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

1

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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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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The Vietnam War - Geoffrey Wawro Cover Art

The Vietnam War

The Vietnam War A Military History by Geoffrey Wawro

“Remarkable… the best overview of America’s misadventure in Southeast Asia, and it is sure to become the standard one-volume book on the war.” – Thomas E. Ricks, New York Times The Vietnam War cast a shadow over the American psyche from the moment it began. In its time it sparked budget deficits, campus protests, and an erosion of US influence around the world. Long after the last helicopter evacuated Saigon, Americans have continued to battle over whether it was ever a winnable war. Based on thousands of pages of military, diplomatic, and intelligence documents, Geoffrey Wawro’s The Vietnam War offers a definitive account of a war of choice that was doomed from its inception. In devastating detail, Wawro narrates campaigns where US troops struggled even to find the enemy in the South Vietnamese wilderness, let alone kill sufficient numbers to turn the tide in their favor. Yet the war dragged on, prolonged by presidents and military leaders who feared the political consequences of accepting defeat. In the end, no number of young lives lost or bombs dropped could prevent America’s ally, the corrupt South Vietnamese regime, from collapsing the moment US troops retreated. Broad, definitive, and illuminating, The Vietnam War offers an unsettling, resonant story of the limitations of American power.

4

In Siberia - Colin Thubron Cover Art

In Siberia

In Siberia by Colin Thubron

As mysterious as its beautiful, as forbidding as it is populated with warm-hearted people, Syberia is a land few Westerners know, and even fewer will ever visit. Traveling alone, by train, boat, car, and on foot, Colin Thubron traversed this vast territory, talking to everyone he encountered about the state of the beauty, whose natural resources have been savagely exploited for decades; a terrain tainted by nuclear waste but filled with citizens who both welcomed him and fed him—despite their own tragic poverty. From Mongoloia to the Artic Circle, from Rasputin's village in the west through tundra, taiga, mountains, lakes, rivers, and finally to a derelict Jewish community in the country's far eastern reaches, Colin Thubron penetrates a little-understood part of the world in a way that no writer ever has.

5

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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China - John Keay Cover Art

China

China A History by John Keay

An authoritative account of five thousand years of Chinese history. "Exquisitely written." — Guardian Many nations define themselves in terms of territory or people; China defines itself in terms of history. Taking into account the country's unrivaled, voluminous tradition of history writing, John Keay has composed a vital and illuminating overview of the nation's complex and vivid past. Keay's authoritative history examines 5,000 years in China, from the time of the Three Dynasties through Chairman Mao and the recent economic transformation of the country. Crisp, judicious, and engaging, China is the classic single-volume history for anyone seeking to understand the present and future of this immensely powerful nation.

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China Marine - E.B. Sledge Cover Art

China Marine

China Marine by E.B. Sledge

From the respected author of one of the best books on World War II combat, comes an equally captivating saga of battle recovery, healing, and homecoming.  China Marine is the long-awaited sequel to E. B. Sledge’s critically acclaimed memoir, With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa. Picking up where his previous memoir leaves off, Sledge, a young marine in the First Division, traces his company’s movements and charts his own difficult passage to peace following his horrific experiences in the Pacific. He reflects on his duty in the ancient city of Peiping (now Beijing) and recounts the difficulty of returning to his hometown of Mobile, Alabama, and resuming civilian life haunted by the shadows of close combat. Distinguished historians have praised Sledge’s first book as the definitive rifleman’s account of World War II, ranking it with the Civil War’s Red Badge of Courage and World War I’s All Quiet on the Western Front. Although With the Old Breed ends with the surrender of Japan, marines in the Pacific were still faced with the mission of disarming the immense Japanese forces on the Asian mainland and reestablishing order. For infantrymen so long engaged in the savage and surreal world of close combat, there remained the personal tasks of regaining normalcy and dealing with suppressed memories, fears, and guilt.  In China Marine , E. B. Sledge completes his story and provides emotional closure to the searing events detailed in his first memoir. He speaks frankly about the real costs of war, emotional and psychological as well as physical, and explains the lifetime loyalties that develop between men who face fear, loss, and horror together. That bond becomes one of the newfound treasures of life after battle. With his hallmark style of simplicity, directness, and lack of sentimentality, “Sledgehammer” has given us yet another great document of war literature.

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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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Restless Empire - Odd Arne Westad Cover Art

Restless Empire

Restless Empire China and the World Since 1750 by Odd Arne Westad

As the twenty-first century dawns, China stands at a crossroads. The largest and most populous country on earth and currently the world's second biggest economy, China has recently reclaimed its historic place at the center of global affairs after decades of internal chaos and disastrous foreign relations. But even as China tentatively reengages with the outside world, the contradictions of its development risks pushing it back into an era of insularity and instability -- a regression that, as China's recent history shows, would have serious implications for all other nations. In Restless Empire , award-winning historian Odd Arne Westad traces China's complex foreign affairs over the past 250 years, identifying the forces that will determine the country's path in the decades to come. Since the height of the Qing Empire in the eighteenth century, China's interactions -- and confrontations -- with foreign powers have caused its worldview to fluctuate wildly between extremes of dominance and subjugation, emulation and defiance. From the invasion of Burma in the 1760s to the Boxer Rebellion in the early 20th century to the 2001 standoff over a downed U.S. spy plane, many of these encounters have left Chinese with a lingering sense of humiliation and resentment, and inflamed their notions of justice, hierarchy, and Chinese centrality in world affairs. Recently, China's rising influence on the world stage has shown what the country stands to gain from international cooperation and openness. But as Westad shows, the nation's success will ultimately hinge on its ability to engage with potential international partners while simultaneously safeguarding its own strength and stability. An in-depth study by one of our most respected authorities on international relations and contemporary East Asian history, Restless Empire is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the recent past and probable future of this dynamic and complex nation.

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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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The Aquariums of Pyongyang - Chol-hwan Kang & Pierre Rigoulot Cover Art

The Aquariums of Pyongyang

The Aquariums of Pyongyang Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag by Chol-hwan Kang & Pierre Rigoulot

"Destined to become a classic" (Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking ), this harrowing memoir of life inside North Korea was the first account to emerge from the notoriously secretive country -- and it remains one of the most terrifying. Amid escalating nuclear tensions, Kim Jong-un and North Korea's other leaders have kept a tight grasp on their one-party state, quashing any nascent opposition movements and sending all suspected dissidents to its brutal concentration camps for "re-education." Kang Chol-Hwan is the first survivor of one of these camps to escape and tell his story to the world, documenting the extreme conditions in these gulags and providing a personal insight into life in North Korea. Sent to the notorious labor camp Yodok when he was nine years old, Kang observed frequent public executions and endured forced labor and near-starvation rations for ten years. In 1992, he escaped to South Korea, where he found God and now advocates for human rights in North Korea. Part horror story, part historical document, part memoir, part political tract, this book brings together unassailable firsthand experience, setting one young man's personal suffering in the wider context of modern history, giving eyewitness proof to the abuses perpetrated by the North Korean regime.

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Pol Pot - Philip Short Cover Art

Pol Pot

Pol Pot Anatomy of a Nightmare by Philip Short

“A superb, authoritative account of the man and the madness that transformed Cambodia, almost overnight, into hell on earth”— The New York Times The leading biographer offers a searing, firsthand account of the despot's ideology and the horrors of his reign. Observing Pol Pot at close quarters during the one and only official visit he ever made abroad, to China in 1975, Philip Short was struck by the Cambodian leader's charm and charisma. Yet Pol Pot's utopian experiments in social engineering would result in the death of one in every five Cambodians—more than a million people. How did an idealistic dream of justice and prosperity mutate into one of humanity's worst nightmares? To answer these questions, Short traveled through Cambodia, interviewing former Khmer Rouge leaders and sifting through previously closed archives around the world. Key figures, including Khieu Samphan and Ieng Sary, Pol's brother-in-law and foreign minister, speak here for the first time. Short's masterly narrative serves as the definitive portrait of the man who headed one of the most enigmatic and terrifying regimes of modern times. "Short chronicles the stages of the Cambodian revolution with admirable clarity . . . A few chilling details, expertly deployed, do the necessary work." — The New York Times "A spectacularly efficient job of describing what happened and why . . . A chillingly clear portrait." — The Economist

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Over the Beach - Zalin Grant Cover Art

Over the Beach

Over the Beach The Air War in Vietnam by Zalin Grant

"The Right Stuff without the hype, Yeager without the ego."—Washington Post Book World "While the jet-jockey competitiveness, the undercurrent of fear, the victories and foul-ups of jet sweeps have been described many times, few such chronicles have done it so grippingly and with such a ring of accuracy. Mr. Grant explores the emotions felt not only by the men in battle but by the wives and others left behind, and the questions the war raised in their minds. To put in larger context the war's impact on individual participants, the author periodically reviews the high-level struggles over how to fight the air war. "What is most impressive is to find an analysis so clearly stated, so seemingly on track in locating the weak spots in the policies of various political and military officials....Written in a straightforward yet stylish prose, Over the Beach carries tremendous conviction."—Richard Witkin, New York Times Book Review

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The Confusions of Pleasure - Timothy Brook Cover Art

The Confusions of Pleasure

The Confusions of Pleasure Commerce and Culture in Ming China by Timothy Brook

The Ming dynasty was the last great Chinese dynasty before the Manchu conquest in 1644. During that time, China, not Europe, was the center of the world: the European voyages of exploration were searching not just for new lands but also for new trade routes to the Far East. In this book, Timothy Brook eloquently narrates the changing landscape of life over the three centuries of the Ming (1368-1644), when China was transformed from a closely administered agrarian realm into a place of commercial profits and intense competition for status. The Confusions of Pleasure marks a significant departure from the conventional ways in which Chinese history has been written. Rather than recounting the Ming dynasty in a series of political events and philosophical achievements, it narrates this longue durée in terms of the habits and strains of everyday life. Peppered with stories of real people and their negotiations of a rapidly changing world, this book provides a new way of seeing the Ming dynasty that not only contributes to the scholarly understanding of the period but also provides an entertaining and accessible introduction to Chinese history for anyone.

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On the Brink - Eric Setzekorn Cover Art

On the Brink

On the Brink A Military History of Taiwan by Eric Setzekorn

Drawing on newly declassified U.S. records and Chinese-language sources, this is the first comprehensive history of Taiwan’s armed forces and their central role in resisting Chinese pressure for more than seventy-five years. It reveals how Taiwan built a resilient military under extreme constraints, forged a lasting U.S. security partnership, and helped shape the island’s democratic transformation.  Since 1949, Taiwan’s armed forces have faced the daunting task of defending an island less than one hundred miles from China’s coast against a far larger adversary. Spanning seventy-five years of conflict, deterrence, and adaptation, the military has not only ensured the island’s survival, but has also shaped its political transformation and place in the international system. In On the Brink, author Eric Setzekorn offers the first comprehensive history of Taiwan’s armed forces, situating their experience at the center of debates over security in East Asia.  At its core is the account of how Taiwan confronted the threat of the People’s Republic of China and built a credible defense under severe financial, technological, and diplomatic constraints. Military leaders and policymakers sustained deterrence through decades of U.S. assistance and cooperation, creating one of Washington’s most effective and enduring security partnerships. The resilience of this relationship stands in sharp contrast to troubled American efforts in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, highlighting Taiwan as a rare success story in alliance and defense policy.  The Taiwanese military reaches deeply into Taiwanese society. Conscription touches nearly all households, veterans shape communities, and the gradual integration of women has reflected broader cultural change. During Taiwan’s democratic transition, the armed forces remained central, influencing debates over citizenship, identity, and reform. Rather than existing apart from society, the military is embedded in the fabric of everyday life and political change.  Based on newly declassified U.S. records, Chinese-language sources, and the author’s background as both a U.S. Army officer and historian, On the Brink weaves military, political, and diplomatic history into a unified narrative. It challenges portrayals of Taiwan as a passive object of great-power rivalry, showing instead how its armed forces forged resilience, supported democratization, and sustained deterrence against China for more than three quarters of a century.  Accessible yet rigorous, this work speaks to historians of modern East Asia, scholars of security studies, and readers concerned with the future of U.S.-China competition. More than a chronicle of past conflicts, it offers a framework for thinking about deterrence, alliance, and strategy in one of the most contested regions of the twenty-first century. 

16

Liban - Stéphanie Baz-Hatem Cover Art

Liban

Liban Debout malgré tout by Stéphanie Baz-Hatem

Le Liban est le poème tragique d’un peuple qui, bien qu’éparpillé aux quatre coins du monde, reste férocement attaché à ses paysages, son héritage et sa culture. Car le pays des cèdres vit ! Il vit parce que les Libanais, hantés par sa disparition aux mains des clans et des factions, veulent conjuguer l’avenir. Mais comment raconter le désastre quand la vie continue ? Le spectre d’un retour de la guerre et l’incapacité de retrouver une concorde nationale ruinent les rêves des Libanais. L’écriture passionnée de Stéphanie Baz-Hatem est à l’image de son pays, qu’elle ne veut pas voir céder aux sirènes du chaos. Ce petit livre n’est pas un guide. Il est une invitation à se laisser séduire par le Liban d’aujourd’hui. Parce que l’âme d’un pays s’écrit aussi avec des mots d’amour. Un grand récit suivi d’entretiens avec Carla Eddé, Walid Joumblatt, Ziad Majed, Joumana Haddad et Paul Naggear. À PROPOS DE L'AUTEURE Franco-libanaise résidant à Paris, après avoir vécu longtemps à Beyrouth, Stéphanie Baz-Hatem est conseillère et consultante en communication. Spécialisée en politique française et européenne, elle conseille différents organismes internationaux et personnalités publiques.

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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 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 Winner of the Mark Lynton History Prize 2026 * 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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Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism - Robert Jay Lifton Cover Art

Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism

Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism A Study of 'brainwashing' in China by Robert Jay Lifton

Informed by Erik Erikson’s concept of the formation of ego identity, this book, which first appreared in 1961, is an analysis of the experiences of fifteen Chinese citizens and twenty-five Westerners who underwent “brainwashing” by the Communist Chinese government. Robert Lifton constructs these case histories through personal interviews and outlines a thematic pattern of death and rebirth, accompanied by feelings of guilt, that characterizes the process of “thought reform.” In a new preface, Lifton addresses the implications of his model for the study of American religious cults.

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Among the Headhunters - Robert Lyman Cover Art

Among the Headhunters

Among the Headhunters An Extraordinary World War II Story of Survival in the Burmese Jungle by Robert Lyman

The dramatic true story of twenty Americans fighting to survive after their plane crashes in a treacherous Burmese jungle during World War II. "This is an extraordinary story of the sudden confrontation of two civilizations on the edge of the British Empire which ended in harmony and affection. It is excellently told, exciting, vivid, and moving." —Alan MacFarlane, author of Riddle of the Modern World , The Savage Wars of Peace , and Empire of Tea Flying the notorious "Hump" route between India and China in 1943, a twin-engine plane suffered mechanical failure and crashed in a dense mountain jungle, deep within Japanese-held territory. Among the passengers and crew were celebrated CBS journalist Eric Sevareid, an OSS operative who was also a Soviet double agent, and General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell's personal political adviser. Against the odds, all but one of the twenty-one people aboard the doomed aircraft survived—it remains the largest civilian evacuation of an aircraft by parachute. But they fell from the frying pan into the fire. Disentangling themselves from their parachutes, the shocked survivors discovered that they had arrived in wild country dominated by a tribe with a special reason to hate white men. The Nagas were notorious headhunters who routinely practiced slavery and human sacrifice, their specialty being the removal of enemy heads. Japanese soldiers lay close by, too, with their own brand of hatred for Americans. Among the Headhunters tells—for the first time—the incredible true story of the adventures of these men among the Naga warriors, their sustenance from the air by the USAAF, and their ultimate rescue. It is also a story of two very different worlds colliding—young Americans, exuberant apostles of their country's vast industrial democracy, coming face-to-face with the Naga, an ancient tribe determined to preserve its local power based on headhunting and slaving. "Beautifully written and researched, it is both highly relevant and a testimony to the power of the human spirit." —James Holland, author of The Rise of Germany, 1939-1941 "Robert Lyman brings the skills of a born storyteller and the erudition of an historian to this wonderful book. His long engagement with and affection for the people of the Burmese jungle shine through. It is a gripping and immensely humane book." —Fergal Kane, author of Season of Blood and Road of Bones

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The Rape of Nanking - Iris Chang Cover Art

The Rape of Nanking

The Rape of Nanking The Forgotten Holocaust Of World War II by Iris Chang

The New York Times bestselling account of one of history's most brutal—and forgotten—massacres, when the Japanese army destroyed China's capital city on the eve of World War II. "A powerful, landmark book, riveting in its horror." —Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer-Prize winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb In December 1937, the Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking. Within weeks, more than 300,000 Chinese civilians and soldiers were systematically raped, tortured, and murdered—a death toll exceeding that of the atomic blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Historian Iris Chang tells the story from three perspectives: that of the Japanese soldiers, that of the Chinese, and that of a group of Westerners who refused to abandon the city and created a safety zone that saved almost 300,000 Chinese. More than just narrating the details of an orgy of violence, in The Rape of Nanking Chang analyzes the militaristic culture that fostered in the Japanese soldiers a total disregard for human life. It also tells of the concerted effort during the Cold War on the part of the West and even China to stifle open discussion of this atrocity. Drawing on extensive interviews with survivors and documents brought to light for the first time, Iris Chang’s classic is the definitive history of this horrifying episode.

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India - John Keay Cover Art

India

India A History by John Keay

The British historian and author of Into India delivers "a history that is intelligent, incisive, and eminently readable" ( Kirkus Reviews , starred review).   Fully revised with forty thousand new words that take the reader up to present-day India, John Keay's India: A History spans five millennia in a sweeping narrative that tells the story of the peoples of the subcontinent, from their ancient beginnings in the valley of the Indus to the events in the region today. In charting the evolution of the rich tapestry of cultures, religions, and peoples that comprise the modern nations of Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh, Keay weaves together insights from a variety of scholarly fields to create a rich historical narrative. Wide-ranging and authoritative,  India: A History  is a compelling epic portrait of one of the world's oldest and most richly diverse civilizations.   "Keay's panoramic vision and multidisciplinary approach serves the function of all great historical writing. It illuminates the present." —Thrity Umrigar, The Boston Globe

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The Struggle for Taiwan - Sulmaan Wasif Khan Cover Art

The Struggle for Taiwan

The Struggle for Taiwan A History of America, China, and the Island Caught Between by Sulmaan Wasif Khan

A concise, definitive history of the precarious relationship among the US, China, and Taiwan. “A rich and thoughtful book.” - New Yorker “A deeply researched and fascinating history.” - Guardian Named a Best Book of 2024 by the New Statesman * BBC History Magazine As tensions over Taiwan escalate, the United States and China stand on the brink of a catastrophic war. Resolving the impasse demands we understand how it began. In 1943, the Allies declared that Japanese-held Taiwan would return to China at the conclusion of World War II. The Chinese civil war led to a change of plans. The Communist Party came to power in China and the defeated Nationalist leader, Chiang Kai-shek, fled to Taiwan, where he was afforded US protection. The specter of conflict has loomed ever since. In The Struggle for Taiwan , Sulmaan Wasif Khan offers the first comprehensive history of the triangular relationship between the United States, China, and Taiwan, exploring America’s ambivalent commitment to Taiwan’s defense, China’s bitterness about the separation, and Taiwan’s impressive transformation into a flourishing democracy. War is not inevitable, Khan shows, but to avoid it, decision-makers must heed the lessons of the past. From the White Terror to the Taiwan Straits Crises, from the normalization of Sino-American relations to Trump-era rising tensions, The Struggle for Taiwan charts the paths to our present predicament to show what futures might be possible.

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Our Man In Tokyo - Steve Kemper Cover Art

Our Man In Tokyo

Our Man In Tokyo An American Ambassador and the Countdown to Pearl Harbor by Steve Kemper

Winner of the American Academy of Diplomacy’s Dillon Book Award "Gripping history, offering both drama and suspense." —Wall Street Journal A riveting, behind-the-scenes account of the personalities and contending forces in Tokyo during the volatile decade that led to World War II, as seen through the eyes of the American ambassador who attempted to stop the slide to war. In 1932, Japan was in crisis. Naval officers had assassinated the prime minister and conspiracies flourished. The military had a stranglehold on the government. War with Russia loomed, and propaganda campaigns swept the country, urging schoolchildren to give money to procure planes and tanks.  Into this maelstrom stepped Joseph C. Grew, America’s most experienced and talented diplomat. When Grew was appointed ambassador to Japan, not only was the country in turmoil, its relationship with America was rapidly deteriorating. For the next decade, Grew attempted to warn American leaders about the risks of Japan’s raging nationalism and rising militarism, while also trying to stabilize Tokyo’s increasingly erratic and volatile foreign policy. From domestic terrorism by Japanese extremists to the global rise of Hitler and the fateful attack on Pearl Harbor, the events that unfolded during Grew’s tenure proved to be pivotal for Japan, and for the world. His dispatches from the darkening heart of the Japanese empire would prove prescient—for his time, and for our own.   Drawing on Grew’s diary of his time in Tokyo as well as U.S. embassy correspondence, diplomatic dispatches, and firsthand Japanese accounts, Our Man in Tokyo brings to life a man who risked everything to avert another world war, the country where he staked it all—and the abyss that swallowed it. 

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The Sacred Willow - Mai Elliott Cover Art

The Sacred Willow

The Sacred Willow Four Generations in the Life of a Vietnamese Family by Mai Elliott

A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Duong Van Mai Elliott's The Sacred Willow illuminates recent Vietnamese history by weaving together the stories of the lives of four generations of her family. Beginning with her great-grandfather, who rose from rural poverty to become an influential landowner, and continuing to the present, Mai Elliott traces her family's journey through an era of tumultuous change. She tells us of childhood hours in her grandmother's silk shop, and of hiding while French troops torched her village, watching while blossoms torn by fire from the trees flutter "like hundreds of butterflies" overhead. She makes clear the agonizing choices that split Vietnamese families: her eldest sister left her staunchly anti-communist home to join the Viet Minh, and spent months sleeping in jungle camps with her infant son, fearing air raids by day and tigers by night. And she follows several family members through the last, desperate hours of the fall of Saigon-including one nephew who tried to escape by grabbing the skid of a departing American helicopter. Based on family papers, dozens of interviews, and a wealth of other research, this is not only a memorable family saga but a record of how the Vietnamese themselves have experienced their times.

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Twilight of the Gods - Ian W. Toll Cover Art

Twilight of the Gods

Twilight of the Gods War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945 by Ian W. Toll

New York Times Bestseller “No one has told the story of World War II in the Pacific, from beginning to bitter end, better than Ian W. Toll. This final volume concludes a brilliant trilogy.”—Alex Kershaw, New York Times best-selling author of The First Wave and Avenue of Spies In June 1944, the United States launched a crushing assault on the Japanese navy in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. The capture of the Mariana Islands and the accompanying ruin of Japanese carrier airpower marked a pivotal moment in the Pacific War. No tactical masterstroke or blunder could reverse the increasingly lopsided balance of power between the two combatants. The War in the Pacific had entered its endgame. Beginning with the Honolulu Conference, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt met with his Pacific theater commanders to plan the last phase of the campaign against Japan, Twilight of the Gods brings to life the harrowing last year of World War II in the Pacific, when the U.S. Navy won the largest naval battle in history; Douglas MacArthur made good his pledge to return to the Philippines; waves of kamikazes attacked the Allied fleets; the Japanese fought to the last man on one island after another; B-29 bombers burned down Japanese cities; and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were vaporized in atomic blasts. Ian W. Toll’s narratives of combat in the air, at sea, and on the beaches are as gripping as ever, but he also reconstructs the Japanese and American home fronts and takes the reader into the halls of power in Washington and Tokyo, where the great questions of strategy and diplomacy were decided. Drawing from a wealth of rich archival sources and new material, Twilight of the Gods casts a penetrating light on the battles, grand strategic decisions and naval logistics that enabled the Allied victory in the Pacific. An authoritative and riveting account of the final phase of the War in the Pacific, Twilight of the Gods brings Toll’s masterful trilogy to a thrilling conclusion. This prize-winning and best-selling trilogy will stand as the first complete history of the Pacific War in more than twenty-five years, and the first multivolume history of the Pacific naval war since Samuel Eliot Morison’s series was published in the 1950s.

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Samurai History for Beginners - James Wottford Cover Art

Samurai History for Beginners

Samurai History for Beginners The Rise, Code, and Legacy of Japan's Elite Warriors by James Wottford

Few subjects in world history generate more fascination than the samurai. For centuries, these warriors defined Japan's political and cultural landscape. Yet their story is far more complex than the sword-wielding figures of popular imagination. This guide traces the samurai from their earliest origins in the late Heian period, when powerful regional clans first turned to skilled warriors to protect their land and assert authority. It follows their rise through the Genpei War of 1185, the establishment of Japan's first shogunate under Minamoto no Yoritomo, and the complex feudal order that placed samurai at the center of both military and administrative life for centuries. Each chapter introduces a new dimension of samurai civilization. Readers discover how the strict hierarchy of lord and retainer operated in practice, how samurai educated their children in literature and calligraphy alongside martial skills, and how the social world of the warrior class differed dramatically between urban and rural settings. The guide examines the weapons and armor that defined samurai warfare, from the evolution of the katana to the significance of the yumi bow and the cultural symbolism embedded in armor design. It explains Bushido, the samurai's ethical code, and traces how its values of loyalty, honor, and courage drew from Zen Buddhism, Shinto, and Confucianism to produce a philosophy that influenced Japanese life long after the samurai class ceased to exist. The stories of famous samurai bring the history to life. Miyamoto Musashi's undefeated dueling record and philosophical writings, Oda Nobunaga's ruthless campaign to unify a fractured Japan, Tokugawa Ieyasu's founding of the dynasty that produced two and a half centuries of peace, and the celebrated women who defied expectations of their era all receive dedicated coverage. The final chapters explain how the long Edo peace transformed samurai from warriors into bureaucrats, and how the Meiji Restoration formally abolished the class while preserving its cultural legacy. Japan's castles, martial arts traditions, and aesthetic values all trace directly to samurai civilization. This guide is designed for readers new to Japanese history. No prior knowledge is required.

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Japan's Gestapo - Mark Felton Cover Art

Japan's Gestapo

Japan's Gestapo Murder, Mayhem and Torture in Wartime Asia by Mark Felton

From the author of Children of the Camps , a look at the disturbing activities of the Kempeitai, Japan's feared military and secret police. The book opens by explaining the origins, organization, and roles of the Kempeitai apparatus, which exercised virtually unlimited power throughout the Japanese Empire. Author Mark Felton reveals their criminal and collaborationist networks that extorted huge sums of money from hapless citizens and businesses. They ran the Allied POW gulag system that treated captives with merciless and murderous brutality. Other Kempeitai activities included biological and chemical experiments on live subjects, the Maruta vivisection campaign, and widespread slave labor, including "Comfort Women" drawn from all races. Their record of reprisals against military and civilians was unrelenting. For example, Colonel Doolittle's raid on Tokyo in 1942 resulted in a campaign of revenge not just against captured airmen but thousands of Chinese civilians. Their actions amounted to genocide on a grand scale. Felton backs up his text with firsthand testimonies from survivors who suffered at the hands of this evil organization. He examines how the guilty were brought to justice and the resulting claims for compensation. As a result, Japan's Gestapo provides comprehensive evidence of the ruthlessness of the Kempeitai against the white and Asian peoples under their control.

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A Brief History of the Middle East - Christopher Catherwood Cover Art

A Brief History of the Middle East

A Brief History of the Middle East by Christopher Catherwood

Western civilization began in the Middle East: Judaism and Christianity, as well as Islam, were born there. For over a millennium, the Islamic empires were ahead of the West in learning, technology and medicine, and were militarily far more powerful. It took another three hundred centuries for the West to catch up, and overtake, the Middle East. Why does it seem different now? Why does Osama bin Laden see 1918, with the fall of the Ottoman Empire, as the year everything changed? These issues are explained in historical detail here, in a way that deliberately seeks to go behind the rhetoric to the roots of present conflicts. A Brief History of the Middle East is essential reading for an intelligent reader wanting to understand what one of the world's key regions is all about. Fully updated with a new section on the Iraq Invasion of 2003, the question of Iran and the full context of the Isreali/Palestine conflict.

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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 Theogony of Hesiod - Hesiod Cover Art

The Theogony of Hesiod

The Theogony of Hesiod by Hesiod

The “Theogony” is essentially a large-scale synthesis of a vast variety of local Greek traditions concerning the gods and the universe, organized as a narrative that tells about the creation of the world out of Chaos and about the gods that shaped the cosmos. To some extent, it represents the Greek mythology equivalent of the book of Genesis in the Hebrew and Christian "Bible", as it lists the early generations and genealogy of the gods, titans and heroes since the beginning of the universe. Interestingly, Hesiod claims in the work that he (a poet, and not some mighty king) had been given the authority and responsibility of disseminating these stories by the Muses directly, thus putting himself almost in the position of a prophet. In formal terms, the poem is presented as a hymn in 1,022 lines invoking Zeus and the Muses, in the tradition of the hymnic preludes with which an ancient Greek rhapsode would begin his performance at poetic competitions. The final written form of the “Theogony” was probably not established until the 6th Century BCE, however, and some editors have concluded that a few minor episodes, such as the Typhoeus episode in verses 820-880, is an interpolation (a passage introduced later). It should perhaps be seen not a definitive source of Greek mythology, but rather as a snapshot of a dynamic tradition of myths as it stood at that particular time. Greek mythology continued to change and adapt after this time, and some of the stories and attributes of the various gods have likewise transformed over time.

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Vietnam at War - Mark Philip Bradley Cover Art

Vietnam at War

Vietnam at War by Mark Philip Bradley

The Vietnam War tends to conjure up images of American soldiers battling an elusive enemy in thick jungle, the thudding of helicopters overhead. But there were in fact many Vietnam wars - an anticolonial war with France, a cold war turned hot with the United States, a civil war between North and South Vietnam and among the southern Vietnamese, a revolutionary war of ideas over what should guide Vietnamese society into its postcolonial future, and finally a war of memories after the official end of hostilities with the fall of Saigon in 1975. This book looks at how the Vietnamese themselves experienced all of these conflicts, showing how the wars for Vietnam were rooted in fundamentally conflicting visions of what an independent Vietnam should mean that in many ways remain unresolved to this day. Drawing upon twenty years of research, Mark Philip Bradley examines the thinking and the behaviour of the key wartime decision-makers in Hanoi and Saigon, while at the same time exploring how ordinary Vietnamese, northerners and southerners, men and women, soldiers and civilians, urban elites and rural peasants, radicals and conservatives, came to understand the thirty years of bloody warfare that unfolded around them - and how they made sense of its aftermath.

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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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A History of Korea - Jinwung Kim Cover Art

A History of Korea

A History of Korea From "Land of the Morning Calm" to States in Conflict by Jinwung Kim

A history of the divided region, from prehistoric times to present day, examining at political, social, cultural, economic, and diplomatic developments. Contemporary North and South Korea are nations of radical contrasts: one a bellicose totalitarian state with a failing economy; the other a peaceful democracy with a strong economy. Yet their people share a common history that extends back more than three thousand years. In this comprehensive new history of Korea from the prehistoric era to the present day, Jinwung Kim recounts the rich and fascinating story of the political, social, cultural, economic, and diplomatic developments in Korea's long march to the present. He provides a detailed account of the origins of the Korean people and language and the founding of the first walled-town states, along with the advanced civilization that existed in the ancient land of "Unified Silla." Clarifying the often complex history of the Three Kingdoms Period, Kim chronicles the five-century long history of the Choson dynasty, which left a deep impression on Korean culture. From the beginning, China has loomed large in the history of Korea, from the earliest times when the tribes that would eventually make up the Korean nation roamed the vast plains of Manchuria and against whom Korea would soon define itself. Japan, too, has played an important role in Korean history, particularly in the 20th century; Kim tells this story as well, including the conflicts that led to the current divided state. The first detailed overview of Korean history in nearly a quarter century, this volume will enlighten a new generation of students eager to understand this contested region of Asia. "Using the latest sources, including recently declassified Communist documents, Jinwung Kim's book holds promise of becoming the textbook of choice. Benefiting from his direct and intimate knowledge of the country, he writes with great clarity, providing rich and interesting descriptions of political, social, cultural, economic, and diplomatic developments throughout the history of Korea." —James I. Matray, California State University, Chico "A clearly written, comprehensive, and impressively detailed work." — Journal of Asian Studies

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The Complete Guide to Bushido: The Samurai Code of Honor - Samurai Code Cover Art

The Complete Guide to Bushido: The Samurai Code of Honor

The Complete Guide to Bushido: The Samurai Code of Honor by Samurai Code

In the rich tapestry of Japan's history, the samurai emerge as figures of immense discipline, valor, and honor. These elite warriors, who once served as the military nobility of medieval and early-modern Japan, have left an indelible mark on the world with their profound principles and way of life. Central to their existence was Bushido, the ethical code of conduct that not only defined their actions on the battlefield but also shaped their everyday lives. This "Way of the Warrior" encompasses virtues such as loyalty, courage, and honor, principles that continue to resonate with people across the globe, even in the modern era. Bushido, which literally translates to "the way of the warrior," guided samurai in both their martial pursuits and personal conduct. It was an unwritten code, an intrinsic part of the samurai's being, passed down through generations. This code emphasized virtues like righteousness, bravery, and respect, ensuring that a samurai's life was lived with purpose and integrity. More than just a set of rules for combat, Bushido was a comprehensive philosophy that influenced various aspects of culture and art, from calligraphy and tea ceremonies to the disciplined practice of martial arts. In today's fast-paced and often tumultuous world, the principles of Bushido still offer valuable lessons on living a life of honor, discipline, and ethical conduct. Its emphasis on loyalty, respect, and perseverance can inspire individuals to lead more fulfilling lives, make morally sound decisions, and maintain integrity in the face of challenges. As we delve into the complete guide of Bushido, we explore not only the historical context and core tenets of this revered code but also its enduring relevance in contemporary society. Join us on this journey to uncover the timeless wisdom of the samurai and the ways in which the spirit of Bushido can illuminate our paths today.

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Perilous Missions - William M. Leary Cover Art

Perilous Missions

Perilous Missions Civil Air Transport and CIA Covert Operations in Asia by William M. Leary

Civil Air Transport (CAT), founded in China after World War II by Claire Chennault and Whiting Willauer, was initially a commercial carrier specializing in air freight. Its role quickly changed as CAT became first a paramilitary adjunct of the Nationalist Chinese Air Force, then the CIA’s secret “air force” in Korea, then “the most shot-at airline in the world” in French Indochina, and eventually becoming reorganized as Air America at the height of the Vietnam War. William M. Leary’s detailed operational history of CAT sets the story in the perspective of Asian and Cold War geopolitics and shows how CAT allowed the CIA to operate with a level of flexibility and secrecy that it would not have attained through normal military or commercial air transportation.

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Vietnam - Bill Hayton Cover Art

Vietnam

Vietnam Rising Dragon by Bill Hayton

An "enlightening and persuasive" (Jonathan Mirsky, New York Review of Books) survey of Vietnam as an emerging Asian power The eyes of the West have recently been trained on China and India, but Vietnam is rising fast among its Asian peers. A breathtaking period of social change has seen foreign investment bringing capitalism flooding into its nominally communist society, booming cities swallowing up smaller villages, and the lure of modern living tugging at the traditional networks of family and community. Yet beneath these sweeping developments lurks an authoritarian political system that complicates the nation's apparent renaissance. In this engaging work, experienced journalist Bill Hayton looks at the costs of change in Vietnam and questions whether this rising Asian power is really heading toward capitalism and democracy. Based on vivid eyewitness accounts and pertinent case studies, Hayton's book addresses a broad variety of issues in today's Vietnam, including important shifts in international relations, the growth of civil society, economic developments and challenges, and the nation's nascent democracy movement as well as its notorious internal security. His analysis of Vietnam's "police state," and its systematic mechanisms of social control, coercion, and surveillance, is fresh and particularly imperative when viewed alongside his portraits of urban and street life, cultural legacies, religion, the media, and the arts. With a firm sense of historical and cultural context, Hayton examines how these issues have emerged and where they will lead Vietnam in the next stage of its development.

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Yakuza - Andrew Rankin Cover Art

Yakuza

Yakuza A 400-Year History of the Japanese Underworld by Andrew Rankin

The definitive history of Japanese organized crime, from its origins in samurai-era black markets and gambling rings to the shadowy syndicates of the present. “The best book in English on this fascinating and misunderstood subject.” ―Richard Lloyd Parry, author of People Who Eat Darkness Japan’s gangster groups, known collectively as the yakuza, are among the oldest underworld societies in the world. With military-style organization and a code of absolute obedience, they have run Japan’s black markets for centuries. They have remained strikingly conspicuous in Japanese society and as a cultural force beyond Japan, with movies and video games celebrating their exploits globally. Andrew Rankin offers the first comprehensive history of the yakuza, from their emergence out of seventeenth-century samurai gang culture to the present day. Though their activities have always encompassed illegal gambling and sex trafficking, the yakuza have also aggressively maintained business interests in private security, the construction industry, the entertainment industry, and debt collection. Yakuza bosses acquired a degree of legitimacy by styling themselves as peacekeepers maintaining order at society’s bottom end. Yet that legitimacy has come into doubt in recent years as Japan’s contracting economy has pushed the yakuza into increasingly predatory criminal activities. Featuring a lively cast of extortionists, smugglers, hit men, and corporate crime lords, Yakuza is a fascinating tour of Japan’s sprawling mob syndicates and the cultural traditions with which they are so deeply intertwined.

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Empire of Ashes - James M. Scott Cover Art

Empire of Ashes

Empire of Ashes Truman, Hirohito, and the Descent into Total War by James M. Scott

From the acclaimed Pacific War historian and Pulitzer Prize finalist, the harrowing story of America’s bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the dramatic struggle to end World War II. At 9:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, an American bomber pierced the skies over the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The single bomb it dropped unleashed an atomic hurricane that toppled homes, vaporized birds in flight, and carbonized humans. Three days later, a second bomb flattened the port city of Nagasaki. In the span of a mere 75 hours, the United States—a nation once morally opposed to the bombing of civilians—killed 120,000 men, women, and children, dooming tens of thousands more to agonizing death in the weeks and months ahead. Empire of Ashes explores the final brutal months of the war in the Pacific, featuring the voices of never-before-heard victims of the atomic bombs. Through interviews with survivors and accounts gleaned from Japanese sources, New York Times best-selling author James M. Scott combines the attacks’ heart-wrenching details with their causes and consequences, from debates within the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, Oakridge, and Hanford to the fallout that would alter decades of life in Japan. Scott also delves into the political maneuvering in Washington and Tokyo between two seemingly unlikely leaders—President Harry S. Truman and Emperor Hirohito—that led to unprecedented violence and, eventually, surrender. Scott grapples with questions that still haunt the detonation of the atomic bomb to this day: What justified the first and only use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict? And how does a nation reconcile the pride of liberating millions, with its own unprecedented violence? With startling immediacy, Empire of Ashes illuminates the moral dilemma at the center of America’s decision to inflict total war upon Japan.

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Autocrats vs. Democrats - Michael McFaul Cover Art

Autocrats vs. Democrats

Autocrats vs. Democrats China, Russia, America, and the New Global Disorder by Michael McFaul

"A history, an analysis, and a set of prescriptions for the greatest geopolitical challenge of our time: the threat to the democratic world posed by China and Russia." —Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy, Inc. "A monumental account of contemporary geopolitics"—Francis Fukuyama, author of Liberalism and Its Discontents From New York Times bestselling author and former ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul comes a bold, clear-eyed look at how the autocracies of China and Russia are challenging the current liberal international order, and how America’s future depends on successfully confronting this threat. The rise of China, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the reelection of President Donald Trump have reinforced a gloomy yet growing consensus: the old global order has ended, and a new Cold War has begun. And yet, many of the perils we face today are distinctly different from those we encountered from the Soviet Union. The alliance between the autocracies of China and Russia, China’s economic might, the rise of the far right in the United States and Europe, and the disturbing isolationist foreign policy shifts of the Trump administration—taken together represent new challenges for the democratic world. They are threats with no precedent in the past century. In this sweeping account of great power competition between the United States, China, and Russia over the past three centuries, Michael McFaul—former ambassador to Russia and international affairs analyst for NBC News —argues persuasively that today’s challenges require fresh thinking, not constrained by distant memories of the Cold War or the nationalist dreams of MAGA. One of the preeminent thinkers on American foreign policy for decades, McFaul combines in-depth historical analysis with a forward-looking perspective, crafting a new American grand strategy for this age of global disorder. Acknowledging how Xi’s China, Putin’s Russia, and Trump’s America are upending the current international system, Autocrats vs. Democrats makes the case against America’s retreat from the world, detailing why: Russia’s disruptive ambitions should not be underestimated.China’s capabilities should not be overestimated.Trump’s shift toward isolationism and autocracy will weaken America’s place in the world. At once a clarion call for American diplomacy and a forceful rebuttal of the Trump administration’s policies, Autocrats vs. Democrats provides a nuanced assessment of the China and Russia threats, as well as a bold vision for renewing America’s leadership on the world stage.

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Conquest to Nowhere - Anthony Herbert & Robert Niemann Cover Art

Conquest to Nowhere

Conquest to Nowhere by Anthony Herbert & Robert Niemann

Conquest to Nowhere , first published in 1955, is author Anthony Herbert's account of his harrowing time in Korea in 1950-51. Herbert, wounded numerous times, became America's most decorated soldier of the Korean conflict. He tells a gritty, heart-wrenching story of dangerous patrols, battles against overwhelming Chinese assaults, the anguish of losing comrades-in arms, and his personal struggles to simply survive. Herbert continued his military service in Vietnam where he attained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. Included are several illustrations from the original book.

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Blood Dawn - Hans van de Ven Cover Art

Blood Dawn

Blood Dawn World War II and the Making of Modern Asia by Hans van de Ven

A momentous new history of Asia’s Second World War. "Essential reading for understanding Asia's present.” —Richard Overy, author of Blood and Ruins Drawing on deep archival research across continents, historian Hans van de Ven tells the dramatic story of how Asia’s people mobilized to defeat both Japanese aggression and European imperialism, forging modern Asia in the process. By the early twentieth century, from India to China, Western imperial powers dominated Asia. Then, in the 1930s, Japan began to tear down this old order in pursuit of its own imperial ambitions—first by invading China, and then by launching its assault against British, Dutch, and American outposts across Asia and the Pacific in December 1941. As Japanese forces seized vast swaths of territory and pressed toward India, the brutal fighting cost millions of lives across the continent. Simultaneously, the war’s chaos and suffering supercharged anti-colonial movements from British India to Dutch Indonesia. Ultimately, it was the charismatic leaders of these movements—Mao, Nehru, Sukarno—who built the new Asia of independent nation-states that emerged in the war’s bloody wake. Blood Dawn is a powerful new perspective, revealing how Asia’s Second World War was absolutely central in creating the postwar order.

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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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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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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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Fire in the Lake - Frances FitzGerald Cover Art

Fire in the Lake

Fire in the Lake The Vietnamese and the Americans in Vietnam by Frances FitzGerald

A "compassionate and penetrating" landmark history of Vietnam and the Vietnam War ( New York Times Book Review ). "Fitzgerald's Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–winning study of the Vietnam War remains essential reading thirty years after its initial publication." — Library Journal This magisterial work, based on Frances FitzGerald's many years of research and travels, takes us inside the history of Vietnam—the traditional, ancestor-worshiping villages, the conflicts between Communists and anti-Communists, Catholics and Buddhists, generals and monks, the disruption created by French colonialism, and America's ill-fated intervention—and reveals the country as seen through Vietnamese eyes.  Originally published in 1972,  Fire in the Lake  was the first history of Vietnam written by an American and won the Pulitzer Prize, the Bancroft Prize, and the National Book Award. With a clarity and insight unrivaled by any author before it or since, Frances FitzGerald illustrates how America utterly and tragically misinterpreted the realities of Vietnam. " Fire in the Lake is a magnificent achievement, huge, wide ranging, fascinating, stimulating. It is the first book I would recommend to anyone to read on Vietnam." —Martin Bernal, New York Review of Books "Fresh and enthralling. . . . FitzGerald fills an enormous gap by explaining the Vietnamese from their own point of view and by describing the war from the perspective of Vietnamese culture." —Kevin P. Buckley, Newsweek "The bravest and most intelligent effort by an American writer to comprehend the Alice-through-the-Looking-Glass relationship between the Vietnamese and the Americans." —Laurence Stern, Washington Post Book World

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Hiroshima - M. G. SHEFTALL Cover Art

Hiroshima

Hiroshima The Last Witnesses by M. G. SHEFTALL

One of Washington Post 's 50 Notable Works of Nonfiction From 2024 The first volume in a two-book series about each of the atomic bomb drops that ended the Pacific War based on years of irreplicable personal interviews with survivors to tell a story of devastation and resilience In this vividly rendered historical narrative, M. G. Sheftall layers the stories of hibakusha —the Japanese word for atomic bomb survivors—in harrowing detail, to give a minute-by-minute report of August 6, 1945, in the leadup and aftermath of the world-changing bombing mission of Paul Tibbets, Enola Gay, and Little Boy. These survivors and witnesses, who now have an average age over ninety years old, are quite literally the last people who can still provide us with reliable and detailed testimony about life in their cities before the bombings, tell us what they experienced on the day those cities were obliterated, and give us some appreciation of what it has entailed to live with those memories and scars during the subsequent seventy-plus years. Sheftall has spent years personally interviewing survivors who lived well into the twenty-first century, allowing him to construct portraits of what Hiroshima was like before the bomb, and how catastrophically its citizens’ lives changed in the seconds, minutes, days, weeks, months, and years afterward. He stands out among historians due to his fluency in spoken and written Japanese, and his longtime immersion in Japanese society that has allowed him, a white American, the unheard-of access to these atomic bomb survivors in the waning years of their lives. Their trust in him is evident in the personal and traumatic depths they open up for him as he records their stories. Hiroshima should be required reading for the modern age. The personal accounts it contains will serve as cautionary tales about the horror and insanity of nuclear warfare, reminding them—it is hoped—that the world still lives with this danger at our doorstep.

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Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai - Tsunetomo Yamamoto Cover Art

Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai

Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai by Tsunetomo Yamamoto

"Hagakure: Book of the Samurai by Yamamoto Tsunetomo is a timeless classic that delves into the principles and philosophies of the samurai warrior class of feudal Japan. Written in the early 18th century, it serves as a guide to the samurai's moral code, known as Bushido, emphasizing the virtues of loyalty, discipline, humility, and the acceptance of death. The title, which translates to ""Hidden by the Leaves,"" signifies the hidden wisdom that guides a samurai’s actions and inner life. The book is a collection of reflections, anecdotes, and teachings drawn from Tsunetomo’s observations as a retainer to a Japanese lord. It stresses the importance of living with purpose, dedicating oneself fully to one’s duties, and embodying honor in every action. While some of its philosophies may seem austere, Hagakure remains an enduring exploration of resilience, focus, and the pursuit of a meaningful life. This work holds a special place in literature as both a historical document and a source of timeless wisdom. It continues to inspire readers worldwide, providing insights into the mindset and values of the samurai, as well as universal lessons on ethics and leadership."

49

The Last Wild Men of Borneo - Carl Hoffman Cover Art

The Last Wild Men of Borneo

The Last Wild Men of Borneo A True Story of Death and Treasure by Carl Hoffman

A 2019 EDGAR AWARDS NOMINEE (BEST FACT CRIME) •  A BANFF MOUNTAIN BOOK AWARDS FINALIST Two modern adventurers sought a treasure possessed by the legendary "Wild Men of Borneo." One found riches. The other vanished forever into an endless jungle. Had he shed civilization—or lost his mind? Global headlines suspected murder. Lured by these mysteries, New York Times bestselling author Carl Hoffman journeyed to find the truth, discovering that nothing is as it seems in the world's last Eden, where the lines between sinner and saint blur into one. In 1984, Swiss traveler Bruno Manser joined an expedition to the Mulu caves on Borneo, the planet's third largest island. There he slipped into the forest interior to make contact with the Penan, an indigenous tribe of peace-loving nomads living among the Dayak people, the fabled "Headhunters of Borneo." Bruno lived for years with the Penan, gaining acceptance as a member of the tribe. However, when commercial logging began devouring the Penan's homeland, Bruno led the tribe against these outside forces, earning him status as an enemy of the state, but also worldwide fame as an environmental hero. He escaped captivity under gunfire twice, but the strain took a psychological toll. Then, in 2000, Bruno disappeared without a trace. Had he become a madman, a hermit, or a martyr? American Michael Palmieri is, in many ways, Bruno's opposite. Evading the Vietnam War, the Californian wandered the world, finally settling in Bali in the 1970s. From there, he staged expeditions into the Bornean jungle to acquire astonishing art and artifacts from the Dayaks. He would become one of the world's most successful tribal-art field collectors, supplying sacred works to prestigious museums and wealthy private collectors. And yet suspicion shadowed this self-styled buccaneer who made his living extracting the treasure of the Dayak: Was he preserving or exploiting native culture? As Carl Hoffman unravels the deepening riddle of Bruno's disappearance and seeks answers to the questions surrounding both men, it becomes clear saint and sinner are not so easily defined and Michael and Bruno are, in a sense, two parts of one whole: each spent his life in pursuit of the sacred fire of indigenous people. The Last Wild Men of Borneo is the product of Hoffman's extensive travels to the region, guided by Penan through jungle paths traveled by Bruno and by Palmieri himself up rivers to remote villages. Hoffman also draws on exclusive interviews with Manser's family and colleagues, and rare access to his letters and journals. Here is a peerless adventure propelled by the entwined lives of two singular, enigmatic men whose stories reveal both the grandeur and the precarious fate of the wildest place on earth.

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The Mongol Empire - History Nerds Cover Art

The Mongol Empire

The Mongol Empire by History Nerds

Embark on an epic journey through the windswept expanses of Central Asia with "The Mongol Empire," a gripping chronicle that unveils the awe-inspiring rise and far-reaching legacy of the Mongol Empire. Immerse yourself in the tumultuous world of Genghis Khan and his descendants as they forged an empire that stretched from the Pacific to the Mediterranean, leaving an indelible mark on the course of world history. In this meticulously researched and vividly narrated exploration, the reader is transported back to the fierce heart of the Mongol steppes, where Genghis Khan's visionary leadership united disparate nomadic tribes into an unstoppable force. Discover the secrets of the Mongol military machine, its unparalleled equestrian prowess, and the strategic brilliance that led to the conquest of vast territories across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Unearth the complexities of the Mongol Empire's governance, from the decentralized administrative structure to the assimilation of diverse cultures under the Pax Mongolica. Delve into the enigmatic world of the Silk Road, where trade, ideas, and technology flowed freely, connecting East and West in ways previously unimaginable. As the narrative unfolds, witness the succession of Great Khans, from the expansionist fervor of Genghis Khan to the enlightened rule of Kublai Khan, founder of the Yuan Dynasty. Explore the vibrant tapestry of Mongol society, from the nomadic traditions of the steppes to the cosmopolitan life of the imperial court in Khanbaliq (modern-day Beijing). "The Mongol Empire" also examines the profound impact of the Mongol Empire on the cultures it encountered, fostering exchanges in science, art, and technology that transcended geographical boundaries. Yet, as the empire reached its zenith, the shadows of internal strife and external pressures began to cast doubt on its seemingly invincible legacy. This riveting narrative, enriched with historical insights, primary sources, and a keen understanding of the era, paints a comprehensive portrait of the Mongol Empire. "The Mongol Empire" is an enthralling read for history enthusiasts, scholars, and anyone eager to unravel the epic tale of the nomadic warriors who reshaped the course of civilization.

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