Asia

DAILY TELEGRAPH and INDEPENDENT BOOKS OF THE YEARLONGLISTED FOR THE ORWELL PRIZE 20122011 LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FINALISTIn the wake of Pakistan's development of nuclear weapons, unpoliceable border areas, shelter of the Afghan Taliban and Bin...

Exam Board: EdexcelLevel: AS/A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016 (AS), Summer 2017 (A-level)Give your students the best chance of success with this tried and tested series, combining in-depth analysis, engaging...

'Compelling and informative... a useful gateway into [Xi Jinping's] mind' Rana Mitter, Literary ReviewFrom one of the most admired reporters covering China today, a vital new account of the life and political vision of Xi Jinping, the authoritarian...

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 'A stunning book, among the most immediate and thrilling works of history I have ever read' At 8:15am on August 6th 1945, an atomic bomb was dropped...

This is a fresh and surprising account of Japan's culture from the 'opening up' of the country in the mid-nineteenth century to the present.'How much I admired it, what a lot I learned from it and, above all, how very much I enjoyed it ... Masterly.'...

The most authoritative and highly regarded single-volume history of India - from ancient time to the modern day. Five millennia of the sub-continent's social, economic, political and cultural history are interpreted by one of our finest writers on India...

Apologies but we at Booksplease don't have a full description for this book.AwardsShort-listed for Stella Prize 2023 (Australia) and Non-Fiction, Prime Minister's Literary Awards 2023 (Australia) and Non-Fiction, Victorian Premier's Literary Award 2023...

'Amazingly well researched, fabulously informative and an awful lot of fun. If you love Japanese culture or are just curious to know more I can't recommend this book highly enough' Jonathan Ross'A nerd- and generalist-friendly look at how Japan shaped...

Murakami tells the true story behind an act of terrorism that turned an average Monday morning into a national disaster.In spite of the perpetrators' intentions, the Tokyo gas attack left only twelve people dead, but thousands were injured and many...

WINNER OF THE SAMUEL JOHNSON PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION A spectacular, definitive portrait of ordinary life within one of the world's most repressive states - North Korea. 'A most perceptive and eye-opening account of everyday life in North Korea'...

Reveals the rich and complex histories and cultures of Burma/Myanmar from their early development and powerful imperial expansions to their positions as colonial subjects and then as a war-torn nation. From influential superpower to repressive regime,...

A comprehensive, yet entertaining look at China's history through a modern lens. For millennia, China was the largest and richest nation on earth. Two centuries ago, however, its economy sank into a depression from which it had not fully recovered-until...

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...

Straddling the equator, Southeast Asia comprises Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, and the Philippines, as well as Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, and East Timor. Despite its extraordinary diversity of ethnicities, religions, and...

'Could you show me a djinn?' I asked. 'Certainly,' replied the Sufi. 'But you would run away.' From the author of the Samuel Johnson prize shortlisted 'The Return of a King', this is William Dalrymple's captivating memoir of a year spent in...

'A mistress of wry observation and scalding wit ... The Pillow Book retains its fresh, authentic appeal more than 1,000 years after its inception' Japan TimesWritten by the court gentlewoman Sei Shonagon as a journal for her own amusement, The Pillow...

A timely look at the impact of China's booming emergence on the countries of Southeast Asia"An expert and lucid synthesis of the historical context and recent developments of Southeast Asia's rich and complex relations with Beijing."-John Reed, Financial...

How climate change ushered in the collapse of one of history's mighty empiresIn 1644, after close to three centuries of relative stability and prosperity, the Ming dynasty collapsed. Many historians attribute its demise to the Manchu invasion of China,...

In this vivid and highly original reading of recent Chinese history, Xuelei Huang documents the eclectic array of smells that permeated Chinese life from the High Qing through to the Mao period. Utilising interdisciplinary methodology and critically...

Three thousand years of Chinese history in an accessible and authoritative single volume. Despite the recent rise of China to a position of dominance on the world economic stage, Chinese history remains an elusive subject. Yet it is this vast...

To this day, Japan's modern ascendancy challenges many assumptions about world history, particularly theories regarding the rise of the west and why the modern world looks the way it does. In this engaging new history, Brett L. Walker tackles key themes...

The Silk Road, which linked imperial Rome and distant China, was once the greatest thoroughfare on earth. Along it travelled precious cargoes of silk, gold and ivory, as well as revolutionary new ideas. Its oasis towns blossomed into thriving centres of...

Gandhi's non-violent struggles against racism, violence, and colonialism in South Africa and India had brought him to such a level of notoriety, adulation that when asked to write an autobiography midway through his career, he took it as an opportunity...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2018 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZEA Financial Times Book of the YearA Sunday Times Book of the Year ________________________________________'Entertaining and well-paced... Platt's compelling book is a sobering read that should focus the minds...

Richard McGregor's The Party has been established as the book on China and its political leadership. It is indispensable to understanding what may soon become the most powerful country on earth, and here is it is newly updated to include material on the...

Exam Board: EdexcelLevel: AS/A-levelSubject: HistoryFirst teaching: September 2015First exams: Summer 2016 (AS), Summer 2017 (A-level)Give your students the best chance of success with this tried and tested series, combining in-depth analysis, engaging...

Sultans, Spices, and Tsunamis: The Incredible Story of the World's Largest ArchipelagoIndonesia is by far the largest nation in Southeast Asia and has the fourth largest population in the world after the United States. Indonesian history and culture are...

The Orientalism debate, inspired by the work of Edward Said, has been a major source of cross-disciplinary controversy in recent years. John MacKenzie offers a comprehensive re-evaluation of this vast literature of Orientalism and brings to the subject...

Here is narrative nonfiction at its most gripping. Journalist Jennifer Jordan chronicled the individual stories of the five courageous women who have climbed K2, the most fearsome mountain in the world. Climbers call K2 "The Savage Mountain." It is not...

An international bestseller upon publication, MAXIMUM CITY was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and remains a classic study of the metropolis of Bombay. 'If there's been a more striking snapshot of the changing face of Asia, I've never read it' Sunday...

Living with her colleague and long time love interest, Detective Inspector Ian Peterson, it seems that Geraldine Steel has finally found happiness. But life is never that simple. As a psychopath starts killing random women on the streets of York,...

A FAMILY STORY AND THE TALE OF A NATION.Ai Weiwei - one of the world's most famous artists and activists - weaves a century-long epic tale of China through the story of his own life and that of his father, Ai Qing, the nation's most celebrated poet...

This concise yet lively new survey guides the reader through 5000 years of Indian art and architecture. A rich artistic tradition is fully explored through the Hindu, Buddhist, Islamic, Colonial, and contemporary periods, incorporating discussion of...

From seaweed-wrapped maki rolls to tuna-topped nigiri, dive into this celebration of one of the world's favourite delicacies There are few foods more recognizble than sushi. Originating in Japan, the iconic fluffy white rice that's topped, wrapped or...

The home of trusted Mandarin dictionaries for everyday language learning. Learn how to write 250 of the commonest Chinese characters, with stroke by stroke guidance on every page. With thousands of characters to learn, beginning to...

Colin Thurbon's beautiful prose unfolds along the Silk Road, unearthing a richly layered past on his most ambitious journey. On buses, donkey carts, trains, jeeps and camels, Colin Thubron traces the drifts of the first great trade route out of the heart...

The diaries of the last British Governor of Hong Kong, published on the 25th anniversary of the handoverIn June 1992 Chris Patten went to Hong Kong as the last British governor, to try to prepare it not (as other British colonies over the decades) for...

As read on BBC Radio 4 'Book of the Week'Shortlisted for the Stanford Dolman Travel Book of the Year AwardLonglisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize'Sherman's is a special book. Every sentence, every thought she has, every question she asks, every detail she...

Separated by a narrow stretch of swamp-like waters, and distinguished by the colour of their skin, the Black Jews and the White Jews have been locked in a rancorous feud for centuries. Only now, when their combined number has diminished to fewer than...

UPDATED FOR THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF PARTITION 'Puri does profound and elegant work bringing forgotten narratives back to life. It's hard to convey just how important this book is' Sathnam Sanghera 'The most humane account of partition I've read ....