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European history, History, Asian history
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In the first quarter of the thirteenth century, an anonymous Flemish writer set in writing, in Old French, a chronicle…
of Normandy, England, Flanders and northern France. It ranged from the arrival of the Vikings in Normandy to the early years of the reign of King Henry III of England, ending with an account of the translation of the relics of St Thomas Becket to their magnificent new shrine in Canterbury Cathedral in 1220. Along the way, it adopted and formed part of a tradition of writing of the history of the dukes of Normandy and kings of England, a tradition which had developed in Latin in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and then continued in Old French. The work is famous for vibrant and informed description of the reign of King John, in particular the period of baronial reaction, Magna Carta, ensuing civil war and the nearly-successful invasion of England by Louis, heir to the kingdom of France. Flanders supplied troops to both sides, and this Flemish author sees these events in close detail, and from the Flemish, not the French or English, point of view. He may himself have been an eyewitness, directly involved, but if not he would have known many who had fought and died in this conflict. Janet Shirley’s translation of this chronicle, the first into English, brings the work of the Anonymous of Béthune to a new audience in this volume, accompanied by an introduction and historical notes by Paul Webster.
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Asian history, History
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This edited volume engages with some of the most dynamic themes in current research on East Asian environmental history, including…
agricultural science, war and the environment, imperial forestry, oceanic history, and the history of energy. Chapters in this book supply an overview of environmental history as a rapidly expanding field, continuing to generate valuable insights into the mutually constitutive relationship between human societies and the biophysical environment. The book is divided into three parts: Part I consists of three chapters related to land use, while Part II includes five chapters that focus on water, a topic of perennial concern among environmental historians of East Asia, especially as it relates to irrigation, food production, and marine fisheries. Part III consists of two chapters, discussing the impact of new technologies on air quality, in addition to the history of energy in East Asia, which has emerged as an important area of inquiry at the intersection between both environmental history and the history of science and technology. Perspectives on Environmental History in East Asia: Changes in the Land, Water, and Air will appeal to students and scholars of East Asian studies, environmental history, and environmental sciences.
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Ancient history, History, Asian history, War
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Hackett's Passages: Key Moments in History series titles include original-source documents in accessible editions, intended for the student-user or general audience. This…
edition, The Greco-Persian Wars, taps our knowledge of the Persian Empire and its interactions with the Greek world. The sources examined were created in different times and places, for different purposes, and with different intended audiences. Using these sources effectively requires recognizing their distinct characteristics. A general introduction about the Greco-Persian wars is included to provide historical background and an overview of the information contained in the original-source documents. Also included are a glossary of terms, a chronology, insightful headnotes to each document, and an index.
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Asian history
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Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) is one of the most important yet least understood Palestinian armed factions, both in terms of…
its history and ideology. Labelled a terrorist organization by the US and the EU, it has grown to become the second largest armed movement in the Gaza Strip and the third largest in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Using a wealth of primary sources, this book traces the history of PIJ from its origins in the early 1980s to today. By looking at how the group was established, how it has developed in theory and practice, and how it understands religion and politics, Skare seeks to answer the key question of why the PIJ still exist despite the presence of its more powerful sister movement Hamas. In doing so, he fills an important empirical gap in the literature on Palestinian Islamism.
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Asian history, Espionage, Politics and government
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From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Black Flags, the thrilling unknown story of America&’s mission in Syria: to find and…
destroy Syria&’s chemical weapons and keep them out of the hands of the Islamic State In August 2012, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad was clinging to power in a vicious civil war. When secret intelligence revealed that the dictator might resort to using chemical weapons, President Obama warned that doing so would cross &“a red line.&” Assad did it anyway, bombing the Damascus suburb of Ghouta with sarin gas, killing hundreds of civilians and forcing Obama to decide if he would mire America in another unpopular Middle Eastern war. When Russia offered to broker the removal of Syria&’s chemical weapons, Obama leapt at the out.So begins an electrifying race to find, remove, and destroy 1,300 tons of chemical weapons in the midst of a raging civil war. The extraordinary little-known effort is a triumph for the Americans, but soon Russia&’s long game becomes clear: it will do anything to preserve Assad&’s rule. As America&’s ability to control events in Syria shrinks, the White House learns that ISIS, building its caliphate in Syria&’s war-tossed territory, is seeking chemical weapons for itself, with an eye to attacking the West. Red Line is a classic Joby Warrick true-life thriller: a character-driven narrative with a cast of heroes and villains, including weapons hunters, politicians, doctors, diplomats, and spies. Drawing on astonishing original reporting, Warrick reveals how the United States embarked on a bold adventure to prevent one catastrophe but could not avoid a tragic chain of events that empowered America&’s enemies.
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Asian history, Politics and government
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A thoughtful, illuminating exploration of modern Japanese politics and culture through the eyes of an investigative reporter Dreux Richard presents…
post-Fukushima Japan in three illustrative parts. For six years, he follows members of Japan&’s Nigerian community, whose struggles with a hostile immigration system lead to the starvation death of a Nigerian immigrant in a Japanese detention center, investigated here for the first time. In Japan&’s northernmost city, Richard goes door to door with the region&’s youngest census employee, meeting the city&’s elderly residents and documenting the individual stories that comprise the nation&’s record-breaking population decline. Finally, he takes us into the offices of energy executives and nuclear regulators, as they fight to determine whether reactors threatened by earthquake faults will be permitted to restart after the Fukushima disaster, a conflict that brings the entire regulatory system to the brink of collapse. Richard&’s perceptive and probing reporting establishes him as an authority on his subjects, but he remains aware of his status as an outsider and interpreter for his readers. His long-term engagement with the personal lives of his sources revives the expatriate literary tradition of Lafcadio Hearn and Donald Richie, bringing its best qualities into a century where forensic investigation of wrongdoing and artful observation of its consequences are equally crucial. Through an exceptional range of approaches to an exceptionally complex society, Every Human Intention provides an understanding of today&’s Japan that goes far beyond politics, truisms, and sensational arguments.
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Business and economics, Asian history, History
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A much-needed behind-the-scenes survey of an emerging Asian powerThe 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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Business and economics, Economics, Asian history
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A thousand-year history of how China&’s obsession with silver influenced the country&’s financial well-being, global standing, and political stability This…
revelatory account of the ways silver shaped Chinese history shows how an obsession with &“white metal&” held China back from financial modernization. First used as currency during the Song dynasty in around 900 CE, silver gradually became central to China&’s economic framework and was officially monetized in the middle of the Ming dynasty during the sixteenth century. However, due to the early adoption of paper money in China, silver was not formed into coins but became a cumbersome &“weighing currency,&” for which ingots had to be constantly examined for weight and purity—an unwieldy practice that lasted for centuries. While China&’s interest in silver spurred new avenues of trade and helped increase the country&’s global economic footprint, Jin Xu argues that, in the long run, silver played a key role in the struggles and entanglements that led to the decline of the Chinese empire.
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Asian history, History, Politics and government, General non-fiction
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A revealing exploration of political disruption and violence in a rural Chinese county during the Cultural RevolutionA Decade of Upheaval…
chronicles the surprising and dramatic political conflicts of a rural Chinese county over the course of the Cultural Revolution. Drawing on an unprecedented range of sources—including work diaries, interviews, internal party documents, and military directives—Dong Guoqiang and Andrew Walder uncover a previously unimagined level of strife in the countryside that began with the Red Guard Movement in 1966 and continued unabated until the death of Mao Zedong in 1976.Showing how the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution were not limited to urban areas, but reached far into isolated rural regions, Dong and Walder reveal that the intervention of military forces in 1967 encouraged factional divisions in Feng County because different branches of China’s armed forces took various sides in local disputes. The authors also lay bare how the fortunes of local political groups were closely tethered to unpredictable shifts in the decisions of government authorities in Beijing. Eventually, a backlash against suppression and victimization grew in the early 1970s and resulted in active protests, which presaged the settling of scores against radical Maoism.A meticulous look at how one overlooked region experienced the Cultural Revolution, A Decade of Upheaval illuminates the all-encompassing nature of one of the most unstable periods in modern Chinese history.
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Literature biography, Women biography, Asian history, War
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The long-buried story of three extraordinary female journalists who permanently shattered the barriers to women covering war. Kate Webb, an…
Australian iconoclast, Catherine Leroy, a French daredevil photographer, and Frances FitzGerald, a blue-blood American intellectual, arrived in Vietnam with starkly different life experiences but one shared purpose: to report on the most consequential story of the decade. At a time when women were considered unfit to be foreign reporters, Frankie, Catherine, and Kate challenged the rules imposed on them by the military, ignored the belittlement of their male peers, and ultimately altered the craft of war reportage for generations. In You Don&’t Belong Here, Elizabeth Becker uses these women&’s work and lives to illuminate the Vietnam War from the 1965 American buildup, the expansion into Cambodia, and the American defeat and its aftermath. Arriving herself in the last years of the war, Becker writes as a historian and a witness of the times. What emerges is an unforgettable story of three journalists forging their place in a land of men, often at great personal sacrifice. Deeply reported and filled with personal letters, interviews, and profound insight, You Don&’t Belong Here fills a void in the history of women and of war.
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Asian history, Poetry, Buddhism
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The Therīgāthā is one of the oldest surviving literatures by women, composed more than two millennia ago and originally collected…
as part of the Pali canon of Buddhist scripture. These poems were written by some of the first Buddhist women—therīs—honored for their religious achievements. Through imaginative verses about truth and freedom, the women recount their lives before ordination and their joy at attaining liberation from samsara. Poems of the First Buddhist Women offers startling insights into the experiences of women in ancient times that continue to resonate with modern readers. With a spare and elegant style, this powerful translation introduces us to a classic of world literature.
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Asian history, Poetry, Islam
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Bullhe Shah’s work is among the glories of Panjabi literature, and the iconic eighteenth-century poet is widely regarded as a…
master of mystical Sufi poetry. His verses, famous for their vivid style and outspoken denunciation of artificial religious divisions, have long been beloved and continue to win audiences around the world. This striking new translation is the most authoritative and engaging introduction to an enduring South Asian classic.
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Asian history, Politics and government, Islam
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Localities, countries, and regions develop through complex interactions with others. This striking volume highlights global interconnectedness seen through the prism…
of the Middle East, both "global-in" and "global-out." It delves into the region’s scientific, artistic, economic, political, religious, and intellectual formations and traces how they have taken shape through a dynamic set of encounters and exchanges. Written in short and accessible essays by prominent experts on the region, Global Middle East covers topics including God, Rumi, food, film, fashion, music, sports, science, and the flow of people, goods, and ideas. The text explores social and political movements from human rights, Salafism, and cosmopolitanism to radicalism and revolutions. Using the insights of global studies, students will glean new perspectives about the region.
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Asian history
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A visceral, riveting, no-holds-barred military memoir told from the front line of the war against ISIS with a foreword by Andy McNab.
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Asian history
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A wide-ranging introduction to the multi-faceted history of Asia—from early origins to the present Asia Past and Present is an…
expansive survey of the social, political, and economic history of the continent from the Paleolithic era to the early 21st century. As there is no physically discrete continent, rather an arbitrary division of the Eurasian landmass, this book focuses on terrain that encompasses India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Central Asia, China, Korea, Japan, Mongolia, the Russian Far East, and Southeast Asia—the area which most modern scholars identify as Asia. Offering broad chronological and topical coverage of Asia, this book examines subjects including written languages, religions and philosophies, concepts of monarchy, militarism, independence and nation building, and more. Particular focus is placed on the varying levels of influence the core cultures of India and China have had on the continent in a multitude of socio-political areas. Historical dialogues of how colonies, later emerging nations, blended traditional Asian culture and Western political and economic models of modernization complement contemporary discussions of globalization, nuclear tensions, and growing demands for greater individual freedom. Written in an engaging, accessible style, this book: Covers of a wide range of topics, perspectives, geographic regions, and time periods Highlights India and China as the pre 19th century cultural cores of Asia Presents a relatable political-cultural narrative framework Discusses contemporary themes including gender, sexual orientation, the environment, and Western and Islamic influence on Asian culture Includes coverage of commonly underrepresented regions such as the Himalayan nations, Maldives, and New Guinea Asia Past and Present: A Brief History is a valuable resource for undergraduate courses where Asian cultures are introduced, and in courses on Asian politics, diplomacy, environmental issues, and socio-economics.
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Religious biography, History, Asian history, Islam
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&‘Uthman ibn &‘Affan (d. 656) was an early convert to Islam and the third successor to the Prophet Muhammad. As…
caliph he established the first Islamic navy, consolidated the text of the Qur&’an, and expanded the Arab empire. His opponents, however, accused him of being corrupt and questioned his legitimacy. After twelve years &‘Uthman&’s troubled caliphate ended in revolt. His death at the hands of rebels led to civil war and contributed to the eventual split between Sunni and Shi&’i Islam. In this volume, Heather Keaney examines the life and legacy of the controversial caliph.
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Asian history
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Hyunhee Park offers the first global historical study of soju, the distinctive distilled drink of Korea. Searching for soju's origins,…
Park leads us into the vast, complex world of premodern Eurasia. She demonstrates how the Mongol conquests of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries wove together hemispheric flows of trade, empire, scientific and technological transfer and created the conditions for the development of a singularly Korean drink. Soju's rise in Korea marked the evolution of a new material culture through ongoing interactions between the global and local and between tradition and innovation in the adaptation and localization of new technologies. Park's vivid new history shows how these cross-cultural encounters laid the foundations for the creation of a globally connected world.
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History, Asian history, Customs and cultures, General non-fiction
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For centuries following the fall of Rome, Western Europe was a benighted backwater, a world of subsistence farming, minimal literacy,…
and violent conflict. Meanwhile Arab culture was thriving, dazzling those Europeans fortunate enough to visit cities like Baghdad or Antioch. There, philosophers, mathematicians, and astronomers were steadily advancing the frontiers of knowledge, as well as keeping alive the works of Plato and Aristotle. When the best libraries in Europe held several dozen books, Baghdad's great library, The House of Wisdom, housed four hundred thousand. Jonathan Lyons shows just how much "Western" ideas owe to the Golden Age of Arab civilization. Even while their countrymen waged bloody Crusades against Muslims, a handful of intrepid Christian scholars, hungry for knowledge, traveled East and returned with priceless jewels of science, medicine, and philosophy that laid the foundation for the Renaissance. In this brilliant, evocative book Jonathan Lyons reveals the story of how Europe drank from the well of Muslim learning.
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Asian history, Religion
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From the tragic young Adonis to Zašhapuna, first among goddesses, this handbook provides the most complete information available on deities…
from the cultures and religions of the ancient Near East, including Anatolia, Syria, Israel, Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, and Elam. The result of nearly fifteen years of research, this handbook is more expansive and covers a wider range of sources and civilizations than any previous reference works on the topic. Arranged alphabetically, the entries range from multiple pages of information to a single line—sometimes all that we know about a given deity. Where possible, each record discusses the deity’s symbolism and imagery, connecting it to the myths, rituals, and festivals described in ancient sources. Many of the entries are accompanied by illustrations that aid in understanding the iconography, and they all include references to texts in which the god or goddess is mentioned.Appropriate for both trained scholars and nonacademic readers, this book collects centuries of Near Eastern mythology into one volume. It will be an especially valuable resource for anyone interested in Assyriology, ancient religion, and the ancient Near East.
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Asian history, General non-fiction
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The kinds of punishment used in a society have long been considered an important criterion in judging whether a society…
is civilized or barbaric, advanced or backward, modern or pre-modern. Focusing on Japan, and the dramatic revolution in punishments that occurred after the Meiji Restoration, the author asks how such distinctions have affected our understanding of the past and contributed, in turn, to the proliferation of new kinds of barbarity in the modern world. The book concludes by examining how modern ideas about progress and civilization shaped penal practices in Japan's own colonial empire.