Asia Books

A very well written, concise account of an amazing life whose owner did not lose her moral purpose and convictions. Very funny in parts, full of insight and vivd descriptions of early life in Bhopal. Very engaging and hard to put down. The author focusses on interesting and revealing anecdotes.

Princess Abida Sultan was a great woman; she still lives on in the hearts of the people she touched and the people of Karachi, the city she choose as her home.
She was a educated and learned person, who studied both worldly and religious subjects.
She is an example for the Muslim women of the world, who want to follow their religion properly and do great things as well.
She did great things, beating men while doing so!
What a woman!
Salutes and Cheers for her.

When saw this book I didn't know much about Princess Abida Sultaan but the photograph of a young princess with a sword on the cover attracted my attention initially. Princess Abida Sultaan was the heir apparent to the Muslim princely state of Bhopal in India before the creation of Pakistan. This is one princess who walked away from a life of luxury to follow the ideals set out for the newly created state of Pakistan.
As I started to read the book I couldn't keep it down. A truly amazing life led by this independent, strong willed, woman at a time and in a culture where it was not expected of her. I read in awe of this remarkable woman's life - a devoted mother first, then a stateswoman, a sports woman, a hunter and a pilot. A woman truly at peace with her culture and yet smart and open to change. I was particularly impressed by her honesty about her life - whether it came to the failure of her short marriage or any doubt she had while leaving Bhopal for a rough start in a new country where she had no roots.
I gained a lot of respect for this woman through her memoirs but I also felt deeply saddened by the fact that all her great skills, experience and talents were never fully put to use in Pakistan and recognized. She doesn't sound bitter about this lack of use of her innate abilities and her training as the heir apparent of the princely state of Bhopal after her move to Pakistan.
This book should be required text for all classes of South Asian history and women's studies. Its about time the Western world's image of Muslim women and South Asian women in particular be elevated from silk claden exotic creatures who only served a role to please and reproduce heirs.
I do regret never having the opportunity to meet an icon of an era and a generation such as Princess Abida.

This intelligent and kind man all too often falls through the cracks of history. People forget that there was a completely different school of socialist thought that existed concurrently with the ideas of Marx. Kropotkin, like many others who believed in the ability of people to make their own economic relations, had the distinction of being persecuted by people on both sides of the political spectrum. Yet his book is remarkable for its lack of self-pity or resentment. The book is dense and full of the musings of a highly educated man of the late 19th century who indulged many other interests besides politics. His journey is remarkable, and we can only hope that he will become better known.

Prince Piotr Alekseyevich Kropotkin, 1842-1921, was a Russian geographer and anarchist. He came from a wealthy princely family and as a boy was a page to the czar. Repelled by court life, he obtained permission to serve as an army officer in Siberia, where his explorations and scientific observations established his reputation as a geographer. After returning to European Russia, he became an adherent of the Bakuninist faction of the narodniki and engaged in clandestine propaganda activities until arrested in 1874. Two years later he escaped to Western Europe, where he worked with various anarchist groups until his imprisonment in France (1883). Pardoned in 1886, partly as the result of the popular clamor for his release, he moved to England and spent the next 30 years mainly as a scholar and writer developing a coherent anarchist theory. In his most famous book, Mutual Aid (1902), he attacked T. H. Huxley and the Social Darwinists for their picture of nature and human society as essentially competitive. He insisted that cooperation and mutual aid were the norms in both the natural and social worlds. From this perspective he developed a theory of social organizationin Fields, Factories and Workshops (1898) and elsewherethat was based upon communes of producers linked with each other through common custom and free contract. Returning to Russia following the February Revolution of 1917, he attempted to engender support for a continued Russian effort in World War I and to combat the rising influence of Bolshevism. Following the Bolshevik triumph in the October Revolution (1917), he retired from active politics. Consistently nonviolent in his anarchist beliefs, Kropotkin,as both thinker and man, was admired and acclaimed by many far removed from anarchist circles.

This work by Peter Kropotkin's is, I say this without reservations, a work of genius and an amazing reflection on the life of an amazing man. Kropotkin's stories of his childhood and his relations with his servants and other lower-calss individuals (he was born a prince) are very interesting, as are his tales of exploration. His version of anarcho-socialism is very intriguing, largely because he bears no hate or grudge towards anyone and he is a very gentle man. In his book, it becomes clear (without him saying it, of course) that he did not recognize just how unique of a man he was. This book is filled with marvelous anecdotes, from cutting political commentary to fascinating stories of journeys down the Amur River to a splendid little collection of stupid Russian Spy stories. This book is fantastic.

A wonderful book about a wonderful idea. This exhibition is really outstanding, I'm looking forward to see it. As I heard it will take place in Zurich, Switzerland in April/May 2009.

More information about the project: www.tmpp.org

A Dear Friend gave me a copy of this book.
It is the most beautiful book I have ever owned
I bought many copies to give as gifts.
It is the embodiment of Love and Kindness.

a beautiful book that captures the spirit of the dalai lama. the photographs are lovely in content and the reproduction is excellent. i highly recommend it.

The great strength of this book lies in its brevity. Two-hundred pages divided by twenty chapters makes for fast reading, covering a wide variety of subjects. Edward Dimock is a man of the world; his depth of experience allows him to write with both fondness and irreverence. Early on he confesses himself to be an old fuddy-duddy, guided by the ancient Manu (like Dante and Vergil), yet is not above numerous and much-appreciated pop references to anything from Mel Brooks to Star Trek. For those of us who know choice little of India (let alone been there) Mysteries of the East is both didactic and hilarious. Dimock's a wonderful writer, quickly establishing a humorous tone while discussing otherwise weighty matters. The rhythm he works himself into had me anticipating his editorializing, even in the midst of the more luxurious description. He's always "on", always has a little something to say about his travels and discoveries, be they an American movie star in Agra or the island of Diu where Dimock "communes with the spirits" (my realization of what he meant by this caused me to laugh out loud; I was finally hooked). Dimock is a witty observer of detail, with a well-educated sense of comparison and contrast. The similarity between Santa Claus and Ganesha is nicely drawn, while the author is careful to distinguish between Sir Richard Burton and just plain Richard Burton. The Indians and Sahibs are allowed to speak for themselves either charmingly or boisterously, quick character sketches that add flavor to the cultural mix. Dimock also knows his Vishvamitra and Herodotus and lets these old-timers have their say. But as he himself writes, "It is no news to anybody that language is more than words", and some very fine study is put into his silent characters as well, everyone from Yusuf the waiter to Nikki the German shepherd. Dimock takes an obvious delight in the menagerie that is India, from thieving monkeys to a charging water buffalo, and a most striking non-speaking role is played by Gopal the elephant, whose astuteness and venerability Dimock compares favorably to his own father. He's correct in describing the glance of the polite pachyderm as sagacious: some animals--say, cows,--look right through you, but elephants look right at you . . . appraisingly. The change of scene in Part III of the book caught me somewhat off-guard as Dimock leaves India and travels to Aden and then back to New England. I thought the whole book was supposed to be about India, but I got to thinking about the title; the East. After all, Aden is in the Middle East, and Massachusetts is on the east coast, and both are plenty mysterious to me as well. The most memorable advice Dimock provides if one is to truly see India is that one must: 1. Meet a maharaja, whether he be sober or inebriated, 2. Ride an elephant to see an outdoor drama without trampling any of the locals, 3. See a ruby-eyed idol deep in a rain-forest straight out of The Jungle Book, 4.Take in a live performance by a cobra and its handler in the street, or at least stumble upon one of the great snakes out in the bush, or (Shiva willing) in one's own bathtub.

Mr. Dimock possesses a perspective on India that, few if any, Westerners will ever have. He is probably the only Western author who has been able to notice and accept the chaos of India. Mr. Dimock aslo has the unique insight of perceiving the order that arises from this choas. In his book he presents India to us as a place of constant comedy the humor of which is best understood by someone who is fimilar with the region and it's people. India comes across as a place of extremes where even the animals have a personality and express it in their own right. The book was funny and nostalgic at the same time. The ideas would have been best expressed in an Indian language but the limiations of English as a language used to recount India is also very amusing. The book is very highly recommended especially to those who live in mortal fear and awe of the place. Thanks! B

I am passionate for non-fiction books about India so this book was on my personal reading list. I will mention this: Something about Mr. Dimock's writing reminds me of that "lost" writing style of the 19th century. This is an absolutely fabulous book that unfortunately will probably be overlooked time and time again by readers. This is a book I will buy and always keep because it is so perfect in every way!

We love this book! Not only was the book thoughtfully written, the painting were beautiful, and the characters in this books were so cute. We really appreciate the CD that accompanies the book. The music that comes with the book makes reading it a joy, and a fun expereince for the children. We learn a lot about China through this book, thank you!

You and your child will be guided throught this amazing book with Ming & Kim who are also dressed in costumes of minority tribes through out the Peoples' Republic of China. This is how the book breaks down. Each page also has it's very own music track. The music is absolutely beautiful and is unlike any Chinese music cd that we own! The more we listen to this cd we really love it! My daughter actually requests to hear certain songs, our favorite has sounds like running horses!

CD -
Great Wall of China - The Chinese Dragon
The book and music speaks of how on Chinese New Year there is a big dragon dance to celebrate the New Year. It talks about how Chinese drums & cymbals give you a feeling of happiness. " This Asian adaptation of music that is played during festive occasions".

Silk Road
It's music has foot bells and a tambourine in this original composition.

Inner Mongolia
This track is suppose to make you feel like you are racing across the plains on horseback and uses traditional Mongolain music with a horse head fiddle. ( It's doesn't look like a horse head at all. Imagine a square guitar with a long neck and curved handle like a cane).

XinJiang
This track has an instrument called a Rawap and is suppose to convay a young Uyghur girl dancing during a festive occasion. there is a small drawing of what a Rawap looks like as well as other instruments in other songs.

Tibet
This track has banjo, Tibetan drums and a bamboo flute and is supposed to make you think of children celebrating.

Sichuan
This melody is an updated folk music and it has a Bawu which is a type of Chinese clarinet.

Guizhou
" Maioa people relay messages, including expressions of friendship and love, to each other through song. These songs echo through the mountain ranges. A Miao girl plays the Lusheng" instrument.

Guilin
This track features a copper drum in the background and is suppose to take you to a woman who is picking tea leaves in the spring morning sun.

Yunnan
" The bamboo dance is a popular dance among the minority tribes of Yunnan. Dances move deftly between bamboo poles accompanied by the rhythmic beats of copper and wooden drums".

Dongbei
The main instrucments in this track are Chinese drums, cymbols, erhu and banhu. This track is known as Yang Ge and is played in parades during festive celebrations where thousands of people line up to watch the parades.

Central Plains
The bamboo flute in this track imitates a singing bird and also includes an instrument called a Pipa. It is suppose to make you think a grandfather laying under a big shade tree playing his flute while his grandson chases a small bird around the tree.

Jiangnan
This track is a new version of a 200-year-old Jiangnan folk song called Jasmine Flower. The song uses the Erhu which is kinda like a violin and the Pipa. Jasmine flowers are small and white and have the sweetest scent. You are suppose to imagine sitting in a boat on the canal in Zhouzhuang.


The information in this book is unbelieveable and combined with the cd makes this set a must have for anyone who loves China! Defiantely worth adding to your home library!

This book has great colorful pictures for kids and is written in a way that kids will find it interesting. It's hard to cram so many years of Chinese history into a short children's book but the author has done a good job of hitting the interesting high points. The accompanying CD has some wonderful original compositions. This is a welcome addition to the library of children's books on China.

Kylie Kwong was born into one of Australia's oldest Chinese families. She is a 29th generation Kwong, and a 4th generation Australian-Chinese. Kylie is known to many Australians through her wonderful television series, as the proprietor of the Billy Kwong restaurant in Sydney and through her magnificent books.

`My China' is the fourth of Kylie's books, and invites the reader to travel with her as she rediscovers her Chinese heritage and explores the history, culture and cuisine of China and Tibet. This book contains magnificent photographs of places, people and food. The book is also a travelogue containing recipes specific to particular regions. There is a map, as well, so the reader can see where these places are.

The recipes themselves are easy to follow, clearly explained and are accompanied by delicious photographs. Ms Kwong provides serving numbers based of shared meals (ie a recipe will serve 4 to 6 as part of a shared meal) thus enabling someone to plan how many dishes they might wish to prepare based on the number of guests and type of gathering. I particularly like her section on ingredients, and found the paragraph on the relative uses of different soy sauces especially helpful.

In summary, `My China' is a delightful addition to the home library for anyone who enjoys Chinese cuisine. Those interested in Chinese culture and history will also enjoy this book. The photographs are simply stunning.

Highly recommended.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

I have all of Kylie Kwong's books and they are all great but this is her best so far. The stories add to the book but the real stars are the recipes. I've only tried a few so far, but there are so many already on my do list. There is a fabulous rare beef with Ginger sauce which got rave reviews from the family. Last night we tried the Hot and Smoky chicken with Ginger and Chilli - YUM. We do have an industrial strength wok burner which probably helped with the smokiness, but it was very good on all levels. I am a bit of a cookbook collector (500 or thereabouts)and I have a shortlist of books I think are really excellent. This one has already made it to that list - I knew from the moment I opened it!

Having lived in southern China for nearly 3 years, our family had nearly given up on finding authentic Chinese cuisine here in upstate NY. Thankfully, there is this wonderful book. Our daughter made us a holiday feast (including dumplings, yum!) from a few familiar recipes found here and we were almost back in Xiamen! Outstanding photos, stories, and great recipes. If you've ever lived in China, this is for you. If you've ever wanted to visit or live in China, this is for you, too! Try some of these meals and you will understand what real Chinese food is about.

I received this book today ... and I'm stunned ... don't hesitate, just order it ... put together by 2 individuals, each enlightened in his own unique way ... a king in exile, a monk, a man ... the other, an image maker, who sees with his soul, and lives for his craft ... about a land on top of the world, with history and culture as old and deep as the Himalayas are high ... the results are magical ... the photography and text flow from page to page ...

My husband bought this book to use the images of buddhist monks for a tattoo. He was going to leave it with the tattoo artist as a gift but decided to bring it home instead. I am so very glad he did!!!! I have become very interested in Tibetan Buddhism as well as the nature of the Tibetan land and people. Of all the information I have come across, this book is by far the most beautiful! The photography is stunning and the Dalai Lama's text is very moving. I highly recommend this to anyone who has an interest in Tibet or Buddhism. It is simply awe inspiring!

The photographs in this book are simply breathtaking. The daily life of the everyday Tibetan come across vividly. The commentary by the Dalai Lama gives insight to the photos. I don't know if I would want to ever move to Tibet, but this book made me realize that it's a beautiful country.

This large and attractive book was created by the Discovery Channel, to tell the story of the Battle of the Nile. Brimming with details, the book tells the story of the French Revolution and the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, followed by the life of Horatio Nelson, and the exciting finale: a minute-by-minute retelling of the Battle of the Nile in 1798. Along the way, the reader is treated to many excellent pictures, charts and graphs, not to mention a plethora of highly informative sidebars.

This is a wonderful book, one that will please readers that know nothing about the subject, and those that know a lot. I am very glad that I was able to get ahold of it, and highly recommend it to you!

Accompanying a Discovery episode, the book tells the story of Napoleon's conquest of Egypt, and his Battle of the Nile with Lord Nelson. Beautifully illustrated, the authors dramatically relate the surrounding events in a detailed and clear style. A final chapter about excavations by Frank Goddio and his underwater team has provided marvelous photographs and much information about recent discoveries. Definitely a must-read for all interested in historical events, Napoleon, marine archaeology and Egypt.

As a history buff and Discovery Channel fan, I really loved this book

This map worked well for us on a recent trip to Thailand. It has all the major and minor roads that we needed as well as highlights in red of interesting attractions.

If you want to know your way around the land of smiles, this is the map for you!

This is the map with the Buddha statue on the cover, you can't miss it. Nelles seems wants to give you a feeling as well as a cartographic representation. I like the cover because it's easy to spot the map when I need it. I bought this map for a motorcycle ride from Chiang Mai to Koh Chang via Bangkok. I am happy to report that everything was exactly where the map said it would be. The few times I found myself apparently nowhere the map helped me to find the closest towns for gas and lodging. I particularly recall needing to escape an oncoming thunderstorm while on a fairly lonely highway outside of Sa Kaeo near the Cambodian border. The map clearly showed a turn-off to a quiet little town with excellent facilities called Prachinburi. You want this map on your tour of Thailand.

I remember at one of those wannabe-author conferences recently, moderators read from a picture book manuscript about a Japanese girl putting on her kimono. None of the panelists--drawn from the publishing industry, wouldn't you know it--went for it. I liked it. Why did it have to have conflict, drama, a character arc? It was a book about playing dress up, who needs more than that?

So I was thrilled to read this Korean version of the same idea: a young girl putting on her new clothes so she can join her family in marking the start of the lunar calendar. That's all she does is get dressed, but I can vouch as the Mommy of an 18-month-old clothes horse that little girls eat this stuff up.

She starts out in her white under-robe, over which she layers the fancy, homemade clothes that will help her start the year fresh. She dons a silk skirt in blazing red, embroidered with the Chinese character for "luck," a rainbow-striped jacket that fastens at her chest, colorful hair ribbons, a good-luck sachet to pin to her jacket, and much else. Even the details on her socks and the embroidery on her shoes are noted with loving detail.

Along the way, we learn much about Korean customs.

The illustrations look like pen and ink, with vivid crimsons and jade greens against a pale yellow background embellished with mazes or stylized flowers. Each page has that signature Eastern blend of simplicity of composition and the harmony of all its elements.

Try to pry this from your daughter's hands, I dare you.

"New Clothes for New Year's Day," by Hyun-Joo Bae, is told from the perspective of a small Korean girl. It begins,

"Today is New Year's Day.

It's a new year,
it's a new day, and
it's a new morning.
It's the first day for the beginning of everything.

The new sun hasn't shown up, and there are new clouds in the sky. (I hope we have new snow too.)

But the very best new things of all the new things are..."

Then our narrator begins to dress in her beautiful new clothes for the occasion*: "A crimson silk skirt. A rainbow-striped jacket. Delicate socks embroidered with flowers. A hair ribbon of read and gold." And, there's more: "flowered shoes, a gift from Father," a "warm, furry vest with the gold decorations," and a "special winter hat."

The young girl dresses with care, tying each bow with perfectly, straightening her socks, and checking her progress in the mirror. It's a simple, yet beautiful and optimistic tale, completed by Hyun-Joo Bae's stunning illustrations. And the illustrations are truly something special--colorful, simply composed, and embellished with flowers, gorgeous rooms, and, finally, snow.

Hyun-Joo Bae has included two pages of informational text at the end of "New Clothes for New Year's Day" explaining each item of clothing, its significance, and the role of New Year's Day in Korean culture. "New Clothes for New Year's Day" is highly recommended for children ages four to nine and is an excellent choice for a read aloud on New Year's celebrations. It will also be enjoyed by that dress-up obsessed child in your life.
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* Don't worry. Our hero begins her day dressed in a white robe designed to be worn underneath her costume.

Written and illustrated by Hyun-Joo Bae, New Clothes for New Year's Day is a picturebook cherishing traditional Korean culture. Told through the eyes of a young Korean girl who looks forward to her wearing her special New Year's Day clothes, New Clothes for New Year's Day follows her as she puts on the colorful articles to give luck and celebrate the coming of the new year. A lovely and enjoyable picturebook, and also useful for demonstrating to a child how to put on a Korean-style New Year's Day outfit. "A New Year, a new day, a new morning. / New clothes. / We start the year with new things. / New things, for the year-older me. // Time to go... oh! // New snow for New Year's Day!"