Along with the TALE OF GENJI, this is one of the major Japanese Classics.

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Last Boat Out of Shanghai - Helen Zia Cover Art

Last Boat Out of Shanghai

Last Boat Out of Shanghai The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Fled Mao's Revolution by Helen Zia

The dramatic real life stories of four young people caught up in the mass exodus of Shanghai in the wake of China’s 1949 Communist revolution—a heartrending  precursor to the struggles faced by emigrants today.  “A true page-turner . . . [Helen] Zia has proven once again that history is something that happens to real people.”— New York Times  bestselling author Lisa See NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR AND THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR • FINALIST FOR THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY Shanghai has historically been China’s jewel, its richest, most modern and westernized city. The bustling metropolis was home to sophisticated intellectuals, entrepreneurs, and a thriving middle class when Mao’s proletarian revolution emerged victorious from the long civil war. Terrified of the horrors the Communists would wreak upon their lives, citizens of Shanghai who could afford to fled in every direction. Seventy years later, members of the last generation to fully recall this massive exodus have revealed their stories to Chinese American journalist Helen Zia, who interviewed hundreds of exiles about their journey through one of the most tumultuous events of the twentieth century. From these moving accounts, Zia weaves together the stories of four young Shanghai residents who wrestled with the decision to abandon everything for an uncertain life as refugees in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the United States. Benny, who as a teenager became the unwilling heir to his father’s dark wartime legacy, must decide either to escape to Hong Kong or navigate the intricacies of a newly Communist China. The resolute Annuo, forced to flee her home with her father, a defeated Nationalist official, becomes an unwelcome exile in Taiwan. The financially strapped Ho fights deportation from the U.S. in order to continue his studies while his family struggles at home. And Bing, given away by her poor parents, faces the prospect of a new life among strangers in America. The lives of these men and women are marvelously portrayed, revealing the dignity and triumph of personal survival. Herself the daughter of immigrants from China, Zia is uniquely equipped to explain how crises like the Shanghai transition affect children and their families, students and their futures, and, ultimately, the way we see ourselves and those around us. Last Boat Out of Shanghai brings a poignant personal angle to the experiences of refugees then and, by extension, today. “Zia’s portraits are compassionate and heartbreaking, and they are, ultimately, the universal story of many families who leave their homeland as refugees and find less-than-welcoming circumstances on the other side.”—Amy Tan, author of The Joy Luck Club

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Red Dawn Over China - Frank Dikötter Cover Art

Red Dawn Over China

Red Dawn Over China How Communism Conquered a Quarter of Humanity by Frank Dikötter

A Financial Times and Foreign Policy Most Anticipated Book of 2026 A Barnes & Noble Reads Best Book of February 2026 From renowned, prize-winning historian Frank Dikötter, a commanding new history of China's path to Communism. The history of modern China has long been portrayed as a tale of Communists fighting in the hills for freedom, gradually gaining popular support by taking land from the rich and giving it to the poor. Drawing on a wealth of archival evidence, Red Dawn Over China reveals how unlikely the Party's victory actually was, had it not been for financial and military support from the Soviet Union. Established in 1921 under the direct guidance of Moscow, for the best part of a decade the Communist Party left a trail of destruction, besieging towns and plundering the countryside. When the Communists managed to hold territory, they reduced the villagers to a state of servitude, undermining belief in their cause as well as the local economy. By 1936 they had the same popular appeal as an obscure religious sect. A brutal war of occupation by Japan allowed them to survive far behind enemy lines. After Soviet troops invaded Manchuria in 1945 and provided more money and munitions, the Communists at long last prevailed through a pitiless war of attrition, driven by an unflinching will to conquer at all costs. In this riveting tale told with great narrative verve, Frank Dikötter reveals how thirteen delegates gathered in a dusty room in 1921 ended up raising the red flag over the Forbidden City in 1949, forever altering the course of history for a quarter of humanity and shaping the world as we know it today.

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The Anarchy - William Dalrymple Cover Art

The Anarchy

The Anarchy The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire by William Dalrymple

Finalist for the Cundill History Prize ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY The Wall Street Journal and NPR "Superb … A vivid and richly detailed story … worth reading by everyone." -The New York Times Book Review From the bestselling author of Return of a King, the story of how the East India Company took over large swaths of Asia, and the devastating results of the corporation running a country. In August 1765, the East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor and set up, in his place, a government run by English traders who collected taxes through means of a private army. The creation of this new government marked the moment that the East India Company ceased to be a conventional company and became something much more unusual: an international corporation transformed into an aggressive colonial power. Over the course of the next 47 years, the company's reach grew until almost all of India south of Delhi was effectively ruled from a boardroom in the city of London. The Anarchy tells one of history's most remarkable stories: how the Mughal Empire-which dominated world trade and manufacturing and possessed almost unlimited resources-fell apart and was replaced by a multinational corporation based thousands of miles overseas, and answerable to shareholders, most of whom had never even seen India and no idea about the country whose wealth was providing their dividends. Using previously untapped sources, Dalrymple tells the story of the East India Company as it has never been told before and provides a portrait of the devastating results from the abuse of corporate power. Bronze Medal in the 2020 Arthur Ross Book Award

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The Secret History of the Mongol Queens - Jack Weatherford Cover Art

The Secret History of the Mongol Queens

The Secret History of the Mongol Queens How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire by Jack Weatherford

“A fascinating romp through the feminine side of the infamous Khan clan” ( Booklist ) by the author featured in Echoes of the Empire: Beyond Genghis Khan “Enticing . . . hard to put down.”—Associated Press The Mongol queens of the thirteenth century ruled the largest empire the world has ever known. The daughters of the Silk Route turned their father’s conquests into the first truly international empire, fostering trade, education, and religion throughout their territories and creating an economic system that stretched from the Pacific to the Mediterranean. Yet sometime near the end of the century, censors cut a section about the queens from the Secret History of the Mongols , and, with that one act, the dynasty of these royals had seemingly been extinguished forever, as even their names were erased from the historical record. With The Secret History of the Mongol Queens , a groundbreaking and magnificently researched narrative, Jack Weatherford restores the queens’ missing chapter to the annals of history.

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紅太陽是怎樣升起的 - 高華 Cover Art

紅太陽是怎樣升起的

紅太陽是怎樣升起的 延安整風運動的來龍去脈 by 高華

延安整風運動是深刻影響二十世紀中國歷史進程的重大事件,這是由毛澤東親自領導的中共黨內第一次大規模政治運動,也是建國後歷次政治運動的濫觴。毛澤東在延安整風中運用他所創造的思想改造和審幹、肅反兩種手段,全面清除了中共黨內存留的五四自由民主思想的影響,徹底轉換了中共的「俄化」氣質,重建了以毛澤東為絕對主宰的上層結構,奠定了黨的全盤毛澤東化的基礎,其間所產生的一系列概念、範式在1949年後改變了億萬中國人的生活和命運。本書作者歷時十餘年,搜尋考辨大量歷史資料,在此基礎上,從實證研究的角度,詳細剖析了延安整風的前因後果及運動所涉及的各個方面,力圖再現當年這場運動的歷史真貌,是目前海內外唯一一本全面研究延安整風運動的歷史著作。

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A Brief History of the Martial Arts - Jonathan Clements Cover Art

A Brief History of the Martial Arts

A Brief History of the Martial Arts East Asian Fighting Styles, from Kung Fu to Ninjutsu by Jonathan Clements

'If I had to pick a single general martial arts history book in English, I would recommend A Brief History of the Martial Arts by Dr Jonathan Clements' RICHARD BEITLICH, Martial History Team blog From Shaolin warrior monks to the movies of Bruce Lee, a new history of the evolution of East Asian styles of unarmed combat, from Kung Fu to Ninjutsu Folk tales of the Shaolin Temple depict warrior monks with superhuman abilities. Today, dozens of East Asian fighting styles trace their roots back to the Buddhist brawlers of Shaolin, although any quest for the true story soon wanders into a labyrinth of forgeries, secret texts and modern retellings. This new study approaches the martial arts from their origins in military exercises and callisthenics. It examines a rich folklore from old wuxia tales of crime-fighting heroes to modern kung fu movies. Centre stage is given to the stories that martial artists tell themselves about themselves, with accounts (both factual and fictional) of famous practitioners including China's Yim Wing-chun, Wong Fei-hong, and Ip Man, as well as Japanese counterparts such as Kano Jigoro, Itosu Anko and So Doshin. The history of martial arts encompasses secret societies and religious rebels, with intimate glimpses of the histories of China, Korea and Japan, their conflicts and transformations. The book also charts the migration of martial arts to the United States and beyond. Special attention is paid to the turmoil of the twentieth century, the cross-cultural influence of Japanese colonies in Asia, and the post-war rise of martial arts in sport and entertainment - including the legacy of Bruce Lee, the dilemma of the ninja and the global audience for martial arts in fiction.

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The School Of Sun Tzu - David G. Jones Cover Art

The School Of Sun Tzu

The School Of Sun Tzu Winning Empires Without War by David G. Jones

In The School of Sun Tzu , author David G. Jones offers a voyage of discovery into the world of competition and conflict. It presents fresh thought on how issue management without conflict can be applied in todays complex world. The School of Sun Tzu carefully examines and defines the Tao Te Ching/Ping-fa relationship, the period and context within which they were created, and what use they were intended to serve. It studies the theories and practices that helped found China and reveals the great achievements of Chinas first empire as well as the revisionist conspiracy that characterized the second. It also includes a thorough examination of how China developed a suite of strategic tools 2,300 years ago to end war and found an empire. Fusing history, politics, philosophy, and motivational theory, Jones challenges not only conventional wisdom regarding Sun Tzus Art of War, but even some generally accepted aspects of Chinese history. It offers enlightening insights into a methodology as valid today for relationship management as it was centuries ago.

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India: A Civilization of Differences - Alain Daniélou Cover Art

India: A Civilization of Differences

India: A Civilization of Differences The Ancient Tradition of Universal Tolerance by Alain Daniélou

A collection of Daniélou's writings that builds a bold and cogent defense of India's caste system • Looks at the Hindu caste system not as racist inequality but as a natural ordering of diversity • Reveals the stereotypes of Indian society invented to justify colonialism • Includes never-before-published articles by the internationally recognized Hindu scholar and translator of The Complete Kama Sutra (200,000 copies sold) In classical India social ethics are based on each individual's functional role in society. These ethics vary according to caste in order to maximize the individual's effectiveness in the social context. This is the definition of caste ethics. The Indian caste system is not a hierarchy with some who are privileged and others who are despised; it is a natural ordering, an organizing principle, of a society wherein differences are embraced rather than ignored. In the caste system it is up to the individual to achieve perfection in the state to which he or she is born, since to a certain extent that state also forms part of a person's nature. All people must accomplish their individual spiritual destinies while, as members of a social group, ensuring the continuity of the group and collaborating in creating a favorable framework for all human life--thereby fulfilling the collective destiny of the group. The notion of transmigration provides an equalizing effect on this prescribed system in that today's prince may be reborn as a woodcutter and the Brahman as a shoemaker. In India: A Civilization of Differences , Daniélou explores this seldom-heard side of the caste debate and argues effectively in its favor. This rare collection of the late author's writings contains several never-before-published articles and offers an in-depth look at the structure of Indian society before and after Western colonialism.

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Fushimi Inari-taisha - Sakura Tale Cover Art

Fushimi Inari-taisha

Fushimi Inari-taisha by Sakura Tale

Embark on a captivating exploration of one of Japan's most iconic spiritual landmarks with this book, a richly woven tapestry of history, mythology, and cultural evolution centered on Fushimi Inari Taisha. Nestled at the foot of Mount Inari in Kyoto, this sacred shrine, dedicated to the Shinto deity Inari Okami, has stood as a beacon of faith, resilience, and tradition for over 1,300 years. From its divine founding in 711 to its global recognition as a cultural icon in the 21st century, this book unveils the shrine's extraordinary story through vivid storytelling and meticulous historical detail. Journey through the ages as this book traces the shrine's rise from a divine omen on Mount Inari to its patronage by emperors and merchants alike. Uncover dramatic tales of conflict, such as the curse of the sacred trees in 827, and moments of triumph, like Fujiwara Tokihira's restoration in 908 and the rebuilding after the devastating Onin War. Marvel at the emergence of the mesmerizing Senbon Torii, the thousand vermilion gates funded by Edo-period devotees, and delve into the enigmatic symbolism of the kitsune—foxes revered as Inari's sacred messengers. This book also illuminates Fushimi Inari's adaptation to modern challenges, from the Meiji Restoration's transformation of Shinto to the delicate balance of preserving tradition amidst booming tourism in the modern era. With chapters exploring the shrine's spiritual heart—Mount Inari itself—and its enduring legacy as a global symbol of faith, this book invites readers to connect with the timeless allure of Inari worship.

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Confucius: The Secular as Sacred - Herbert Fingerette Cover Art

Confucius: The Secular as Sacred

Confucius: The Secular as Sacred by Herbert Fingerette

Fingarette invites us to reconsider what makes life worth living. From the Preface, "Confucius can be a teacher to us today. He tells us things not being said elsewhere; things needing to be said. He has a new lesson to teach.” This book succeeds, as few books do, to recall us to our humanity. Readers will leave the book changed by it.

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The Golden Road - William Dalrymple Cover Art

The Golden Road

The Golden Road How Ancient India Transformed the World by William Dalrymple

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER USA TODAY BESTSELLER A Kirkus Reviews Best History Book of 2025 * A Library Journal Best Book of the Year * An NPR Book We Loved This Year The instant New York Times bestseller and international sensation-a sparkling, soaring history of ideas, tracing South Asia's underappreciated role in producing the world as we know it. For a millennium and a half, India was a confident exporter of its diverse civilization. Indian art, religions, technology, astronomy, music, dance, literature, mathematics, and mythology blazed a trail across the world, along a Golden Road that stretched from the Red Sea to the Pacific. In The Golden Road, William Dalrymple gives a name to this spread of Indian ideas that transformed the world, drawing from a lifetime of scholarship to highlight India's oft-forgotten position as the heart of ancient Eurasia. From the largest Hindu temple in the world at Angkor Wat to the Buddhism of China, from the trade that helped fund the Roman Empire to the creation of the numerals we use today, India transformed the culture and technology of its ancient world-and our world today as we know it. And in this magisterial account, Dalrymple restores ancient India as a cultural and economic superpower.

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Vietnam - Max Hastings Cover Art

Vietnam

Vietnam An Epic Tragedy, 1945-1975 by Max Hastings

An absorbing and definitive modern history of the Vietnam War from the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Secret War. Vietnam became the Western world’s most divisive modern conflict, precipitating a battlefield humiliation for France in 1954, then a vastly greater one for the United States in 1975. Max Hastings has spent the past three years interviewing scores of participants on both sides, as well as researching a multitude of American and Vietnamese documents and memoirs, to create an epic narrative of an epic struggle. He portrays the set pieces of Dienbienphu, the 1968 Tet offensive, the air blitz of North Vietnam, and also much less familiar miniatures such as the bloodbath at Daido, where a US Marine battalion was almost wiped out, together with extraordinary recollections of Ho Chi Minh’s warriors. Here are the vivid realities of strife amid jungle and paddies that killed two million people. Many writers treat the war as a US tragedy, yet Hastings sees it as overwhelmingly that of the Vietnamese people, of whom forty died for every American. US blunders and atrocities were matched by those committed by their enemies. While all the world has seen the image of a screaming, naked girl seared by napalm, it forgets countless eviscerations, beheadings, and murders carried out by the communists. The people of both former Vietnams paid a bitter price for the Northerners’ victory in privation and oppression. Here is testimony from Vietcong guerrillas, Southern paratroopers, Saigon bargirls, and Hanoi students alongside that of infantrymen from South Dakota, Marines from North Carolina, and Huey pilots from Arkansas. No past volume has blended a political and military narrative of the entire conflict with heart-stopping personal experiences, in the fashion that Max Hastings’ readers know so well. The author suggests that neither side deserved to win this struggle with so many lessons for the twenty-first century about the misuse of military might to confront intractable political and cultural challenges. He marshals testimony from warlords and peasants, statesmen and soldiers, to create an extraordinary record.

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The Devil Reached Toward the Sky - Garrett M. Graff Cover Art

The Devil Reached Toward the Sky

The Devil Reached Toward the Sky An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb by Garrett M. Graff

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “Magisterial…A stunning account that brings to the fore the nuclear saga’s surreal combination of ingenuity, fate, and terror.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review) • “If you are an intelligent person, or at the very least think you are, you have to read The Devil Reached Toward the Sky …This period in history has never been more relevant and frightening than it is today.” —James Patterson • “Comprehensive and engrossing…Excellent oral history.” — Kirkus Reviews On the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, the Pulitzer Prize finalist whose work is “oral history at its finest” ( Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ) delivers an epic narrative of the atomic bomb’s creation and deployment, woven from the voices of hundreds of scientists, generals, soldiers, and civilians. The building of the atomic bomb is the most audacious undertaking in human history: a rush by a small group of scientists and engineers in complete secrecy to unlock the most fundamental power of the universe. Even today, the Manhattan Project evokes boldness, daring, and the grandest of dreams: bringing an end to World War II in the Pacific. As Marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen fight overseas, men and women strive to discover the atom’s secrets in places like Chicago, Berkeley, Oak Ridge, Hanford, and Los Alamos. On August 6, 1945, the world discovers what the end of the war—and the new global age—will look like. The road to the first atomic bomb ends in Hiroshima, Japan, but it begins in Hitler’s Europe, where brilliant physicists are forced to flee fascism and antisemitism—bringing to America their determination to harness atomic power before it falls into the Führer’s arsenal. The Devil Reached Toward the Sky traces the breakthroughs and the breakneck pace of atomic development in the years leading up to 1945, then takes us inside the B-29 bombers carrying Little Boy and Fat Man and finally to ground zero at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From Pulitzer Prize finalist Garrett M. Graff comes a panoramic narrative of how ordinary people grapple with extraordinary wartime risks, sacrifices, and choices that will transform the course of history. Engineers experiment with forces of terrifying power, knowing each passing day costs soldiers’ lives—but fearing too the consequences of their creation. Hundreds of thousands of workers toil around the clock to produce uranium and plutonium in an endeavor so classified that most people involved learn the reality of their effort only when it is announced on the radio by President Truman. The 509th Composite Group trains for a mission whose details are kept a mystery until shortly before takeoff, when the Enola Gay and Bockscar are loaded with bombs the crew has never seen. And the civilians of two Japanese cities that have been spared American attacks—preserved for the sake of judging the bomb’s power—escape their pulverized homes into a greater hellscape. Drawing from dozens of oral history archives and hundreds of books, reports, letters, and diaries, Graff masterfully blends the memories and perspectives from the known and unknown—key figures like J. Robert Oppenheimer, General Leslie Groves, and President Truman; the crews of the B-29 bombers; and the haunting stories of the Hibakusha—the “bomb-affected people.” Both a testament to human ingenuity and resilience and a compelling drama told by the participants who lived it, this book is a singular, profound, and searing work about the inception of our most powerful weapon and its haunting legacy.

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中国大历史 - 黄仁宇 Cover Art

中国大历史

中国大历史 by 黄仁宇

黄仁宇先生继《万历十五年》后,从1984年开始撰写《中国大历史》(China: A Macro History),对中国的历史与文明进行系统的分析与解释。1987年定稿,而于1988年由美国Sharpe出版公司出版。出版后,普受好评与重视,1990年再印行修订版。 《中国大历史》涵盖了从史前到当代的历史发展过程,虽然是通史性的论著,却突破了传统通史的格局。写作方式上,仍然保持黄仁宇先生的一贯风格:从小事件看大道理;从长远的社会、经济结构观察历史的脉动;从中西的比较提示中国历史的特殊问题。解释观点上,黄仁宇先生仍然秉持他的“大历史”角度,注重人物与时势的交互作用,理念与制度的差距,行政技术与经济组织的冲突,以及上层结构与下层结构的结合。 黄仁宇先生以他独到的历史眼光,赋予幽远辽阔的中国历史一个现代的生命,不但引人入胜,而且发人深思。

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In Our Image - Stanley Karnow Cover Art

In Our Image

In Our Image America's Empire in the Philippines by Stanley Karnow

“A brilliant, coherent social and political overview spanning three turbulent centuries.”—San Francisco Chronicle   Stanley Karnow won the Pulitzer Prize for this account of America’s imperial experience in the Philippines. In a swiftly paced, brilliantly vivid narrative, Karnow focuses on the relationship that has existed between the two nations since the United States acquired the country from Spain in 1898, examining how we have sought to remake the Philippines “in our image,” an experiment marked from the outset by blundering, ignorance, and mutual misunderstanding.   “Stanley Karnow has written the ultimate book—brilliant, panoramic, engrossing—about American behavior overseas in the twentieth century.” — The Boston Sunday Globe   “A page-turning story and authoritative history.” — The New York Times   “Perhaps the best journalist writing on Asian affairs.” — Newsweek

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明朝那些事儿(上) - 当年明月 Cover Art

明朝那些事儿(上)

明朝那些事儿(上) by 当年明月

我早就从一些年轻朋友的口中听说有一部《明朝那些事儿》,听说它在网上受到了广泛的欢迎。朋友们问我,你怎么看待这种写法呢?我说,历史是千百万人的历史,是大家的历史,每个人都有解读历史的权力。而且,从来每个人由于立场和学养的不同,所看到的历史都是不同的。我们既不能要求历史写作的手法千人一面,又不能要求对历史的结论定于一尊。如同我们听歌唱,无论是学院派的美声的、民族的,还是山野的原生态的,都有存在的价值。其根本在于歌唱者的态度是严肃的,所献出的是精品。换句话说,无论是学院派的美声的、民族的,还是山野的原生态的歌唱者,如果其态度是不严肃的,所献出的不是精品,也是得不到欢迎的。 作者当年明月说:自己的写法是“以史料为基础,以年代和具体人物为主线,并加入了小说的笔法和对人物的心理分析,以及对当时政治经济制度的一些评价”,并且说,其作品“不是小说,不是史书”,“姑且叫做《明札记》”。这的确是别开生面的,是一种创造。我热情地支持这种探索和创造!期待他把这三百年写完。 让我们以更为轻松的状态走进历史吧。 作者当年明月写轻松的历史,其实并不轻松;大家轻松地读历史,希望真的很轻松。

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The Secret History of the Mongols - Christopher P. Atwood Cover Art

The Secret History of the Mongols

The Secret History of the Mongols by Christopher P. Atwood

A new translation of a great historical epic, recounting the turbulent life and times of Chinggis Khan 'Bear the sword and Hew asunder high and haughty necks Slash apart all strong and self-willed shoulders' Born poor into a world of dangers and hardships, Chinggis (or Genghis) Khan would grow up to unify Mongolia and conquer a vast empire stretching from modern-day Beijing to Baghdad. The Secret History of the Mongols , written after Chinggis's death in the thirteenth century, is a great historical saga recounting not only his turbulent life and times, but that of his loved ones, ancestors and heirs. This remarkable new translation of the earliest surviving work written in Mongolian gives insight into a world of warlords, kinship, horses, yurts, shamans and vast landscapes, where bloody battles and violent family conflicts are impelled by Heaven's destiny. Translated with an introduction by Christopher P. Atwood

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Central Asia - Adeeb Khalid Cover Art

Central Asia

Central Asia A New History from the Imperial Conquests to the Present by Adeeb Khalid

A major history of Central Asia and how it has been shaped by modern world events Central Asia is often seen as a remote and inaccessible land on the peripheries of modern history. Encompassing Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and the Xinjiang province of China, it in fact stands at the crossroads of world events. Adeeb Khalid provides the first comprehensive history of Central Asia from the mid-eighteenth century to today, shedding light on the historical forces that have shaped the region under imperial and Communist rule. Predominantly Muslim with both nomadic and settled populations, the peoples of Central Asia came under Russian and Chinese rule after the 1700s. Khalid shows how foreign conquest knit Central Asians into global exchanges of goods and ideas and forged greater connections to the wider world. He explores how the Qing and Tsarist empires dealt with ethnic heterogeneity, and compares Soviet and Chinese Communist attempts at managing national and cultural difference. He highlights the deep interconnections between the "Russian" and "Chinese" parts of Central Asia that endure to this day, and demonstrates how Xinjiang remains an integral part of Central Asia despite its fraught and traumatic relationship with contemporary China. The essential history of one of the most diverse and culturally vibrant regions on the planet, this panoramic book reveals how Central Asia has been profoundly shaped by the forces of modernity, from colonialism and social revolution to nationalism, state-led modernization, and social engineering.

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Taiping Rebellion - Hourly History Cover Art

Taiping Rebellion

Taiping Rebellion by Hourly History

In 1837, Hong Xiuquan failed the notoriously difficult exam to gain entry to the Chinese Civil Service and suffered a nervous breakdown. In a weakened state, he had visions which he later interpreted to be messages from God, telling him that he is the younger brother of Jesus Christ and, therefore, the second son of God. By 1850, Hong had built an army, challenged an empire, and plunged China into the bloodiest civil war in human history, one that lasted fourteen years and cost more lives than the First World War. Discover a plethora of topics such as The Visions of Hong Xiuquan Fighting the Xiang Army Coups within the Taiping Kingdom The Reforms of the Shield King The Ever-Victorious Army The End of the Taiping Rebellion: Death by a Thousand Cuts And much more! Explore the Taiping Rebellion, one of the deadliest conflicts in history, as religious revolutionaries challenged the Qing Dynasty in 19th-century China. This massive civil war reshaped the nation's future. Perfect for history enthusiasts and students of global conflict. Get your copy today and uncover the story of this monumental uprising!

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Eight Lectures on India - Halford John Mackinder Cover Art

Eight Lectures on India

Eight Lectures on India by Halford John Mackinder

India is an empire within an empire. There are four hundred million people in the British Empire, and of these three hundred million are in India. Though it is known by a single short name, India must not be compared with countries such as France and Germany. As regards both area and population it is the equal of half Europe, that half which includes all the countries except Russia. It is a land of many languages, some of them spoken by as many people as speak German or French. It is a land of several religions, differing more deeply than the sects of Europe It is, in short, a world in itself, of ancient civilisation, yet as the result of a wonderful modern history there is to-day peace from end to end of it, for though the systems of government are very different in different parts, yet everywhere the rulers, whether British officials or native princes, acknowledge the sovereignty or the suzerainty of His Imperial Majesty King George the Fifth. Map of Journey, London to Colombo.| India lies one quarter way round the globe, or ninety degrees eastward from Britain. It is placed wholly in warmer latitudes than Europe, for the northernmost point of India is almost precisely in the latitude of the southernmost point of Europe. It occupies the same latitudes as the great western wing of Africa. If lifted bodily northward and placed upon the map of Europe, it would extend from Gibraltar, past Spain, France, and Britain to a point beyond the Shetland Isles. The British Empire in India was won, organised, and defended in the days before steam. Access to it was possible only by sailing ship round the Cape of Good Hope, by an ocean path, that is to say, more than ten thousand miles long. The voyage took several months. To-day the British official, and soldier, and merchant go from London to Bombay, and the Indian student comes from Bombay to London in a fortnight. As we see on the map, the route is by rail to Dover, across the Straits of Dover, and by rail again through France to Marseilles. There the traveller joins the steamer which has carried a cargo, probably of cottons and machinery, through the Bay of Biscay. From Marseilles the track is through the two Straits of Bonifacio and Messina to the entry of the Suez Canal at Port Said. Here the mails are put on board, which have come through the Italian peninsula to Brindisi, and thence by rapid steamer. Thus it is only from Port Said through the Canal and the Red Sea to Aden that the vessel carries her complete burden—mails and passengers, and cargo. The redistribution commences at Aden. Our steamer happens to be bound, not for Bombay, but for Colombo and Australia, and the Indian mails and passengers are transferred at Aden to a local steamer, which crosses to Bombay. From London to Colombo and Bombay is the naval high street of the British Empire. At Gibraltar, Malta, and Aden, where the waterways narrow and enemies might obstruct, are British garrisons and naval stations. Even the Suez Canal is partly owned by the British Government. A generation ago shares in that great undertaking were purchased by the United Kingdom for four million pounds sterling. To-day the British shares in the Canal are valued at more than thirty millions sterling, and each year a profit of more than a million pounds is paid into the British Exchequer. There is a garrison of British troops also in Egypt. Colombo is one of the chief centres of communication in the world. Some day, when the Dominions beyond the seas have grown to be as rich and as populous as Britain herself, the way through the Mediterranean, to-day all important, will be reckoned as one of several equal threads of imperial power. Other great streams of traffic, India-bound, will then converge upon Colombo from the Cape in the southwest, from Australia in the southeast, and by way of Singapore from Canada in the east.

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Formosa Betrayed - George H. Kerr Cover Art

Formosa Betrayed

Formosa Betrayed by George H. Kerr

Formosa Betrayed is a detailed, impassioned account of Chinese Nationalist (KMT) misrule that remains the most important English-language book ever written about Taiwan. Author George H. Kerr lived in Taiwan in the late 1930s, when the island was a colony of Japan. During the war, he worked for the U.S. Navy as a Taiwan expert. From 1945 to 1947, Kerr served as vice consul of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Taipei, where he was an eyewitness to the February 28 Massacre and the subsequent mass arrests and executions. As well as chronicling KMT repression during the early years of the White Terror, Kerr documents widespread corruption, showing how the island was systematically looted. The “betrayed” in the title refers not only to the crushing disappointment Taiwanese felt when they realized KMT rule was worse than that of the Japanese but also to the culpability of the American government. The United States was in large part responsible for handing Taiwan over to the Nationalists and helping them maintain their grip on power.  Formosa Betrayed has served as a foundational text for generations of Taiwanese democracy and independence activists. It had an explosive effect among overseas Taiwanese students; for many, the book was their first encounter in print with their country’s dark, forbidden history. A 1974 Chinese-language translation increased its impact still more. It is a powerful classic that has withstood the test of time, a must-read book that will change the way you look at Taiwan.

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A Brief History of the Samurai - Jonathan Clements Cover Art

A Brief History of the Samurai

A Brief History of the Samurai by Jonathan Clements

'Clements has a knack for writing suspenseful sure-footed conflict scenes: His recounting of the Korean invasion led by samurai and daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi reads like a thriller. If you're looking for a samurai primer, Clements' guide will keep you on the hook' Japan Times , reviewed as part of an Essential Reading for Japanophiles series From a leading expert in Japanese history, this is one of the first full histories of the art and culture of the Samurai warrior. The Samurai emerged as a warrior caste in Medieval Japan and would have a powerful influence on the history and culture of the country from the next 500 years. Clements also looks at the Samurai wars that tore Japan apart in the 17th and 18th centuries and how the caste was finally demolished in the advent of the mechanized world.

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The Forgotten Highlander - Alistair Urquhart Cover Art

The Forgotten Highlander

The Forgotten Highlander An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific by Alistair Urquhart

Alistair Urquhart was a soldier in the Gordon Highlanders, captured by the Japanese in Singapore. Forced into manual labor as a POW, he survived 750 days in the jungle working as a slave on the notorious “Death Railway” and building the Bridge on the River Kwai. Subsequently, he moved to work on a Japanese “hellship,” his ship was torpedoed, and nearly everyone on board the ship died. Not Urquhart. After five days adrift on a raft in the South China Sea, he was rescued by a Japanese whaling ship. His luck would only get worse as he was taken to Japan and forced to work in a mine near Nagasaki. Two months later, he was just ten miles from ground zero when an atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. In late August 1945, he was freed by the American Navy—a living skeleton—and had his first wash in three and a half years. This is the extraordinary story of a young man, conscripted at nineteen, who survived not just one, but three encounters with death, any of which should have probably killed him. Silent for over fifty years, this is Urquhart’s inspirational tale in his own words. It is as moving as any memoir and as exciting as any great war movie.

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War Plan Taiwan - Rowan Allport Cover Art

War Plan Taiwan

War Plan Taiwan OPLAN 5077 and the U.S. Struggle for the Pacific by Rowan Allport

In an era when the balance of power in the Western Pacific could determine the course of global security, the possibility of war over Taiwan has shifted from theoretical debate to urgent reality. The island’s defense is no longer just a regional matter but a flashpoint that could draw the United States, its allies, and China into a confrontation with worldwide consequences. War Plan Taiwan places today’s headlines into a century-long continuum of U.S. military planning, revealing how Washington has prepared for—and at times narrowly avoided—conflict in the Pacific. War Plan Taiwan charts the defense challenges the Western Pacific has presented to the United States since its establishment as a territorial presence in the region, including in the context of preparation for and execution of the war against Imperial Japan, the subsequent threat from the Soviet Union, and the rise of China.  Incorporating a historical narrative of U.S.-Taiwan defense relations and concluding with an examination of the potential course of a 2029 conflict between a U.S.-led coalition and China in the region, this book is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to understand Taiwan’s pivotal position in today’s new Cold War.  

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Fall of Civilizations - Paul Cooper Cover Art

Fall of Civilizations

Fall of Civilizations Stories of Greatness and Decline by Paul Cooper

"A treasure trove of myths and terror… Atmospheric as hell… Immersive."―The Times Based on the podcast with over one hundred million downloads, Fall of Civilizations brilliantly explores how a range of ancient societies rose to power and sophistication, and how they tipped over into collapse. Across the centuries, we journey from the great empires of Mesopotamia to those of Khmer and Vijayanagara in Asia and Songhai in West Africa; from Byzantium to the Maya, Inca and Aztecs of Central America; from Roman Britain to Rapa Nui. With meticulous research, breathtaking insight and dazzling, empathic storytelling, historian and novelist Paul Cooper evokes the majesty and jeopardy of these ancient civilizations, and asks what it might have felt like for a person alive at the time to witness the end of their world.

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Escape from Camp 14 - Blaine Harden Cover Art

Escape from Camp 14

Escape from Camp 14 One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden

“If you have a soul, you will be changed forever by Blaine Harden’s Escape from Camp 14." — Mitchell Zuckoff, New York Times bestselling author of Lost in Shangri-La The heartwrenching New York Times bestseller about the only known person born inside a North Korean prison camp to have escaped North Korea’s political prison camps have existed twice as long as Stalin’s Soviet gulags and twelve times as long as the Nazi concentration camps. No one born and raised in these camps is known to have escaped. No one, that is, except Shin Dong-hyuk. In Escape From Camp 14 , Blaine Harden unlocks the secrets of the world’s most repressive totalitarian state through the story of Shin’s shocking imprisonment and his astounding getaway. Shin knew nothing of civilized existence—he saw his mother as a competitor for food, guards raised him to be a snitch, and he witnessed the execution of his mother and brother. The late “Dear Leader” Kim Jong Il was recognized throughout the world, but his country remains sealed as his third son and chosen heir, Kim Jong Eun, consolidates power. Few foreigners are allowed in, and few North Koreans are able to leave. North Korea is hungry, bankrupt, and armed with nuclear weapons. It is also a human rights catastrophe. Between 150,000 and 200,000 people work as slaves in its political prison camps. These camps are clearly visible in satellite photographs, yet North Korea’s government denies they exist. Harden’s harrowing narrative exposes this hidden dystopia, focusing on an extraordinary young man who came of age inside the highest security prison in the highest security state. Escape from Camp 14 offers an unequalled inside account of one of the world’s darkest nations. It is a tale of endurance and courage, survival and hope.

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Three Cups of Tea - Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin Cover Art

Three Cups of Tea

Three Cups of Tea One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin

The astonishing, uplifting story of a real-life Indiana Jones and his humanitarian campaign to use education to combat terrorism in the Taliban’s backyard Anyone who despairs of the individual’s power to change lives has to read the story of Greg Mortenson, a homeless mountaineer who, following a 1993 climb of Pakistan’s treacherous K2, was inspired by a chance encounter with impoverished mountain villagers and promised to build them a school. Over the next decade he built fifty-five schools—especially for girls—that offer a balanced education in one of the most isolated and dangerous regions on earth. As it chronicles Mortenson’s quest, which has brought him into conflict with both enraged Islamists and uncomprehending Americans, Three Cups of Tea combines adventure with a celebration of the humanitarian spirit.

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On China - Henry Kissinger Cover Art

On China

On China by Henry Kissinger

“ Fascinating, shrewd . . . The book deftly traces the rhythms and patterns of Chinese history. ” —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times “No one can lay claim to so much influence on the shaping of foreign policy over the past 50 years as Henry Kissinger.” — The Financial Times In this sweeping and insightful history, Henry Kissinger turns for the first time at book length to a country he has known intimately for decades and whose modern relations with the West he helped shape. On China illuminates the inner workings of Chinese diplomacy during such pivotal events as the initial encounters between China and tight line modern European powers, the formation and breakdown of the Sino-Soviet alliance, the Korean War, and Richard Nixon’s historic trip to Beijing. With a new final chapter on the emerging superpower’s twenty-first-century role in global politics and economics, On China provides historical perspective on Chinese foreign affairs from one of the premier statesmen of our time.

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Dereliction of Duty - H. R. McMaster Cover Art

Dereliction of Duty

Dereliction of Duty Johnson, McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff by H. R. McMaster

"The war in Vietnam was not lost in the field, nor was it lost on the front pages of the New York Times or the college campuses. It was lost in Washington, D.C."  —H. R. McMaster (from the Conclusion) Dereliction Of Duty is a stunning analysis of how and why the United States became involved in an all-out and disastrous war in Southeast Asia. Fully and convincingly researched, based on transcripts and personal accounts of crucial meetings, confrontations and decisions, it is the only book that fully re-creates what happened and why. McMaster pinpoints the policies and decisions that got the United States into the morass and reveals who made these decisions and the motives behind them, disproving the published theories of other historians and excuses of the participants. A page-turning narrative, Dereliction Of Duty focuses on a fascinating cast of characters: President Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, General Maxwell Taylor, McGeorge Bundy and other top aides who deliberately deceived the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. Congress and the American public. McMaster’s only book, Dereliction of Duty is an explosive and authoritative new look at the controversy concerning the United States involvement in Vietnam.

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Without You, There Is No Us - Suki Kim Cover Art

Without You, There Is No Us

Without You, There Is No Us Undercover Among the Sons of North Korea's Elite by Suki Kim

A haunting account of teaching English to the sons of North Korea's ruling class during the last six months of Kim Jong-il's reign   Every day, three times a day, the students march in two straight lines, singing praises to Kim Jong-il and North Korea: Without you, there is no motherland. Without you, there is no us. It is a chilling scene, but gradually Suki Kim, too, learns the tune and, without noticing, begins to hum it. It is 2011, and all universities in North Korea have been shut down for an entire year, the students sent to construction fields—except for the 270 students at the all-male Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), a walled compound where portraits of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il look on impassively from the walls of every room, and where Suki has gone undercover as a missionary and a teacher. Over the next six months, she will eat three meals a day with her young charges and struggle to teach them English, all under the watchful eye of the regime. Life at PUST is lonely and claustrophobic, especially for Suki, whose letters are read by censors and who must hide her notes and photographs not only from her minders but from her colleagues—evangelical Christian missionaries who don't know or choose to ignore that Suki doesn't share their faith. As the weeks pass, she is mystified by how easily her students lie, unnerved by their obedience to the regime. At the same time, they offer Suki tantalizing glimpses of their private selves—their boyish enthusiasm, their eagerness to please, the flashes of curiosity that have not yet been extinguished. She in turn begins to hint at the existence of a world beyond their own—at such exotic activities as surfing the Internet or traveling freely and, more dangerously, at electoral democracy and other ideas forbidden in a country where defectors risk torture and execution. But when Kim Jong-il dies, and the boys she has come to love appear devastated, she wonders whether the gulf between her world and theirs can ever be bridged. Without You, There Is No Us offers a moving and incalculably rare glimpse of life in the world's most unknowable country, and at the privileged young men she calls "soldiers and slaves."

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