Asia Books

I've enjoyed all of Jennifer's books, but I think this one is the strongest yet. A funny, engaging look at one girl's unexpected (and at first unwelcome) overseas journey--with humor that deepens, rather than trivializes, the book's more serious moments.

I can't begin to express the enjoyment I and my daughter had of this book. We still refer back to it seven months after we read it. This book shows the value of giving your children a true WORLD of experiences. It was very hard to put down and we faced a range of laughter, suspense, sadness, reflection and happiness. My daughter and I read the book one month before a three week family trip to Brazil (including the Amazon Jungle and indigenous/African cultural sites). It was a perfect read from the child travelers point of view and even more perfect was the importance of being open to learning about other people's cultures and experiences. No travel guidebook could have been as exciting and fun as this book for my child. If you can't fly to some distant place, pick up this book with your child and have an adventure. I recommend it for children 8 years and older.

"Close Encounters of a Third World Kind" lives up to its title. Twelve year old Annie is off on the adventure of her life, as she treks to Nepal with her family (Mom, Doctor Dad, and little sister) to provide health care in a rural village. This is definitely an out of the mainstream book with its exotic and unusual setting. Author Jennifer J. Stewart's trademark humor is always there, as well as a certain ick factor in common medical complaints, but this is much more than a lighthearted tale. The friendship Annie develops with a younger Nepal girl is genuine. Highly recommended.

This book is a knock up the side of the head! Now I understand the disconnect between what I was brought up to believe about the United States and the non-western world, and what is happening now e.g. US policy is really that of Britain before 1942!
Must read for all us old hippies!

Edward W. Said convincingly argued in his 1979 masterpiece, Orientalism that the West (mainly America) traditionally had a rather monolithic view of the East. This perception, according to Said, was based more on fantasy than in fact - and that the West saw the East in terms of the `other.' MIT Literary Professor Christina Klein re-visits Said's conclusions in Cold War Orientalism: Asia in the Middlebrow Imagination, 1945-1961. In this work, she successfully argues that "while many American representations fit comfortably with Said's model of Orientalism, many post-war representations of noncommunist Asia do not, although they do not contradict it entirely"
(p.11).

Essentially, Klein illustrates that various cultural mediums in post-WWII America actively engage Asian topics to bridge the cultural divide between East and West. In her powerful and well written work, Klein masterfully explains "the relationship between the expansion of U.S. power into Asia between 1945 and 1961 and the simultaneous proliferation of popular American representations of Asia" (p. 5).

There are numerous examples cited in this work that provide evidence to support her main claim that America and the Orient (the East) "could learn to understand each other" (p. 200.). For instance, she brilliantly illustrates that America reached out to post-WWII Asia through films such as The King and I and The Bridges of Toko-Ri; and through magazines such as the Readers Digest and Saturday Review. These cultural mediums, asserted Klein, educated America about Asian topics - and advanced the American Cold War interest of "economic globalization" (p. 268).

Although Klein wisely stops her study in 1961, her conclusion draws parallels between recent U.S.-Asia relations and those of post-WWII such as the revival of the King and I in 1996 and a 1991 speech by Dole Foods CEO who "praised Asian Americans as a National Resource" (p. 269).

A cursory query of reviews for Klein's work resulted in an abundance of praise and admiration for her scholarship. Klein, noted one reviewer, "is not content to simplify the complexity of the time period in order to schematize things too neatly. Rather, she seeks to dig into the richness of America's expectations for Asia, including the countervailing currents within that relationship" (review by Jespersen T. Christopher). The blend and overall comparisons between cultural mediums provides the reader with a rich and compelling story.

The passages, scholarship, anecdotes, and readability of this work are impressive. But the real value of this work is that it advances a new understanding of the East and West during the Cold War - where the former educates the latter in a mutually beneficial platform. In this reviewer's opinion, there are no obvious weaknesses to this work, nor are there any harsh criticisms from other reviewers about Klein's overall thesis. This is an important work for students of the Cold War and expands nicely on Said's research on Orientalism.

Christina Klein contends that the paradigm of the Truman Doctrine can not offer a complete understanding of Cold War American culture or policy. She juxtaposes its policy of global communist containment with a 1957 speech by American diplomat Francis Wilcox that harped the need to educate Americans about the world beyond the national boundaries. This contrasts what the author terms the "global imaginary of containment" with the "global imaginary of integration." Both of these are educational projects. The first teaches the global politic as a heroic crusade against communism, the latter teaches it as a sentimental connection with the cultures of non-Americans. While acknowledging the abundance of quality scholarship that investigates the former project, Klein positions Cold War Orientalism as an investigation of the policy of Cold War internationalism and its related trope of "sentimental education." In doing so, she aims to dichotomize the discourse of history by proving that integration of the capitalist world went hand-in-hand with Soviet containment.

Klein begins by documenting the Federal policy initiatives that promoted cold war internationalism in the American populace, like the United States Information Agency's people-to-people program. These initiatives rose in the wake of McCarthyism because the Truman Doctrine had a basic rhetorical disadvantage when promoted to the American public. As shown in her analysis of National Security Council directives, a foreign policy of communist containment has the public relations problem of being defined by that which it opposes. The integration of "free" people and commodities becomes the necessary positive to imbue the ideology of containment with original purpose.

The author then considers how "middlebrow intellectuals"-the author's term for the editors of mass periodicals like Reader's Digest, claimed Cold War internationalism as a public pedagogy and instructed readers about the American commitment to cultural difference. The text importantly contends that "middlebrow"-an adjective and Klein's subtitular term-has roots in cultural populism of the 1920s. It functionally describes a process of repackaging diverse culture for mass consumption. This "offered [upwardly mobile immigrant] consumers the cultural capital that would make them feel more secure in their new class identity (Klein 64)." It also appropriates the cultural inadequacy that permeated the Untied State's post-WWI uneasiness with the global mantle. It translates this inadequacy into a call for individuals to claim the authority of widely informed knowledge. Finally, Klein contends that the "middlebrow imagination" conflated education with enjoyment and moral purpose, ironically couching human difference in the trappings of soothing universalism. To show the connection between Cold War Internationalism as public policy and middlebrow cultural project, the author compares novelized travel accounts (like James Michiner's The Voice of Asia) to policy documents like NSC-48. Both envision an Asian communism that is rabidly expansionist and interstitial states that teeter on the verge of being "lost" or safely preserved in the bloc of the free world through cultural understanding (Klein 126).

While Klein's scholarship is original, taking policies that have been discretely engaged by multiple works and disciplines (like, for example, the propaganda policy considerations of Jacques Ellul), her lexicon of sentimental internationalism also offers a fresh critique of liberalism. It remains an unfinished project to extend this exciting paradigm into wider considerations of American conflict and axes of difference.

Although many historical accounts of the cold war largely address the standoff in terms of the interrelationship between its most easily recognizable major players--the U.S., the People's Republic of China (PRC), and the U.S.S.R.--Steve Tsang's The Cold War's Odd Couple provides a fascinating alternate perspective. Tsang's book examines the manner in which the Kuomintang-controlled Republic of China (ROC), from its exiled position on the island of Taiwan, played a fundamentally important role in influencing the international balance of power during the cold war's critical early years. This book examines the complex web of interrelationships that developed between the ROC, the PRC, the UK, and the U.S. during the early cold war period, and also explains the significant impact that the Korean War, and the two Taiwan Strait crises of the 1950s, had upon these relationships. The book demonstrates that, even though the UK severed all of its formal diplomatic relations with the ROC in early 1950 in favor of official recognition of the PRC government, the ROC and the UK were nonetheless able to cultivate a mutually beneficial, informal relationship that had a significant impact upon cold war politics and that, by 1958, had evolved into an unintended partnership between the two governments. Because Tsang's book examines the South Asian cold war theater from a multinational perspective, it lends itself to a diverse array of readers. Students, researchers, and historians working in a number of fields, including cold war, Korean War, Taiwanese, Chinese, U.S., UK, and Hong Kong history, as well as post-colonial disciplines, will find that The Cold War's Odd Couple provides an enlightening new look at the cold war, its relationship to South Asian politics, and the twentieth-century origins of the contemporary, tenuous Taiwan-China relationship.

I bought this book because of its intriguing title. I was not disappointed. I did not realize Britain was the only country that maintained a consulate in Taiwan and kept a naval liaison officer there after it recognized China in 1950. Nor did I know Britain was the first country to attempt a `positive engagement' policy towards China in the 1950s, and failed miserably. Equally interesting is the revelation of the importance of the Suez Crisis in affecting Britain's position and policies in East Asia. The special relationship between Britain and the US was changed by the Suez fiasco and this was reflected in how Britain handled its relations with the US and Taiwan over the two Taiwan Strait Crises of the 1950s. There are so many interesting and important new findings in this highly readable book that I recommend it strongly.

This is an excellent book on the Cold War that is written in nice prose and argued cogently. I had not realized Britain and Taiwan played such important roles in the Cold War in Asia. Even less did I know Taiwan (which is what the Republic of China is) was not just a pawn but a key player itself, not least in the two Taiwan Strait Crises of the 1950s. As a bonus this book provides the best and most convincing explanation for Maoist China to start these crises. There is much in this book that is new and insightful. A highly recommended book not only for the specialists but for general readers as it is an easy read.

I wrote this book! It is my best work to date. It gives the reader the best information available. It includes a glossary, index, great illustrations, marks sections, listings, values etc. A must for dealers, collectors, appraisers and anyone interested in Oriental Decorative Arts.

Covers all of the ceramics and textiles I needed to research -- plus has great info. on woodblock prints, metal, markings, makers, restoration, museums, etc. A great value guide for anyone who collects Orientalia.

An excellent quick reference for the beginning collector as well as the advanced. How else can all the related lexicography be retained without an easily portable volume such as this? Just remember that the values given can vary significantly in reality due to quite subtle variables.

I am not a chef. In fact, Campbell's Soup is a staple in my diet. But I tried the Coconut Chicken Soup and the Crab Claw recipes and was successful! It was simple and didn't take long to make. I recommed you buy the cookbook. If I can cook these Asian dishes, anyone can!

I am no cook. in fact, campbell's soup is a staple in my diet. but i somehow managed to successfully make the coconut chicken soup recipe and it tasted delicious. the directions were easy and it didn't take more than twenty minutes. buy the book. it is worth it.

I've always been intimidated by ethnic food before but this book has made me more confident in the kitchen. Chef Wong explains ingredients, techniques and even gives suggestions for what to look for at the grocery store. Thanks! And great recipes!

This is a basic introduction to the thought of Confucius. It provides the historical background to the emergence of his thought, and also outlines the historical role Confucius' teaching has had in the educational and political system of China. The first value of Confucius' is ' learning' and the educated Man is the ideal product and bureaucrat- administrator in the Chinese ruling system. Education and learning are for not for isolated ivory tower reality, but must be directed to social action. The Confucian teaching is generally regarded as secular and does not invoke ordinarily the supernatural. The focus is on human relationships and considerable emphasis is given to ritual ( li). The Confucian ideal is for the person to show ' jen' which is a kind of respect and understanding of the other. The understanding ( shu) means something like putting oneself in the other's shoes and not doing to them what one would not want done to oneself. The emphasis on ' right action'in relation to others has special weight in family relations. The relation between parents and children, and between members of the family and older brother are given special emphasis. People are expected to show respect for their parents and provide for them in life, and also show respect for them when they are not in this world. The Confucian ideal became the norm for Chinese society for tens of generations and through the greatest share of Chinese history. When the Communists came to power in China they blamed the Confucian ideal for not having adjusted and trained China to be a part of the modern world. Yet in many ways Dawson makes clear the Confucian way of seeing the world remains strong in Chinese society. The strength of the Chinese family connection is evidenced throughout the large Diaspora of the Chinese.
This is an excellent , clearly written introduction for someone like myself who knows very little about Chinese thought. The parallel to certain elements in Jewish thought ( The emphasis on learning, and on being a ' mensch' ( jen) are two apparent elements here is striking. But of course in Judaism the emphasis is on human relation to a personal God, and walking in the ways that God prescribes.
In any case I highly recommend this small work.

I agree with the previous reviewer; it's a clear and concise introduction for someone who wants to get acquainted with some of the basic Confucian tenets. Too bad its o.p.

Excellant study of Confucius's teachings organized by topic.
Here are the chapters: 1. Confucius, 2. Learning and teaching, 3. Ritual and music, 4. Humaneness and other virtues, 5. Gentlemen and knights, 6. Government and people, 7. A Confucian China.

I am delighted as the author-editor to make Sir Ernest Satow's Japan correspondence (1895-1900) available as part of a project to introduce more of the Satow Papers held in the National Archives of the UK at Kew, London (ref. PRO 30/33 1-23).
Most of the letters in this book are addressed to Satow, rather than from him. They paint an intriguing picture in English of the concerns and preoccupations of a time and a country which are little known today, outside the ranks of Japan specialists (historians). The British Japan consular service was effectively made irrelevant by the ending of extraterritoriality by treaty in 1899, and of course ceased to exist soon after.
I commend these letters to readers, and plan to continue with further volumes eventually from the same source.

Ian Ruxton, editor of The Diaries of Sir Ernest Satow, British Envoy in Peking (1900-06), Vol. 1 and The Semi-Official Letters of British Envoy Sir Ernest Satow from Japan and China (1895-1906).

Ian Ruxton follows up his extensive volume of Ernest Mason Satow's diaries and letters with this collection of correspondence, mostly to Satow, during Satow's last major posting in Japan, as British Minister at the end of the 19th century. Of particular interest to a general reader is what the correspondence reveals of British perceptions at the time of the value of relations with Japan in terms of relations with France, Germany, Russia, and China. Incidental observations of the development of Meiji-era Japanese society also provide interest.

Firstly, let's dispel a myth that the subject matter would be deemed by many to be elitist in nature and therefore attractive to only the same, and boring with it - bunkum - it's great. This is a fascinating series of correspondal exchanges between Sir Ernest Satow, British Minister in Japan at the rapidly closing Victorian era, and many of his subordinates, and a goodly stack of letters and notes etc which flew to and fro between his peers and superiors, from his own Department and others, at home and in Japan, throughout his tenure. There are letters which are concerned with the possible dire implications if the correct protocol etc was not adhered to. There are the more usual 'grist to the mill' within the Diplomatic Service musings, of trade problems involving China, Russia, Germany and France, and of course, the UK ( I am British, so please allow me this perspective! ), in relation to Japan, its trade relations and even its marine accesibility - and even a quintessentially British exchange in the face of possible disaster of, wait for it - 'I don't like the climate!'Who else but a bowler hatted Englishman abroad with rather itchy tweeds in the Far-East? Technically, this is a work of great devotion, skill, diligence and application in the salvaging and digital preservation of the sepia-tinged Bull Dog Spirit, ironically manifest here in the formal comfortably reserved words of a British Diplomat of a gone but not forgotten age, complete with salary of £4,000 PA Plus £1,000 for 'outfits'. If this 'money for clobber' was Per Annum, then I'll have to see 'Er Indoors' - I don't even get that now! Well done, Ian Ruxton, on the excellent presentation of another window into Britain and Japan's Diplomatic past. Cheers, and here's to the next instalment.
John Haines

If you own just one curry cookbook, this should be that book! Recipes are well explained, easy to follow, and each is accompanied with a detailed color photograph. I am a novice curry "chef" and after scouring the local public libraries for comprehensive but easy-to-follow curry cookbooks, I found this one at Amazon and now look no further! From basic to more complex, each recipe brings a bit of "fire and spice" to the kitchen, and palate. This is a book curry lovers should not be without!

I had this book on my Amazon wishlist and got it for Christmas. I couldn't be more pleased. I made Kashmiri Chicken & Potatos with Saffron Rice last night and it was delicious! The recipes are very easy to follow. Don't let this book fool you, not only are there tons of curry recipes, but rice bread & veggie recipies as well. This book also shows you how to make your own curry pastes and powders as well as an "about" section for the exotic and even not so exotic ingredients you'll be using. I'd highly recommend this book for anyone who is a connoisseur of far eastern cuisine.

If you are looking for an easy to use authentic curry cookbook, then do not hesitate to buy this one.

When I first read about this book in the papers I picked it up for my mom but once I started reading it I couldn't put it down myself! Great stories written from the heart and with a lot of heart plus great pix from around the South East Asian region. I loved the introductory story about the author's grandmother as I felt she was talking about my own grandma, who was a great unifier of the family when she was alive and a great cook as well. A definite must on this year's Christmas list for all my female friends. Good job!

The book is a fusion of both cookery and history. In it, there is a beautiful pictorial glimpse of the women in Asia. I can vividly see and start to understand how their lives are affected by differing cultures, lifestyles and experiences. The reading experience is unique because we are also given a diverse range of food recipes to literaly taste the different cultures. Well done!

This is the kind of feminism we have been looking for! Our bra burining sisters of the sixties had their hearts in theright place but the stories of some of these incredible women in this book give the term amazing grace a whole new meaning for me. wonderful book.

One, of not the only book, I have ever read about Conscientious Objectors in the military. Each of the stories told in the book bring to life the Viet Nam war itself, but the war in the minds of the men themselves. It is a different kind of bravery that is revealed here.

I was in Shreveport, Louisiana, in the 1980's doing some painful rehabilitation work. My psyche was only a shadow of what it once was or what it became later with a renewal of my faith, insight, and energy. I was browsing through the library and saw an ad in the back of "Mother Jones" anout this book in the making. I contacted the author and was interviewed via telephone for a couple of hours. It was at a pay phone and I literally screamed my way through the interview. It was a return to the roots of my dissent. And a healing.

The author has captured a fragment of the in-service dissent during the Vietnam War. When I started my dissent action, I was alone, and endured lonliness. This book has cemented us together in a deepest solidarity. Now I am available for support to others in this dilemma, should the need arise. Heaven forbid. What a nightmare. What a journey. What hope!

"To hope til hope creates from its own wreck the thing it contemplates."

Shelley (peace sisters and brothers)

This book is very real, it emits an aura of what it's really like to fight in a war. Great for all people interseted in the military.