Asia Books

What a wonderful opportunity we've been given here. We may never get to see our very own lives as we experience 'life' written in newspapers or in history books yet in this book we read not 'fiction' although the book is equally captivating as many novels often hope to be because along with Grace, an American, and her children we, too, can almost participate in their own experiences living deep inside China between 1934 and 1974. It's all here. And, yes, I agree with another reviewer: "The small press editor of GRACE IN CHINA, Randall Williams of Black Belt Press in Montgomery, Ala., deserves praise for recognizing an important, memorable book that deserves both critical and popular acclaim. Since a small independent press doesn't have the resources for extensive publicity, "word of mouth" will have to spread the news." It is a rare glimpse into what few Americans saw for themselves after 1949, especially during China's Cultural Revolution.

Grace, a woman from a fairly ordinary southern family, goes to New Yort City in the 1920's to study voice. There she falls in love with a Chinese engineer, goes to Tiensin in North China and has three children. At first she lives a luxurious life in a foreign "concession." She has a wide variety of friends: American service men and officers, Chinese, British, French and other nationalities. But her life slowly changes as the Japanese occupy China, as the Americans win the war, as the Nationalists take control and then the Communists. While her lifestyle descends into cold, hunger and illness, Grace reads and writes. She is astonished at the distortions of the American press and says so in letters she sends home and to officials. Grace's story is told through her letters, autobiographical fragments, the reports of her children and the narration of Eleanor Cooper and her son. I expected the book to be disjointed. It isn't. On the contrary, Grace's voice, her intelligence and her strength provide a unity that is beautifully upheld by her editors. Along with "Blowback" by Chalmers Johnson, this book gives us a view of "the East" that we are not often allowed.

GRACE IN CHINA reveals both a fascinating true love story of a Chinese-American marriage and a unique personal insight into Chinese-American history during the tumultuous years of 1934-1974. These years of violent change still influence the future of China and the United States and indeed the world. If you've watched the presidential debates, you know that China policy is one of the top issues, an issue which demands better understanding by leaders and citizens alike. This book can help, and what's more, it's a great read!

Grace meets FuChi Liu--her beloved "F.C."--in New York City where she is training to become an opera singer and he is working as a hydraulic engineer. Their heart-tugging courtship and marriage is followed by Grace's exciting journey to China with her baby daughter to make a new life with her husband. For 40 eventful years she is an eyewitness to history in China.

The early years are full of vivid scenes of the social life and corruption of the "old ways," mixed with her husband's struggle to bring change. Then come harsh stories of the Japanese invasion and occupation, the joyful arrival of U.S.Marines, and finally disenchantment with Chna's post-war leaders. As the Communists approach her city of Tientsin, Grace resolves to stay with F.C. instead of fleeing with other "foreigners." With a sense of history in the making, she watches hordes of "apple-cheeked" young soldiers of the Red Army march down her street.

For the Liu family, life goes on surprisingly well under the new regime as Grace and F.C. work hard "for the Chinese people." Unfortunately, F.C. dies from lung cancer at the height of his national career of bringing modern water systems to many regions of China. How Grace manages to survive with the help of her three children and warm-hearted neighbors makes an inspiring story. With "gumption," this southern girl undertakes a fulfilling career of her own by developing new methods of teaching English at Nankai University. But what happens to her and her family during the Cultural Revolution provides hair-raising reading. Finally in 1974, after Nixon's visit to China, she comes back to the United States to reunite with her American relatives. But China is her true home now. Her ironic return to Tientsin (now Tianjin) gives a moving conclusion to this unusual and significant biography of a woman who possessed a special kind of "grace under pressure" in time of war,social upheaval and personal challenge.

The authors of GRACE IN CHINA, who are her cousin and son, have skillfully created a vivid document that reads like a novel, using well-preserved letters, memoirs, interviews, articles, photographs and other primary resources blended seamlessly with excellent background narration. The editing is a triumph of weaving many voices into strong, intimate storytelling. Many scenes are so humorous, passionate, or dramatic that the reader can almost see the action on a movie screen compelling as one's own imagination. But it's all true--and it's a story that begs to be heard.

The small press editor of GRACE IN CHINA, Randall Williams of Black Belt Press in Montgomery, Ala., deserves praise for recognizing an important, memorable book that deserves both critical and popular acclaim. Since a small independent press doesn't have the resources for extensive publicity, "word of mouth" will have to spread the news.

I am ordering this book at the moment, although I have already read it. It was actually lent to me only three days ago by a person who is an expert on Chinese history and culture. She and I now both live in China, accompanying our Japanese husbands whose work is based in Beijing. I had just visited Tianjin on Chinese New Year's, and when I told her so, she immediately handed me the book. It got me firmly anchored on my sofa for 15 hours straight. I've never read a more intriguing book. Grace endured countless hardships not only as a foreigner but as a precious witness to one of the most important years of this great land. This excellently compiled collection of her letters and recollections also serves as a superb textbook of Chinese modern history. My husband, seeing how absorbed I was with this book, took it in his hands after I finished and now he can't put it down. So we decided to order it because we suspected our friend intends to get it back very soon. I recommend it to everyone, whether interested or not in China.

I came to USA from China. The true stories told in the book Grace in China are so believable and moving. I was so taken by the book that I finished it in one night. I recommend it highly to anyone who want to know something about China and Chinese people.

Grace's life was not an easy one. However, she always had the love in her heart, for her husband, children, family and friends, her neighbors and her work. She dealt with hardship of life with such courage and humor. Her modest attitude toward her own appearance and ability, in contrast to the terrific literature she was able to create, makes me love this lady who is older than my grandmother.

The observation and descriptions to things and people of China in this book are quite accurate. So many books about China published in USA are rather misleading in that they select only the materials that fit their agenda, no matter how untypical their examples are.

Graces son William Liu and cousin Eleanor Cooper have done a marvelous job in organizing the original materials in such a readable manner. The scattered photos and old newspaper articles are remarkable pieces.

Here Be Yaks chronicles the author's experiences traveling in Tibet. She provides detailed descriptions of the land and people as well as the difficulties and pleasures of the trip. Her goal on the trip was Mount Kailash and to settle question of the source of the Sutlej River as well as a spiritual journey of her own. Most books of this type are not particularly interesting to read through but this one is an exception. She adds so much detail and history that you come to appreciate the trip as well as the country, the geography, the people, and the culture. She wisely does not include the political factors of the country except to the extent that they directly affect her ability to travel safely or provide an important historical explanation as to why something is the way it is. If you have any interest in Tibet at all you will probably appreciate this book.

Manosi Lahiri's book is a magnificent story of ordinary people on an extraordinary adventure. Mrs. Lahiri combines a cartographer's eye for geographical detail with sensitivity to the thoughts of companions, and a storyteller's flair for the interesting.

HERE BY YAKS takes the reader along a trail following ancient paths that are still lightly travel today. It gives the reader a glimpse of Tibetan culture which is often mentioned in casual conversation but is little understood or actually experienced.

The book has all the elements of a search for a Shangri La taking one through a kaleidoscope of landscapes and people in the solving of a geological mystery. It's a great read. I recommend it highly.

Her Be Yaks: Travels in Far West Tibet is a travelogue chronicling a group of ordinary people who embarked upon an extraordinary journey to Tibet's Mount Kailash, a peak revered by four faiths. They battled physical exhaustion and altitude sickness on their arduous journey, all to perform the sacred kora (circumambulation) of Mount Kalish and seek religious inspiration. Author Manosi Lahiri was one of this group, searching for consolation after the loss of her ancestors; in the course of journey, she solved a geographic mystery concerning the source of the river Sutlej, a matter that had been contended for centuries. Part adventure, part scholarly narrative, Here Be Yaks is an amazing look at Tibet through a visitor's eyes, and highly recommended.

This traveller's account reminded me vividly of my own trip across Tibet in 1987. Twenty years later it conjured up memories of capricious weather, devout pilgrims, rancid yak butter, tea which might be better called soup, the unfathomable devotion of Tibetans, sunburned noses, indescribable sanitation, breathtaking temples and palaces, the appalling destruction of monuments and buildings by Red Guards and above all, the landscape. Is there anywhere else on earth that comes close to matching the colours, drama, inaccessibility and mystery of Tibet's topography? The star of this journey is the landscape, brought to us with the eye of a geographer. Not only does the author bring dramatic vistas alive as she travels from Lhasa to Tsaparang, she explains them too with textbook clarity. Her journey, part pilgrimage, homage and exploration, takes the reader to Mount Kailash, sacred to Buddhists, Hindus and Jains and more interestingly, to the little visited and destroyed Tsaparang, centuries ago the capital of ancient Guge in far west Tibet. Over the centuries it has been visited by Jesuits, Kashmiri Muslims and intrepid travellers and explorers, not always happily. But as the author recounts, the greatest destruction to Tsaparang and its temples and art, happened in our own lifetime at the hands of Cultural Revolution zealots. Still, with an explorer's optimism and determination, she scrambles up the ruins of Tsaparang into chambers hewn out of the hillside and discovers wanton destruction but also the vibrant remains of murals, hundreds of years old. To have come this far and seen what few of us can only dream of, is a singular accomplishment. Yet there is one last goal to tackle: a return to Tibet's landscape to research the source of one of Asia's great rivers, the Sutlej. Is its commonly accepted source near Mount Kailash and Lake Manosarovar correct? Or is there a mystery to be solved? Using accounts of earlier explorers, especially Sven Hedin and Swami Pranavananda, and applying a geographer's keen eye and GPS and satellite imagery, we can add the name of the author to her illustrious forebears. For she makes a compelling case for discarding the popularly accepted source of the Sutlej for another. This entertaining book therefore is not just a travelogue. It is a piece of history which on my bookshelf rests besides Hedin, Swami Pranavananda and Alexandra David-Neel's accounts of their journeys to incomparable Tibet.

This is a most gripping and unusual book. A good story, travel interest, personal feelings and if that were not
enough true scientific research! To anyone who might be planning a journey to Tibet this will give invaluable pointers over where to go, how to, what to take and critical cultural elements. The international perspective of the author is combined with local knowledge and insight of she and her travelling companions.

Offers a wealth of information about traditional Vietnamese culture and society...essential reading

Indochina's refugees, who in jungle death camps felt the chill of the heart or saw life turn cold in crowded boats, give their harrowing stories in this collection

These 22 memoirs focus on life after the Communist victories of 1975 and escape by land or sea. The stories are all from refugees at the Philippine Refugee Processing Center who have not yet reached the United States. They are an older group of survivors from a wide range of backgrounds. Each story is preceded by comments by the author on the storyteller or on life in and outside the Processing Center. Appendices listing the names of inmates in four "seminar" camps in Laos are included. Recommended for most libraries.--Library Journal, August 198

In this volume, Joanna Scott shares the personal stories of nine Lao, four Khmer, and nine Vietnamese refugees whom she interviewed at the Philippine refugee Processing Center between October 1985 and May 1986. "The one thing they had in common, both with their fellow-countrymen and their fellow Indochinese, was a fervent passion for freedom that overwhelmed their mourning for a lost country." The book is divided into three sections, "Vietnam-Land of the Boat People," "Cambodia-Land of the Killing Fields," and "Laos-Land of the Seminar Camps." The refugees speaking in this book come from all walks of life and include teachers, military officers, a Buddhist monk, a housewife, a farmer, an artist, and a student. Their stories not only relate their personal ordeals in surviving, but also provide their unique perspectives and details about the political situations of their countries. One Lao refugee even reveals information about American POWs still incarcerated in various areas of Vietnam. Another Lao refugee describes the sorry fate of the Lao Royal Family and includes a photograph of the king and queen in a seminar camp. A map of seminar camps in the Viengxay area of northern Laos and four lists (compiled from memory) of those who were incarcerated in the camps are also included in this publication.

Stories that American have been reluctant to listen to-non-American participants' stories of the horrors of the Vietnam War itself, of escape from new but undemocratic countries, of conflict-ridden adjustment...personal details about the effects of the war...Scott's collection is prefaced by a dramatic frontispiece, a painting by a Vietnamese artist that depicts boat people on the high seas, titles "A people forced to go a dangerous drama across feats of darkness and turbulent seas in favor of freedom." Collected from Cambodians, Laotians, and Vietnamese in Philippine refugee camps in October 1985 [through] May 1 1986, these twenty-five stories are the testimonies closest in time to many of the events they describes. Scott identifies empathetically with the refugees' search for "the freedom land," as well as with those who failed to come here. In lengthy appendices, she provides maps of the Laotian reeducation camps and memorializing lists of those who have disappeared in them. Pictures of the refugees in the Philippine camps supplement the written stories. Some narratives are told by camp advisors; some are presented by "Name Withheld." While one story was given to Scott "in perfect English," others were told only through an interpreter. Scott presents her subjects' narratives entire, occasionally segmented by asterisks, with provocative titles ("The Hope of Ho Chi Minh Is Fallen Now") and with brief headnotes characterizing the individual or the historical situation. The narratives are occasionally quite long; almost all are organized chronologically... Here is Khamsamong Somvong, a former first lieutenant in the Royal Lao army: "In the seminar camp there were a few men who were Communists. They were there to execute the policy of the Politburo. And it was they who decided who should be killed in the camp. We were supposed to respect the Party only. If one of the Communists said, `This is red,' we had to say, `Yes, this is red.' If we said, `No, this is black,' we would be killed. So I lived a very hard life in there. I saw many people killed before me."--Oral History Review 21/2 (Winter, 1993)

Ahsan presents a very unique and fresh prespective on the history of Pakistan. His hypothesis is that Pakistan or "Indus" (Sind) as he refers to it, has always been integrally different/seperate culturally and geographically from India (Hind). It's an excellent read for anyone interested in south asian anthropology, history, culture, literature etc. It is by far one of the best written, most balanced and unbiased books I've read on the subject.

Conventional books on Pakistan's history usually begin with the arrival of Islam in India (Bin Qasim's arrival in Sind), whereas this book takes the primary focus from the Muslim Dynasties of Delhi to the history of the land, not the religion - which includes the formation of Hinduism and Buddhism etc as well.

Read this book even if you (like me) don't completely agree with that point of view.

My intial reaction was that this hypothesis discludes the legitimacy of areas like the Bengal, Junagardh, Manawadar, and Hyderabad which are not in goegraphical proximity to the Indus, but were, or were supposed to be parts of Pakistan once. The principle of Pakistan is that it should comprise of all muslim regions of India not just the western ones. But the truth is that Modern Day Pakistan has ultimately become the western provinces and that fact makes this book relevant as well as accurate. Also it does not outright refute the religion-based principle of Pakistan, rather just adds another angle to the history of the nation in general.

This is a brilliant account of the history of the people of Pakistan. From pre-history to the modern-day creation of the separate state the author has provided to the Pakistani and to the world a fresh and new perspective about the roots and identity of this nation. The book blasts all fundamentalist mumbo-jumbo that has been the main content of all Pakistani history books and also all the anti-Pakistan venom that has been the main theme of all the history books written by non-Pakistani authors. It is the first well researched historical analysis of this region by well-recognised Pakistani intellectual. For some time there has been a difficulty in the procurement of The Indus Saga. I now have good news. A fresh new edition has just come out. It is by the NEHR GHAR PUBLICATIONS. Email address of the publisher is nehrghar@hotmail.com. The price of this edition is half that of the earlier publication while there has been no compromise on production or printing. Readers interested in knowing about the real and unbiased history of the Indus region which today comprises Pakistan can now order The Indus Saga at nehrghar@hotmail.com

I am probably the biggest fan of Aitzaz Ahsan's as it is... and after this book, I'm sure you will be too!

I have read the book and am deeply impressed by it. Now the Urdu version has also come out as "Sindh Sagar" It also contains the following excerpts from reviews of "The Indus Saga" by some well known authorities and analysts of the subject: The DAWN: (September 6, 1996) "The Discovery of Pakistan":(Professor Emeritus Ahmad Hasan Dani) Mr. Ahsan was deeply pondering the subject while he was in prison. He has come out with a new vision of the history of Pakistan - a vision that may be termed as the "Discovery of Pakistan". This deserves due consideration on the part of the historians in Pakistan as well as outside. A similar project for writing the history of Pakistan as a part of the golden jubilee celebrations has been undertaken by the National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research. On this occasion, I again submitted a long write-up to the Ministry of Culture stating clearly how the history of Pakistan, the "Indus Land", should be written. But being a humble historian of no great importance, my views have been 'filed' up in the Ministry. I am glad to note that Mr. Ahsan has come forward boldly on a theme which the Pakistani historians have so far hesitated to elaborate - a theme which has been my life's dream. If we have created Pakistan - a land which has deep roots in history - there must be the history of the land and of the people who have lived and laboured here. The future generations deserve to have a history of the country. I congratulate Mr. Aitzaz Ahsan on showing a way to the historians. While he has succeeded, I have stumbled and miserably failed to convey my opinion and persuade the bureaucrats to understand historical Pakistan in the manner in which Mr. Ahsan has so ably done in the present book.

Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies (Summer 1997) "The Indus Saga and the Making of Pakistan:" Susan K Hausman Questions and rejects many of the widely-accepted myths of subcontinental history; highlights the dichotomy between the Indus region and India; and shows the almost unbroken continuity of a distinct social and political order.

Journal of Comparative Studies of South Asia Africa and the Middle East (Vol. XVI No.1 (1996)): Professor Carl W. Ernst. Ahsan's own "journey" through the contemplation made possible by imprisonment would continue, he notes, in the jails of Sahiwal, Faisalabad, and Mianwali. He writes of the vision that unfolded to him "of myself as part of a magnificent continuum," something destined as an inheritance. He began to explore this vision through history and myth, writing the entire study during his jail terms. Disarmingly, he makes no claim as an historian, but presents his conclusions as the results of a journey of self-discovery. Although the primary importance of the parallel with Nehru is symbolic, The Discovery of India has been clearly on Ahsan's mind, and he quotes directly and indirectly from the book on more than one occasion.

I want to reproduce an excerpt on the Book out of "The London TIMES' LITERARY SUPPLEMENT: LONDON (August 8, 1997) "Indus man's resistance" : The question of Pakistani identity is fraught with paradoxes and ambiguities. Unlike its nearest neighbours - most notably India, Iran and China - it has no grand narrative of cultural heritage; created to serve a historical and political need, it has continuously to invent, and reinvent, its own story. Is Pakistan a religious state, or an ideological construct? Does it, in spite of their much-articulated difference of religious identities (which have come to be seen as ethnicities), owe its cultural heritage entirely to India, of which it is often considered an amputated limb? Or, in the rising tide of fanaticism that threatens to engulf some of its Muslim neighbours, is it fulfilling a long-neglected agenda of returning to spiritual roots in the Arab or Middle Eastern world? These questions are addressed, with a dense and often bewildering proliferation of detail, by Aitzaz Ahsan in The Indus Saga and the Making of Pakistan. Ahsan is a lawyer, which makes the breadth of his historical, sociological and cultural research all the more impressive.

Have you ever felt like you stood out from the crowd? Like you were so strange and different, that people couldn't help but stare? Lately, Aimee's been getting that feeling all the time. Yes, she's a fangirl from California who has the ability to detect all things cute. She loves dolls, drawing, manga, and video games. In her spare time, Aimee and her friends like to cosplay, which is making costumes and dressing up as your favorite anime or video game character. But none of these things are the reason that Aimee stands out like a sore thumb. Aimee's 6' tall and, while that's not such a big deal in California, when you're visiting Japan, you might as well be Godzilla.

When you're 6' tall and in Japan, you tower over almost everyone else. People might mistake you for a monster out of a Godzilla movie. You don't always fit in every bathroom stall. Losing your luggage on the flight is a big deal, because finding cloths your height is almost impossible. People are scared to share a hot springs pool with you. And dressing up as a geisha means you need two people and a chair just to put on a wig.

Aimee's determined to have a good time while she's visiting Japan. It's her dream to see Kyoto, home of traditional Japanese culture, and Tokyo, a city that's all about the future. Along the way, she and her friends, A.J. and Judy, visit temples, watch musicals, get lost on the trains, cosplay in Harajuka, and adopt a doll. Japan Ai: A Tall Girl's Adventures in Japan is Aimee's sketchbook journal of the entire trip.

Cute. Simple. A lovely guide book to one girl's adventures in Japan. So don't look for millions of pages of details. This is about her and her two friends and their journey to the VOLKS store in Tokyo by way of Kyoto. The cartoonist happens to also be six feet tall. It is a sketchbook and guide to many of Japan's little delights and, sometimes, tiny problems. It has a glossary and a appendix of websites of hotels, food places, stores and so on.

Seriously love this book. It's a fun account of Ms. Major Steinberger's travels in Japan. Not only are you taken through her own experiences as a foreigner, but you're also given little cultural tidbits that are just as interesting. Plus, the illustrations are fabulous. I look forward to more from Aimee in the future.

I purchased this book because I had heard of it in a chat forum and was already familiar with the author/artist. Most books don't keep my interest long enough to get through the book in a day or two, but this was impossible to put down. Aimee's lovely sketches and playful comments kept me laughing at the turn of every page. Her useful information will fuel anyone dreaming of a trip to Japan into setting the date after reading this book. I am excited to visit the places she mentions and share in the wonderful experiences she wrote about.
What a brilliantly lighthearted way to address the ups and downs of tourism.

A+

I picked up Japan Ai not really expecting much. I thought it'd be a cute read, but not something I'd really read twice, let alone buy. I was pleasantly surprised when I flipped through the pages. Steinberger's eye for details is amazing when it comes to describing her travels through Japan. Some people may be decieved by the seemingly simplistic artwork on the cover that the storytelling is just as simplistic, but they'd be amazed. The author's passion for travel, anime/manga, & hobbies comes through on every page. Fans of anime, manga, & cosplay will get into the journal because of the detailed information about those interests, but the average person will get drawn into the journal for the attention to details. It is easily accessible to most people. I would consider it a good guide to read before going overseas so one can plan out where to go, as well as knowing what to expect if you are a english speaking traveller.

McClain offers a holistic approach to Japanese history. In this book he explains how Japan got to where it is today by going through the various historical periods. For recent Japanese history, he concentrates on the social aspects as well as the political and economic ones. Readers gain a thorough understanding of Japan with this book.

I am not writing a review in fact. But I can't find anywhere else here to ask my question: What is the difference between the college edition and hardcover ed.? There is no info on this.

If you are looking for an excellent resource on the history of Japan in the past 4 centuries, I recommend this book highly. It does an excellent job in tracing the tortuous path that wove from Japan's feudal fiefdom society to the current modern parliamentary democracy. In addition to the governmental and military matters that are generally covered, there is notable space dedicated to the arts and the contributions of women, peasants and others not normally found in history books. The maps and illustrations are adequate, and do help to support the text. Highly Recommended.

This is a good summary of the history of Japan. It spans all topics and is quite balanced in social, political and economic issues. McClain's book takes quite an academic approach to Japan's history, (without exessive notes of course). It is well founded, he is precise, concise and avoids controversal or journalistic subjects and speculation (such as whether Roosevelt knew about the attac on pearl harbor). In this sense this book can be highly recommended for those readers who look for a no-nonsense textbook. However, this style makes the read a bit boring. Compared to other historical books I have read I found it hard to read and - as a non-english native speaker - it took me a long time. Because the writer never goes deep into one subject, the reader gets only a kind of the summary of an issue. The book is never really gripping and as a more casual reader it is probably not my the first choice. John Dower and David Nathan have left me more inspired.

McClain has fashioned a highly detailed, sophisticated, and complex history of Japan from 1603 to the present. The historiography is superb (he obviously is totally bilingual and is fluent in Japanese sources). The history is both descriptive (chronological, social, political, economic, family/personal) as well as analytic (how social structure affected the rise of industrial society, for example). The overall effect is to make Japanese history clear and comprehensible. The people of Japan stand out in distinct relief.

I was puzzled that the Boston Globe reviewer was much cooler toward this book than I think most readers are or will be. McClain's history will stand the test of time.

I've been interested in popular Japanese culture for a long time, so I was pleased to see this new exploration of the interface between Japan and America, . . . though I was somewhat put off by the use of the pejorative word "invaded" in the title. That seems to have been a marketer's contribution, though, because the half-Japanese author, who has become something of a professional explainer of Japanese and Americans to each other, seems not to reach value judgments about the wide popularity of manga and anime in this country, nor about the much more longstanding popularity of everything American in Japan. It's largely a generational thing, though; most Americans over the age of thirty have no idea what Gundam is, nor what "otaku" and "cosplay" mean. And while anime has become increasingly popular in the U.S., it remains deeply Japanese. There's really no such thing as "American anime." Though he comes to no strikingly original conclusions, Kelts does a good job of explaining things to those who are new to the subject.

Mr. Kelts' book about the popularity of Japanese culture in America is first rate. He discusses more than just anime and manga and provides the reader with an easy to understand analysis of Japanese popular culture both in Japan and as it appears in the US. It should be in the collection of any Japanophile.

As an American who is fascinated with Japan, but frustrated with books about the relationship between the two countries, I found Roland Kelts' "Japanamerica" to be a welcome breath of fresh air. Kelts focuses on the growing popularity of manga and anime among Americans, and the "mobius strip" of give and take between the two cultures, but his focus inevitably widens to address the broader mutual fascination between these two worlds. I love the fact that, as an American with a Japanese mother, Kelts avoids the two hazards of Japanophilia and Japanophobia. There is a refreshingly grounded and sensible middle ground in his analysis, a realism that seems to lighten things up and make it all more accessible and welcoming. Perhaps best of all - and this is a miracle in the world of cultural analysis - Kelts is delightfully unpretentious and his prose is as clear and comprehensible as it is filled with fascinating ideas and observations. Never for a moment do we doubt that Kelts knows what he's talking about it - and he brings it all across with infectious enthusiasm.

For those who have been to Japan or have an interest in anything Japan, I highly recommend this book. The author does a wonderful job explaining Japanese pop culture and how it relates to Japanese society and culture. IT was a very easy, entertaining, and insightful read.

I read this book after a Village Voice critic called it "a Wired Magazine article on steroids," and Ain't It Cool News said that it was "an imperative resource." Then Bookforum called it "an amazing ride," and The Boston Globe raved.
Then: Even Pete Townshend of The Who endorsed it!
I am skeptical of books trying to capitalize on trends, and very skeptical of books on Japan. But the chorus of praise from so many different voices was enough for me.
This book is written in lucid, carefully crafted prose--telling you everything you need to know about transcultural entertainment and the psychological and spiritual traumas embedded in pop culture, and also precisely what makes Japan so sexy to Westerners in the 21st Century. It is also hip and smart, and very accessible. I only wished it were longer.
The author is no geek, but a writer of considerable talent and range. Get Japanamericaa now.

Several years ago I bought a reprint of Dr. Morse book and it has become not only a treasured Clasic but a Bible of information. Although there are no pictures, none are needed with Dr. Morse drawings and detail descriptions.
E L Smith

I purchased this book simply to get a quick overview of Japanese domestic architecture. The price is always right with Dover books so I just ordered it without any research. What a pleasant surprise to find myself reading a definitive work on the subject a few days later. The text is thoughtfully written and the illustrations skillfully done. As with any well written and illustrated book, color pictures are not overly missed. As a result of this book I find myself much more interested in Japanese architecture than I ever intended to be and heartily recommend it to anyone with an interest in home or interior design.

"Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings" is a great book. If you've any interest in traditional Japanese architecture, get this book. Edward Morse was an American who went to Japan in 1877 to study brachiopods. He ended up recording a vanishing way of life instead. He tells you how Japanese homes were built and why they were built that way. Not much escapes his eye. In serviceable prose and clear drawings, he tells us about carpenters and their tools, houses, furnishings, privies, fences and gateways, water supplies and gardens. Most of it he compares favorably to American and European counterparts.

Best of all, it's a Dover book and cheap.

I bought this book about 3 years ago from Amazon. So you'd think that it would be old hat by now. Yet I find myself picking it up at least once every few months to either refer to it for a construction detail or just to look for something new. What a wonderful resource for traditional Japanese design this book is.

Trained as a Zoologist, Morse put his scientific powers of observation and systematic description to work during the 1880's in producing the sketches and text that describes a world of everyday Japanese design right before it was swamped with Western influence and largely disappeared. There are plenty of books that can show you pictures of ancient Japanese temples and teahouses, but what about the method of constructing the roof of an ordinary 19th century Tokyo home? This was stuff that few people thought was worth recording for posterity. Which is why Morse's book is so unique and valuable to us.

Anyone with more than a passing interest in the way that things are built or designed would do well to put this book on their shelf. Interior decorators, architects, DIY types (such as myself), finish carpenters, contractors and furniture makers should all have a tattered, dog-eared copy of 'Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings' within easy reach. It is a constant source of inspiration.

I picked up the Dover paperback edition at a library book sale and was charmed by the author's detailed drawings as much as the description of domestic life in 19th century Japan. Morse originally published this in 1885, barely 30 years after Perry's expedition, and traveled around Japan documenting as many houses and styles as possible (including those of the Aino culture). There are no photographs, but the intricate line drawings and intimate descriptions of functional households -- kitchens and cooking utensils, washing areas, sleeping quarters -- are minutely detailed and thoroughly described in the text. Not just a book for those interested in architecture but history as well.

In this highly readable and informative history Martin Gilbert highlights the history of the 3000 year old City of David, from 1900, when it was a small provincial Ottoman town (with a Jewish majority since 1840) until the 1990s.
In 1900 Jerusalem had a population of 70 000 made up of 45 000 Jews and 25 000 Arabs.
British census reports show that the increase in Jerusalem's population between 1921 and 1933 amounted to 20 000 Jews and 21 000 Arabs. These Arab immigrants came, like the Jews, from distant lands, including Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and Yemen, as well as Syria, Egypt, Iraq and Lebanon.
It has been proved beyond doubt by documentation and records that Arab immigration into the Palestine Mandate was indeed greater than Jewish migration into the Holy Land during the British Mandate period.
This was documented and apparent long before Joan Peters gathered and displayed these findings in From Time Immemorial: The Origins of the Arab-Jewish Conflict over Palestine.

The author documents how even at the beginning of the twentieth century Jews, including children were attacked in the streets by Moslem and Christian Arabs and, as recounted by a Christian visitor to Jerusalem in 1904, a Mrs Freer, "Jewish children, girls especially have to be protected mainly from the other children, Christian and Moslem. On the way to and from school; one frequently wonders at the patience- the heritage of centuries- with which Jews ignore the insults shouted after them in the streets, and considering how much they contribute as citizens of Jerusalem, it is sad that large sums of money should be paid for permission to pray beside the western wall of the Temple enclosure, to the villagers of Siloam for not disturbing the graves east of the village, and to the Arabs for letting alone the Jewish share of the tomb of Rachel on the road to Bethlehem".


Gilbert recounts the capture of the city by the British in 1917, and the triumphant entry into Jerusalem by General Allenby.
He recounts the crude anti-Semitic statements of the " Executive Committee of the Haifa Congress of the Palestine Arabs" which cannot be distinguished in it's statements about the Jews around the world from The Protocols of the Elders of Zion or from German Nazi propaganda.

He recounts the Arab pogroms in which Jews were attacked and murdered and Jewish women and girls raped in Jerusalem, during the Arab pogroms of 1920, 1921, 1929 and 1939-1939.
The British reacted each time by restricting Jewish immigration into the Palestine Mandate at a time when Jews were under threat from Nazism ,in Europe.
He also recounts how the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al Husseini turned the issue of the Temple Mount from a religious one into an explosive racial and political one by the use of crude propaganda including faked photographs depicting Jews hosting the Star of David flag from the Temple Mount and even Jews with machine guns attacking the Dome of the Rock.
The Arabist anti-Israel lobby, especially the international media has through the years perfected these techniques, the highlights perhaps being the staged blood libel falsely blaming Israel for the death of a young Arab, Mohammed Al Dura in 2000, who it was subsequently found died from Arab bullets, and a faked massacre of Arabs which never took place, at Jenin in 2002.
In response to the White Paper preventing Jews from entering their ancient homeland, Winston Churchill speaking on the 23 May 1939, in the House of Commons opposed the new policy of allowing the Arabs to exercise a veto on all Jewish immigration after five years.
'He knew that since the publication of his own White Paper in 1922, more Arabs had emigrated to Palestine than Jews, despite that White Paper's declaration that Jews could enter Palestine virtually without restriction. Emphasising the point Churchill declared " So far from being persecuted, the Arabs have crowded into the country and multiplied till their population has increased even more than all world Jewry could lift up the Jewish population. Now we are asked to decree that all this is to stop and all this is to come to an end. We are now asked to submit, and this is what rankles most with me, to an agitation which is fed with foreign money and ceaselessly inflamed by Nazi and by Fascist propaganda".



The author records the bloodshed of the last years of the British Mandate and the War of Independence.
It is worth noting that millions around the world have been brainwashed with the image of Arabs being 'expelled from their homes by the Jews" while the destruction of Jewish homes, suburbs and villages, in areas taken by the Arabs is airbrushed out of history. For example how many people know of the destruction of Jewish synagogues in East Jerusalem, including the Hurva, after it was captured by the Arabs in 1948.
Similarly we are continually reminded of the King David Hotel bombing by the Irgun freedom fighters and the death of Aabs after the Irgun and Lehi fighters captured the Arab outpost of Deir Yassin, which had been used as a base by Iraqi and Syrian soldiers to murder Jews on the roads.
But we hear nothing of the Ben Yehuda Street bombing, the bombing by British terrorists helping the Arabs (shadows of today's International Solidarity Movement) of the Palestine Post, the attack of the Hadassah medical convoy to Jerusalem in 78 doctors and nurses were butchered.
Gilbert also details the great building of the city by the Jews and Israel from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem at Mount Scopus dedicated in 1918, the many hospitals and homes, including the Hadassah hospital of whcih the first cornerstone was laid in 1934, and the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial set up in 1953.
He also records the dire poverty of the Jews of Jerusalem in the early years of statehood and the absorption of hundreds of thousands of destitute Jewish refugees from Arab countries.
But the world hates Israel because she lifted her people from the dirt of poverty into a a first world nation?
He go's on to describe the Six Day War in which Israel survived a war forced on them by Egypt, Syria Iraq and Jordan and how so contrary to the Arabs the Israelis, even in the thick of the fighting took care to avoid damage to any Christian, Moslem or Jewish holy places.
He recounts the reunification of Jerusalem and the return of Jews to the East of the city, as well as the care taken to protect the welfare of the Arab inhabitants of the city which has mainly been answered by Arab terror against Jews, in which thousands of Jews have died.
The book ends on the note of the failed 1993 Oslo Peace Accord and the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
The beginnings of ruthless homicide bombings carried by terrorist gangs are written about.
They had began soon after Israel signed the Peace Accords with the PLO which Arafat would so cynically break on every point.

Is Jerusalem all that special? Does it compare with London, Paris, or Honolulu? Well, whether it does or not, here is an excellent book about Jerusalem in the twentieth century.

The book opens describing a city of about 70,000 people (45,000 of them Jews). And I found it interesting that the Jewish percentage of the city did not change all that much during the century, even though there were all sorts of political changes: World War One, the British Mandate, World War Two, Israeli independence, and the reunification of the city.

Some of the stories are fascinating, such as how on December 17, 1902, during a severe drought, Muslim authorities permitted Jews to pray for rain at the Tomb of David. Within hours, there was a huge rainstorm.

There's plenty of interesting historical material as well. We find about about King and Crane, and their report (they said that Jews ought not be given guardianship over Christian or Muslim holy places). We learn about the riots of April, 1920, in which Arab mobs attacked Jews, explaining that the Jews were their dogs. And we see how everyone fared in the period prior to World War Two, and how more Arab violence led to the scuttling of the Peel Plan to create a small Jewish refuge in the region to which European Jews could have fled. And how that violence then led to the infamous British White Paper of 1939, which very severely limited Jewish immigration.

One of the best parts of the book is the comparison between the Jewish and Arab parts of the city from 1948 to 1967, when the city was divided.

Probably the weakest part of the book is at the end, where there is some mention of attempts to achieve peace between Arabs and Jews in the city. I think no one has the perspective to discuss this very well right now. Those who boast of compromising words and predict that peace may be in the offing are taking a serious stand. And that stand, while it may have been tossed out casually, has been disproven by events. Most of the talk about peace from known Arab terrorists has been insincere. Nor has this insincerity been a surprise to most historians. I think Gilbert would have been better off to simply admit that there has been recent violence and recent peace proposals. And that it is possible that in the future, we'll all see that some of the violence was historically very significant, or that some of the peace proposals were actually significant. But that now, it is too early to say anything of the sort. And that would have been a good way to avoid overdramatizing any of the most recent happenings in the city.

Still, this is an excellent book, and I strongly recommend it.

Gilbert is magnificent in his ability to take a complicated history of events and tell them to the reader in a concise, readable text. He also refrains from editorializing the content towards one side of the struggle. I believe this book is essential for grasping the current unrest in the Old City and throughout Israel. As a recent visitor to Jerusalem, I only wish I could have read Gilbert's work prior to my trip.

I really enjoyed this book. This book has given me a clearer idea of the history behind what is happening in the news. Thank you Mr. Gilbert for taking a complex subject and history turning it into something that most anyone can begin to understand.

This is another meticulous study by Sir Martin Gilbert, one of the most prominent, knowledgeable and admired experts in the Middle East. Here he provides a remarkable insight into the history of the City of Jerusalem during the 20th Century.

The author commences with a description of Jerusalem at the dawn of the 20th Century, as a small provincial town in the Ottoman Empire, comprising of a population totalling some 70,000 people. The majority being Jews (45,000) and the remainder mostly Arabs (25,000). The Century approaching it's end with the City's population being more than half a million, the majority Jewish but with some 25% being Arabs.

The book documents Jerusalem under Ottoman rule until their defeat by the British during the First World War. The writer then continues to illustrate the City under British rule through the Mandate period. Appropriate attention being paid to the Arab riots of 1929/36, describing many of the horrific incidents, the role of all the entities involved and the ensuing casualties. Many factors & commendable detail so often overlooked are included here.

The author analyses the City during the Second World War and how the latter affected it's occupants. It is clearly shown that the coming of peace to Europe did not bring peace to Jerusalem.

Indeed, from 1945-47 the writer describes Jerusalem as a City in turmoil, with the imminent end of British rule and the intended UN partition. A partition which unbelievably intended to leave the Hebrew University and the City's 99,000 Jews (one sixth of the total number of Jews in Palestine) outside of the intended borders of the Jewish state. The author describes this and the resentment that this intended move caused.

The ensuing conflict of 1948 is recounted including the siege of Jerusalem and the horrors suffered by the inhabitants. This extends to the 1967 Six Day War with detail also provided of the fighting for the Old City between Israel and Jordanian forces. Indeed, the author omits nothing, extending through the Yom Kippur War on to the Palestinian `intifada' of 1987/89 and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin.

Numerous maps and photographs are provided in abundance. Notably inclusion is a photograph of the often ignored & forgotten bombing by British Army deserters of the civilian thoroughfare in Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda Street in February 1948, which killed over 50 innocent Jews. (A captured British soldier apparently boasting of his involvement, but complaining that he did not receive the £500 promised him & his colleagues by the Arab Mufti).

The carnage and destruction in the Ben Yehuda photograph rarely receives the light of day with most `neutral' sources tending to highlight the attack on the King David Hotel by the Stern gang. Photographs are also included of the devastation inflicted on Jerusalem's synagogues by Jordanian bombing in the 1948 conflict.

The writer concludes this excellent work by declaring that Jerusalem can be the `essence of peace' or the `source of conflict'; `the scene of riots' or `of reconciliation'; the `focus of celebration' or `of protest'; of `religious devotion' or `religious hatred'; of `quiet contemplation' or `loud exhortation'. Those who know the City of Jerusalem will know that indeed this City is unique. I highly recommend this book.

I also highly recommend a work covering the City's most recent political altercations by David Bar Illan entitled `Jerusalem; The Truth'. Coupled together these two books will provide a thorough grounding in the background to the City. Those with an interest in the City's Biblical history and it's prophetic element will enjoy John Hagee's `The Battle For Jerusalem' which includes a detailed coverage of the Palestinian `intifadas'.

After returning from a tour of India, I decided I needed to learn more about this country. Mr. Anderson's book is a true look into this country. This book digs deep into the sights, smells, sounds and feel of India. A very easy read and a great travel log. I hope Mr Anderson continues to write.

In December 2004, the author left his home in North Carolina to study
yoga in India. Anderson found enlightenment in the land of Gandhi and
Mother Teresa, but not in the way he expected. The moment he stepped
foot in India, his lessons began. To quote the author directly:

"India asks existential questions, and demands immediate
reply. How can you square what you see here with your omnipotent,
benevolent God? You can't. What will you make of your life? What
purpose do your many pleasures serve when millions suffer unrelenting
pain?"

Anderson's odyssey begins in Delhi and proceeds through several
cities, including Calcutta. Calcutta, especially, left an impression
on his body, mind, and spirit. Five-star hotels co-exist there with
squalor beyond American comprehension. Caustic pollution burned his
eyes and seared his lungs as he walked the streets of Calcutta.
Emaciated street children fought with feral dogs over scraps of
rotting food on mountains of trash. People with leprosy, birth
defects, and infections begged from every street and gutter. And yet,
despite living in such unspeakable conditions, the sweet spirit and
inner light of the people shone clearly through their eyes and smiles.

Yes, walking the slums of Calcutta enlightened the healthy, successful
American lawyer and writer. After days of experiencing the sounds,
scents, sights of horrible human suffering, and toxic air, Anderson
was too sick to stand, too emotionally drained to weep. He returned
home determined to do all one man could to offset the suffering he saw
in Calcutta.

The Light Within is beautifully written; Anderson shares his
experiences powerfully with readers. He speaks not only for himself
but all humanity - the armless and legless, the perfect and healthy.
Along with writing this book, Anderson established the Calcutta
Children's Permanent Fund, an endowment providing medical and
nutritional support to the street children of Calcutta.

Joseph Anderson has the unique ability to bring the reader through a vivid and heart-wrenching experience of life in India. He takes the reader to places few tourists would venture, and he describes the challenges he encounters --from extreme poverty to personal discovery -- with a deep understanding of human emotion and a personal connection to our sense of sight, sound and smell. If you want to experience what life is truly like in India, through the eyes of someone who connects deeply with humanity, read this book!

Joseph Anderson's "The Light Within" may be the first book written as
a blog. Undertaking a pilgrimage to India (to study with yoga
masters) after his father's death, Anderson promised his mother to
keep in touch with daily blogs. It's evident that the blog was
written not only to his recently widowed mother, but to himself as he
recites his daily activities in England, Paris, and, most
importantly, India. The account goes far beyond a travelogue: it is
part diary, part meditation, part exultation, moves from description
to interpretation to philosophy, even to poetry! Anderson's language
is fluid and often lyrical, even at its most spontaeous. The
narrative is most alive when he gets beyond the touristy days in
England and France and arrives in India; he spares nothing in his
deeply sensory-and deeply moral-account of this land which offers
both splendid beauty and utter degradation. The fact that he has now
begun a foundation to rescue children of Calcutta from poverty,
ignorance, filth, and disease demonstrates the powerful impact this
experience had on him, one that will be shared by sensitive readers.

Pick up Mr. Anderson's book and find a compelling travelogue through India and all-too-human emotional terrain. The writing is fluid and graceful and you will find yourself immersed in the journey of this soul. You will find a wide variety of experience on display, from the haunts of modern London to the very heart of Calcutta and beyond.

Well worth a read!