General

Shamans throughout much of Asia are regarded as having the power to control and coerce spirits. Many Asians today still turn to shamans to communicate with the world of the dead, heal the sick, and explain enigmatic events. To understand Asian religions,...

This timely look at a neglected corner of Japanese historiography spotlights the decade following the end of World War II, a time in which Japanese society was undergoing the transformation from imperial state to democratic nation. For certain working...

Taking as its premise the belief that communalism is not a resurgence of tradition but is instead an inherently modern phenomenon, as well as a product of the fundamental agencies and ideas of modernity, and that globalization is neither a unique nor...

First published in 1950. This re-issues the fourth edition of 1977. This is a social history of China, presenting the main lines of development of the Chinese social structure from the earliest times to the present day. The book discusses the origins...

This book examines the Russian explorers and officials in the nineteenth and early twentieth century who came into contact with Iran as a part of the Great Game. It demonstrates the development of Russia's own form of Orientalism, a phenomenon that has...

On July 1st, 2007, Hong Kong celebrated the 10th anniversary of its return to the People's Republic of China, but the past decade has been a bumpy ride for both the Hong Kong people and the central leaders in China. In fact, in 2003 Beijing had already...

First published in 1931. Mainly focussing on cultural and geographical aspects, Travels of an Alchemist are unique in their importance as a source for early Mongol history, enabling us as they do to fix with certainty the otherwise obscure and much...

The study of the prehistory of East Asia is developing very rapidly. In uncovering the story of the flows of human migration that constituted the peopling of East Asia there exists widespread debate about the nature of evidence and the tools for...

The central argument of this book is that the half-century of Russian rule in Central Asia was shaped by traditions of authoritarian rule, by Russian national interests, and by a civic reform agenda that brought to Turkestan the principles that informed...

The internet is developing more extensively in China than any other country in the world. Chinese Cyberspaces provides multidisciplinary perspectives on recent developments and the consequences of internet expansion in China. Including first-hand...

The Development of Modern South Korea provides a comprehensive analysis of South Korean modernization by examining the dimensions of state formation, capitalist development and nationalism. Taking a comparative and interdisciplinary approach this book...

The controversy over official state-approved history textbooks in Japan, which omit or play down many episodes of Japan's occupation of neighbouring countries during the Asia-Pacific War (1931-1945), and which have been challenged by critics who favour...

Journalism and Democracy in Asia addresses key issues of freedom, democracy, citizenship, openness and journalism in contemporary Asia, looking especially at China, Japan, Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The authors take varying approaches...

Recent political changes in Central Asia, where the United States is replacing Russia as the dominant power, are having a profound effect on Russian speakers in the region. These people, formerly perceived as progressive and engaging with Europe, are now...

Colonial Cambodia's "Bad Frenchmen" provides a captivating analysis of the gradual establishment of French colonialism in the late nineteenth century. Drawing on new materials from French, Vietnamese and Cambodian archives, it reconstructs a time during...

This book traces the emergence of the modern Chinese press from its origins in the western Christian missionary press in the late nineteenth century. It shows how the western missionaries and their evangelical/educational newspapers changed the...

Despite their small area, the southern islands of Japan can be seen as stepping stones towards a more nuanced view of cultural osmosis between Japan and the outside world. This book presents an ethnographic portrayal of the people of the Southern Ryukyu...

This book examines women's activism in the early years of independent Indonesia when new attitudes to gender, nationalism, citizenship and democratization were forming. It questions the meaning of democratization for women and their relationship to...

Introducing readers to the far-reaching global orientation that is now taking place in urban China, an international team of contributors describe overarching globalization through a detailed examination of the transformation of the built environment. ...

Early Buddhist Metaphysics provides a philosophical account of the major doctrinal shift in the history of early Theravada tradition in India: the transition from the earliest stratum of Buddhist thought to the systematic and allegedly scholastic...

'To read it is like seeing the scenes described' Evening Standard 'One of the world's best travel books' Spectator 'The work remains a classic worthy of reproduction' The Times Published to critical acclaim and well known for many years afterwards this...

This book explores how issues of ethics in war and warfare have been treated by major ethical traditions of Asia. It opens a discussion about whether there are universal standards in the ideologies of warfare between the major religious traditions of the...

India no longer gets an easy ride as the world's largest democracy. Spectacular terrorist attacks on its Parliament and places of worship, communal riots of unprecedented ferocity, lingering separatist insurgency and violent caste conflict in...

This book provides a comprehensive overview of the relationship between Indonesia and Malaysia, focusing especially on how the relationship has developed in the last fifty years. It argues that the political relationship between the two countries has...

Japanese popular culture is constantly evolving in the face of internal and external influence. Popular Culture, Globalization and Japan examines this evolution from a new and challenging perspective by focusing on the movements of popular culture into...

An account of the re-emergence of Persia as a world player and the reassertion of its cultural, political and spiritual links with Turkic Lands, this book opposes the way in which, for too long, the whole period of Mongol domination of Iran has been...

This is the only volume dedicated to the Alevis available in English and based on sustained fieldwork in Turkey. The Alevis now have an increasingly high profile for those interested in the diverse cultures of contemporary Turkey, and in the role of...

Providing a different approach to the history of India than previously advocated, this textbook argues that there was constant interaction between peoples and cultures. This interactive, dialogic approach provides a clear understanding of how power and...

This book sets out the problems of measuring the effects of technological change on economic progress by using the internet in the Asia-Pacific region as a case study. Corporate and industry experience, including changing business organization and new...

Investigating the dynamics of balancing patterns in the Asia-Pacific, this book focuses particularly on the contribution of great powers and middle powers to regional stability. Taking the US and China as great powers, and using ASEAN, Russia, Australia...

Locating Asian Australian Cultures is a timely and challenging interdisciplinary compilation that sets a contemporary benchmark for Asian Australian studies and its future directions. In the dynamic field of diasporic Asian studies, Asian Australian...

This book examines the role of the international community in the handover of the Dutch colony of West Papua/Irian Jaya to Indonesia in the 1960s and questions whether or not the West Papuan people ever genuinely exercised the right to self-determination...

Academics and policy makers have grown increasingly interested in the ways that non-governmental organizations (NGOs) may encourage better governance, democratic politics, and perhaps ultimately a global civil society. In Civil Life, Globalization and...

This collection of essays covers the media and public debate dimension of the events of 9/11, and beyond, from the point of view of Middle Eastern and Asian countries. The first part of the book deals with the use of the media as an instrument of...

This comprehensive and absorbing book traces the cultural history of Southeast Asia from prehistoric (especially Neolithic, Bronze-Iron age) times through to the major Hindu and Buddhist civilizations, to around AD 1300. Southeast Asia has recently...

Regionalism has played an increasingly important role in the changing international relations of East Asia in recent decades, with early signs of integration and growing regional cooperation. This in-depth volume analyzes various historical approaches to...

Bringing together contributions on the nature of corruption in East and Southeast Asia, this edited volume examines the means of limiting and ultimately eliminating corruption at a national and international level. Taking a country by country approach...

Drawing upon wide-ranging case study material, the book explores the ever-changing personal and cultural identity of Chinese migrants and the diverse cosmopolitan communities they create. The various models of newly-forged communities are examined with...

Michael Leifer, who died in 2001, was one of the leading scholars of Southeast Asian international relations. He was hugely influential through his extensive writings and his contacts with people in government and business in the region. In this book,...

Most international attention on Myanmar has focused on the political situation, where the military, in power since 1962, continues to refuse to acknowledge the results of democratic elections, and on related human rights issues. This book, by focusing...