Asia Books

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!"

This book will enable you to learn classical written Chinese on your own. Not that it will be easy -- it's still a daunting task, but the pace of this book, the way the material is presented, and the promise it holds for those who persevere (finish the book and you'll be able to read interesting texts, not just the simple stuff) make studying this great language a real pleasure.

As another reviewer noted, no Buddhist text fragments are presented, unfortunately, but that, so far, is the only downside to this excellent textbook.

Finally! A very good text for introducing classical Chinese! I have looked at most of them and as a teaching/learning tool this is head and shoulders above the rest. Really in a class by itself.

I first studied Classical Chinese back in the days--yes it is true--when there were no textbooks available at all. That it has taken this long for somebody to produce a single volume that does what language text books are supposed to do (including exercises of various sorts, useful glossary and varied indexes, translations--just about anything you could need in addition to Korean and Japanese pronunciations)is surprising. But at last we now have such a book. It is written for normal language students, not ph.d's in linguistics. And if, like me, you are studying on your own, this one works! I am enormously grateful to the author. He has opened the door.

I would give the book more than 5 stars were it to include just one reading from Buddhist literature (the Sinological tradition in this country seems to feel that Daoism and Confucianism are legitimately Chinese but that Buddhism is a foreign intrusion. Silly, that.) Too, putting in the simplified characters would probably help some students, as would calligraphic versions of characters since the printed versions can sometimes be misleading. But these quibbles aside, Prof. Rouzer has done us a great, great service.

I just purchased this book in Boston two weeks ago and have hardly put it down since this is the book I've been wanting to get my hands on for a long time. I'm already halfway through and have learned a great deal about the culture, language and temperament of Chinese people of earlier times. The linguistic explanations are lucid and compelling, the choices of stories are riveting, and the commentaries on the texts are scholarly, yet down to earth. As the previous reviewer noted, an inclusion of modern simplified Chinese characters alongside the classical ones would be a big plus. Also, I would much prefer to see Hangeul and Japanese script instead of the transliterations in the book since I am interested in nearly all the Asian languages. "Thank you!" for including the very smooth translations of all the Chinese texts in the back of the book. I am also editing the book as I study it, and I am happy to provide the author with my comments (benoit.eugene@epa.gov). Overall, this is a great book for those who wish to delve deeper on one's own into the historical and linguistic underpinnings of modern Chinese culture and language. Another good book to own is the ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs since many of the grammatical structures which are discussed in the Primer are also seen over and over in the proverbs dictionary.

This is an unusual book--short, succinct but filled with first person accounts of marines who were there, and writing/speaking in their own words, not paraphrased. My father was with the 1/21st of the Third Marine Division and I have his letters which describe his experiences as a Bn Surgeon with that unit (3d Division). He describes his experiences in letters in a kind of fragmentary way, but this book gives a picture of the flow of action as they move across the island, especially around the Motoyama #2. Well worth reading. Harry Mustard

I highly recommend this first-hand account to anyone who enjoys WWII history or history in general. One of the best books of the battle for Iwo Jima ever written. This is a well written book. Patrick Caruso was a true hero and patriot. An extraordinary man from the Greatest Generation. You will thoroughly enjoy and love reading this book. I wish the publisher would have included a map of Iwo Jima as the author had intended.

Now in a new edition with a forward by David G. Rathgeber, Nightmare on Iwo Jima: A Marine in Combat is the true-life memories of author Pat Caruso, who was a green lieutenant in the Marines who rapidly became the company commander when the five officers who ranked above him were killed or wounded in the bloodshed of the Pacific Theater. Unflinchingly honest descriptions of terrible fighting, incredible bravery, and the intense stress of being in constant contact with an implacable enemy characterize Nightmare on Iwo Jima. A handful of black-and-white photographs illustrate this eyewitness account, not for the weak-stomached yet highly recommended.

I am reading Kenneth Anderson's books...since...I was a Class VIIth student...I used to read his books after coming from school, lying over a cot under an old Banyan tree.

Today...I am 33 years old...work as Manager - Quality with HSBC GLOBAL RESOURCING...but that habit of reading Kenneth Anderson's books after work continues...and will always continue.

I have read many books on hunting by many authors...but no one comes close to Jock's (Yes...that is what one of his closest friends used to call him as) story telling ability, his knowledge of the flora and the fauna, the description of the Indian jungle...

One of my biggest regrets of life is - Mr.Anderson died around the time I was born and hence, I never got the opportunity to meet him.

Wish you were here Andy...you will forever live in my heart and soul. Your books are beyond ratings. God bless your soul where it maybe.

Reading Kenneth Anderson presents your mind's eye with a vision of an intensely dark tropical night: the fire cracking in front of you, the innumerable stars in the clear firmament, the soft, warm river-bed sand beneath, a slight chill in the still air, the sounds emenating from the dark jungle beyond and the soft, immortal voice of the scotsman as he reminiscened his adventures... Kenneth Anderson's stories are exceedingly pleasurable to read and everytime I read them, I felt I was indeed back in the deep dark silent tropical night of the South Indian wilds. Acquire. Read. Please. This Book is indeed an heirloom.

Kenneth Anderson lived in South India and a being a hunter, he hunted man-eating tigers and other man-eating cats. He did not hunt for sport, but to rid-off these man-eating menaces that lived off people. In this book he re-collects his experiences while hunting man-eating cats, especially tigers. This book is very very interesting and is probably amongst one of my all time favourites. Many of his other books like Tiger Roars , etc deal with the same subject and are all equally interesting.. This books paints a very clear and interesting picture of the whole affair of his hunting of man-eaters. Since this book consists of short stories, each of these stories can be finished in one sitting. I thank Kenneth Anderson for giving me such wonderful moments while reading his books on quiet nights and week-ends, that I will cherish for a lifetime. I only wish these books were more easily available.

This was a personal account of what it was like for a girl and her family to be on the wrong end of the stick when Chairman Mao instigated the cultural revolution in China. The universal cult of this old bag of wind is revealed and implemented by the simpletons. This is a personal account that takes place within a historical happening. It is of subjective perceptions, emotions, and experiences. It is a biographical account that covers many, many different areas of political, sexual, familial, and professional life. Her intimate friendships were described as well as the "gang" of folks she gravitated towards while she was shunned by her community. How her grandparents were treated right in front of her was disgusting. What is such a paradox about the Communist cultural brainwashing was that the "heroes" of the cultural revolution, became the vermin and enemy in the snap of a finger. Almost always, the victims were innocent. Niu-Niu grew and succeeded and wrote a book about it. The cultural revolution seems to parallel the Salem Witch trials. Hopefully, the Chinese will have the objectivity to think for themselves and realise what a disaster it was. Give it a spin.

This is a truly frightening tale of perhaps the darkest days in human history. Compared to the evils of Chinese Communism, the crimes of Western Colonialists seem to pale in comparison. The Nanjing Massacre is nothing when compared to a Red Guard raid of a "counter-revolutionary" enclave. Chinese do not like to admit it, but more Chinese were killed by Chinese than by British, Japanese, or Russians. This book shows in great detail just how evil the Chinese Communists are, and also shows a lot of the dark side of Chinese culture. Chinese tortures are very real, and these evil acts are still being carried out today. Let this book be a reminder: do not trust what Beijing says about world peace. They are evil.

This is a powerful book. It should be read by anyone who thinks that socialism offers a chance to better humanity. I found the book engaging, uplifting, sad and horrible all at the same time. This was especially true because the book is not fiction. The arm chair socialist of the US and Europe would do well to look at the terrible cost their politics have extracted from the poor all over the world. This book is a good place to start. China has not recovered from these events and the memory of them should not be allowed to die. The cultural revolution was a natural outgrowth of socalist ideas as articulated by Marx and every nation with a communist government has had similar episodes. Mao killed millions. Millions more than Hittler, Millions more than the Crusades. He was the greatest murderer of all time. This book tells the story of one person who escaped, if only just barely.

An engrossing, very well written book detailing the somewhat peculiar nature of the Japanese "failed hero." In contrast to the Western ideal, the Japanese do not seem to require their heroes to "win" or "succeed." Ten chapters describe ten different historical figures (or groups) throughout Japanese history who fit this oxymoronic label. Anyone interested in Japanese history would find this book at once fascinating, inciteful, and educational.

I lived in Japan for two and a half years, and cannot speak highly enough of The Nobility of Failure.

In TNOF, Ivan Morris provides a much-needed look at - to most westerners, anyway - one of the oddest aspects of Japanese culture - the self-immolating hero. TNOF offers a rundown of Japanese populist heroes from the past 2,000 years - all of whom are doomed to complete and utter failure - and provides a convincing analysis of why Japanese culture produces such men, and why their failures actually raise their status in the eyes of many of their fellow citizens.

Morris was perhaps the leading Japan scholar of his day, but even he finds many of his subjects bizaare. He deftly, though not necessarily disrespectfully, pokes fun at the absurdity of many of their situations. Not many scholars can make you laugh while they make you think.

I lived in Japan for two and a half years, have visited the country several times since, and cannot speak highly enough of this book.

In TNOF, Ivan Morris provides a much-needed look at - to most westerners, anyway - one of the oddest aspects of Japanese culture, the self-immolating hero. TNOF offers a rundown of Japanese populist heroes from the past 2,000 years - all of whom are doomed to complete and utter failure - and provides a convincing analysis of why Japanese culture produces such men, and why their failures actually raise their status in the eyes of many of their fellow citizens.

Morris was perhaps the leading Japan scholar of his day, but even he finds many of his subjects bizaare. He deftly, though not necessarily disrespectfully, pokes fun at the absurdity of many of their situations. Not many scholars can make you laugh while they make you think.

The Asian steppes from Turkey to China from about 800 BC to the mid 1700's produced a series of peoples that developed a culture that was dramatically different from that in the rest of the world. While the rest of the world was settling down into farming and building cities, these nomadic tribes flowed over the steppes living a life of slaughter and plunder before moving on.

This book traces the history of these peoples and the empires that they built. In a surprisingly small volume Mr. Chaliand is able to bring a greatly increased understanding of how these nomads accomplished these feats. He discusses their culture, their strategic and tactical military techniques and even manages to make sense out of the merging and splitting of the tribes as leaders died, new leaders took thair place, or they were themselves conquered by others.

A very well done history of a little known time in our conventional history.

It is incredibly refreshing when a Western historian acknowledges that not all history revolves around Western Europe or North America; it is doubly so when a French historian does this and then adds anecdotally that the Byzantine defeat of the Arab Fleets in the Mediterranean was much more important than Charles Martel's victory in Poitiers over "a detachment of Arabs."
Monsieur Chaliand in "Nomadic Empires" acknowledges the central and pivotal role that Central Asian nomadic groups played in the development of world history. The central idea in this short but great introduction to the great nomadic movements is the ripple effect they caused.
For two thousand years empires and khanates hinged their foreign policies, military strategies and survival on how they would deal with the frequently marauding nomadic invaders. For the Westerners of today, to whom World War Two may already be ancient history, it may take a little bit of imagination to understand that for centuries--centuries, meaning decade after decade after decade--China's main foreign policy element was how best to secure its northern frontiers against one invading nomadic people after another. One can loosely draw that this is where China learned to think strategically, as its rulers sought out ways and political or military means with which to keep these marauders at bay.
The Mongols' invasion of Russia changed it forever. With the subjugation of Kievan Rus, Novgorod, Riazan and other city-states, the Genghiskhanid nomads forever ruined any ability of the proto-Russians or Russians engage in even the semi-democratic politics they'd experienced before. It was the Mongols who installed Russia's ruling families, bequeathing its vanquished peoples native overlords who, after they pushed the Mongols out, remained in power with an even-tighter authoritarian grip. The occupation also left Russia with a sizeable population of Central Asian nomads, ensuring that this land would forever now be no longer exclusively European, but Eurasian. Thus, the ripple effect.
Ripple effect again: encroaching nomads pushed Ertughrul's tribe out of modern-day Turkmenistan, which led him to seek land under the Seljuk Turks. He then gave birth to one Osman, who would raise an Islamic empire whose military methods were largely drawn from its Central Asian predecessors.
The author keeps it short and still manages to pack this thin tome with rich details of the coming and goings of so many nomadic tribes: the Tu-chueh, the Avars, the Bulgars, the Alans, Oghuz, Genghiskhanid Mongols, the Turkic-speaking peoples who eventually became the Ottomans and today's Turks. Using modern-day geopolitical and military terminology Chaliand greatly enhances the reader's ability to see the various offensives and counter-attacks waged between nomads and the sedentary peoples that sought to raid, ravage or ruin. "Nomadic Empires" is a great and interesting introduction to a lost world of vast steppes, galloping horses, mounted archers, the rise and fall of countless nomad states and the ever-present struggle of man against man.

Nomadic Empires: From Mongolia To The Danube by French academician Gerard Chaliand (Director, The European Center for the Study of Conflicts - Paris) skillfully surveys the two thousand year military history and geopolitical phenomena that was the reality and legacy of the Mongol Empire of Genghis-Khan and his heirs (5th Century BCE to 15th Century CE) which spread out over Asia, Eastern Europe, and the Middle East. A wealth of carefully researched dates, descriptive interplay of sweeping forces, and close dissection of the organizational, strategic, and psychological military techniques employed in conquest that changed history are combined in an informed and informative text. Nomadic Empires is a strongly commended addition to academic library reference collections and inherently fascinating reading for any non-specialist general reader with an interest in world history.