Asia Books

In a country where life is generally so ordered it often appears as atrophied as a bonsai,
when individual citizens go astray, they frequently go astray with a passion and conviction as dedicated to their crime as their neighbors are to pursuing the norms. Mark Schrieber's look at the dangerous and shadier faces of Japan seems to me, an American resident in Tokyo for the past 38 years, long overdue in providing readers with a better balanced picture of the world's second largest economy. Some of the stories are truly bizarre; some are frightening; some are somehow humorous or ironic. But all of them offer an extraordinarily keen insight into a society that is often praised for its
lack of crime and its stable social order. A walk on the dark side with Schrieber is an exciting eye-opener and fabulously exotic entertainment as well.

Schreiber's first book, Shocking Crimes of Postwar Japan, was not only as gripping a read as anything penned by Ann Rule or Jack Olsen, it served as an excellent corrective to the widespread notion of Japan as a society free of violence-prone scofflaws. As good as that book was, however, its follow-up is, in many ways, superior--richer in anecdote, more analytical, covering hundreds of years of history. For those readers with an
interest in Japan, *The Dark Side* is, it almost goes without saying, a must-have. But this is also a painlessly instructive volume for those with an interest in the more general, and always fascinatingly complex, subject of crime and punishment. The criminally inclined, like the poor, we have always had with us: thanks to the prodigiously well-informed Schreiber, we learn the myraid ways that one country has dealt with that unfortunate certainty.

The Dark Side is a great book for two reasons. First, it's a good introduction to the history of crime, crime prevention, and criminal justice in Japan that stretches over 400 years. Though it's not a scholarly book, Schreiber's facts are carefully researched and then presented with a light touch. This book is valuable to anyone seriously interested in Japan, supplying background and facts that can hardly be found in other sources (unless the reader wants to retrace the work that Schreiber has done). The author achieves what we look for in a good historian-he's put a human face on the facts.

The second reason I like the book is because of its genuinely interesting stories. Call me offbeat, but I'm fascinated by the details of such topics as Japan's experiments with executions (including the story of a man whose neck was so strong that he couldn't be strangled-he was pardoned because his executioners saw his survival as a sign of divine intervention). The book tells about famous bandits from 300 years ago, love suicides (and the penalties for survivors!), a Tokyo magistrate whose skill puts him in the same league as Sherlock Holmes, and the delightful Sada-san, who anticipated Lorena Bobbitt by about 60 years.

All in all, this book is a fine read and a fine work of popular history.

This book delivers handsomely on its promise to take a reader on an entertaining romp through the dark side of Japanese society. This book's got it all-sex, death, murder, gore, pathos, ingenuity, stupidity, greed, and even moments of personal redemption for Japan's criminals and criminally insane. It traces four centuries of crime in Japan and pulls back the covers on everything from cannibalism to crucifixions, phallic dismemberment a la Bobbit to serial killers, and gangsters to grisly executions.

There's plenty of new stuff here for even the most jaded Japanologist and a treasure trove of exotic and enticing stories for the Japan neophyte. Opening this book is like diving into a box of crime bonbons. Nuts, chews, soft centers, whatever. I could hardly wait to turn the page and find out what unusual fact, character, or story waited for me next. In fact, my only disappointment with the book was that the author didn't provide even more detail and analysis of some of the cases, especially those from Japan's modern period. But that's a small quibble about a book that kept me engrossed and entertained from page one to the end.

This historical book provides individual, personal in depth true accounts of the Dutch and Dutch-Indo's plight during and immediatiately following Japanese invasion and internment in the former Dutch East Indies during World War II. A truly inspiring book of courage and fortitude that gives the reader an opportunity to acquire an understanding of this turbulent period of time in the Pacific theater of war. An excellent and informative read of stories that need to be told.

My family is Indo (Dutch-Indonesian), and our family history has been oral. It was difficult to relay their story to American friends who had never heard of any atrocities of the second World War other than the holocaust. As it's noted in the book, "It is unconcionable to allow future generations to forget what happend in the Indies, just as it is folly to turn our backs on the holocaust in Europe."

Memory fades fast, and it's good that this history is written down to be remembered. I'm involved with some contemporary Dutch organizations, but I look different by my dusky skin, and sometimes I think that this book explains to the "whiter" Dutch what I am, and where I came from. Forgotten or not, I'm part of their culture.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I've read enough about the American internment camps that the Japanese-Americans were held, and while there is a great deal of sympathy towards them in the United States, what the Japanese did to the Dutch and Dutch-Indonesians shouldn't be forgotten either. I sometimes wonder if it isn't known as much in the US because it didn't take place in Europe.

This book consists of eyewitness accounts of various people, mostly Dutch nationals or Dutch colonists, who were caught up in seven long years of war -- beginning with the Japanese conquest of Indonesia (then known as the Dutch East Indies), the Second World War and the subsequent revolution by Soekarno and Hatta, Indonesian revolutionaries whose drive for independence was given the blessing of the Japanese.

The Dutch received an unfortunate smear -- "Dutch courage" -- as a result of a premature surrender to the Japanese; if what I've read is true, then this smear is undeserved (particularly in light of the British surrender at Singapore). This book should go a long way to rectifying that unearned stigma.

This is history they didn't teach us in school! Jan Krancher has compiled 24 personal accounts from survivors of a brutal -and nearly forgotten- episode of World War II: the Japanese occupation of the Dutch East Indies and imprisonment of thousands of its people. This 3 1/2 year occupation was immediately followed by a bloody revolution and the creation of modern Indonesia.

These deeply moving stories, from civilian internees (including children) and military POW's, give the English-speaking reader a glimpse of what has been called the "other Holocaust", the brutalities of the Pacific War. You won't forget them.

If you liked the film "Paradise Road", you won't want to miss this book.

This book is ideed Tarla Dalal's best yet. I have always sweared on her cooking and always will. She has amazing recipes and very easy to follow steps. You've got to love it!!

I've tried many of the recipes in this book. They tend to be simple and rarely go wrong. i would avoid trying to cook italian food using her recipes though.

Tarla Dalal is excellent for Vegetarian cooking. My husband hates Vegetarian and I always have a tough time preparing meals for him when we are veg. But with this book it is sooooo much better. Her recipes are VERY Simple to follow and each of her recipes turn out DELICIOUS...from her starters to her desserts...she has them all.

I have been refering to this book since I was in my teens and a total novice at cooking. It is a book par excellence. The recipes come out perfectly . This book has been my best friend in the kitchen for last 10 years. In fact I would love to translate it into marathi which is my mother tongue so that more women can benifit from it. Thank you very much Tarlaji.

Anupama

I got this book because I am planning a trip to Thailand. I got more than I bargained for.

Following the traditional Thai funeral of her grandmother as a thread, Amanda Kovattana captures the images of Bangkok in the '60s and the integration of her parents mixed marriage into a traditional extended family in contrast with the modern day disintegration of both family and city.
With pitch perfect ending, the book is moving without being mushy. The author's sincerity and matter of fact approach, make it easy to identify with her. The story is much more complex than one might think, not just a cross cultural family story, but a reflection on personal identity. It is a classic!

I really enjoyed Amanda's Diamonds in My Pocket. As a Thai person, growing up in the same era of 1960's, although nothing to that extent, reading that book really brought back vivid memories of Bangkok at her leisure pace - just the way I remembered it. Amanda did a wonderful job in expressing her world around her, from Thai culture, to her family characters, to the confusion of being bi-racial. You get tips on Thai words, on culture and on learning that Thai people are, in general, superstitious! The photos and illustration made the book more personal. Wonder how her Padre felt about this book...

Once I started reading "Diamonds In My Pocket" I had to keep going as it had me enthralled. I found the contrast of cultural thinking enlightening. I enjoyed the photos as they allowed me to really "see" the people rather than just imagine them. I will lend it to my daughter as she will be interested in this memoir of growing up in Thailand. She has also lived in Asia and has a biracial marriage. Then I intend to read the book again as I was so anxious to find out what happened next that I did not pause to fully appreciate some of the descriptions that were so cleverly written.

Diamonds in My Pocket is the memoir of a woman born of a Thai father and an English mother, who grew up in London, Bangkok and Silicon Valley. Favored with a family connected to Thai royalty, her experiences as a child illuminate life "upstairs and downstairs" in the family compound in 1960s Thailand plus an insider's view of life in Thailand then and now.

Kovattana is a natural storyteller who weaves a thoughtful and entertaining tale around her own experiences and self-discovery among a cast of strong-minded characters who are her own relatives. We are able to peek into daily life in another culture and follow its changes as the author returns over the years to maintain her family ties. Her humor and memories and experiences as the only child of a mixed marriage make for a captivating memoir.

I am delighted that these diaries have at last been published and thus made easily accessible to the scholarly world and all interested readers. They transport us back to a little-known time and place, China just after the turn of the 20th century.

Volume One includes great detail of the acrimonious diplomatic negotiations after the Boxer Rebellion of 1900 which led to the signing of the final protocol between the powers and China on September 7, 1901. Volume Two of the two-volume set includes Satow's observations on and of the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05) and much about the development of railways, the Imperial Maritime Customs Service run by Sir Robert Hart (the Inspector General) and so on.

There is much more to come from the Satow Papers (PRO 30/33 1-23) in the National Archives of the UK at Kew, West London but these diaries have never been published before and will repay careful study.

Ian Ruxton, editor of Sir Ernest Satow's Private Letters to W.G. Aston and F.V. Dickins: The Correspondence of a Pioneer Japanologist from 1870 to 1918 (Paperback), also available on amazon. (For a full list of my books related to Satow and others, click on my name under the title at the top of the page.)

In part two, the Satow saga continues, and through the diaries, one can understand these historical events of the time much better by knowing the details of the motives, fears and values of the British and of the Japanese, at least through Satow's eyes. In the first few pages,1903 the reader is introduced to the problem of Manchuria, and of the chances that China had in turning the "Russians out by force." Satow seems to write about almost every issue of the time. In his 1904 notes, he discusses issues of the coal at Kaiping, loans of ten million pounds sterling, rumours concerning the Chinese Empress-Dowager, of French capitalists offering money to reanimate the Imperial Bank of China, to name just a few. From these notes, it is easy to see the incredible manipulation, and cunning on the part of the politicians and diplomats of the day. The background to the Russian-Japanese war begins on page 25 with Japan agreeing to peace if Russia gave up Port Arthur, evacuated the province of Manchuria, and handed over the railway to China. In short, the notes not only make for interesting reading--and there is a LOT more here--but they also a good read for the historian or those interested in diplomacy. To know history, one must know the tiny details that went into making the events, and these details are only known through the diaries of those who shaped the events.

Ian Ruxton's second volume of Ernest Mason Satow's diaries while serving as British envoy to China begins in January 1904 and continues through 1906. Early in the volume appear Satow's reports on conflicts between Russia and Japan over Chinese territory, conflicts which would lead to the Russo-Japanese War, which Japan scholar Satow would have to observe from his China posting. Nonetheless, Satow's particular position and scholarly background as an observer of East Asia allowed him to make observations still of interest to a general reader.

In this second volume of Satow's Peking tenure, his Diary moves on to consider and relate wider International aspirations and worries, including Russian interest in Manchuria, and even Korea. There is considerable reference to the expansion of the railway system and the sharing of its construction/costs. Although I'm sure there will be many more such lighter moments in the full version, no extract from Satow's Diaries can be complete without a witty comment on something not inherently comical. Here it is reference to the Belgians procuring the services of one Mr Sheng 'by stuffing his pockets', whether this means a bribe, or legitimate expenses/remuneration, Satow quite wisely does not state! Again, the recorded musings of such serious topics are interspersed with things social - although when it comes to the application of tact and diplomacy, the stock in trade of the Diplomatic service, it is really no wonder then that engineering contracts are won and lost, and wars declared, ended or avoided, over a slice of upside down cake and a tumbler of steaming hot lemon tea. Yet again these diaries provide a fascinating glimpse into the machinations in the Orient of the Diplomatic Service in the Edwardian era, and which are personalised by Satow's recorded views. Due to the continued endeavours of Ian Ruxton,we yet again walk with Sir Ernest Satow along the ( overseas ) corridors of power, eavesdrop on the chattering classes, and share his secret doubts, dismissal and disdain ( and occasional admiration ) of both colleagues and his Chinese and International counterparts. Excellent.

If you are a fan of food writing this is the book for you. From peanut butter and crackers (a story about quitting smoking)to a bowl of Philipino dog stew this book makes for a wonderful read.

Rollicking, rowdy, not infrequently ribald, and occasionally romantic --Richard Sterling takes us with him as he wanders over half the world and twenty years, eating, drinking, gathering pepper with headhunters and, er --rollicking. Lots of recipes for food and drinks and I've never had a crash with a Sterling recipe, either. You just have to admire a guy who can devise a recipe substitute for Bornean Red Warrior Ants, though he overdoes the tarragon a bit, in my opinion. (Different Warrior Ants?)

Sterling's pursuit of culinary exotica - he particularly likes spicy food - has taken him all over the world. He began his odyssey, and begins this unusual and entertaining book of essays and recipes, with his navy tour of southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.

The early essays of his youthful navy days - quitting smoking while moving nuclear missiles ship to ship during typhoon conditions, a bittersweet dalliance with a Malaysian prostitute, in pursuit of pepper among Borneo headhunters - are hilarious, moving, and riveting.

As the years pass, his travels become more food focused, and the anecdotes more general and nostalgiac. But as his knowledge of food becomes more sophisticated, so do the recipes. And Sterling remains game for anything, including fried locusts, blood soup and dog, specifically puppy. And he includes recipes for everything - with substitutions for less adventurous palates.

There are numerous mouthwatering curries, satays, stews, soups and streetfoods includng traditonal dishes like pad Thai, chile prawns, green mango salad and Cambogee beef, along with Navy classics like boiled coffee and El Rancho beef stew. Exotica includes fish grilled with large red ants and two versions of grasshopper or cricket snacks. Great stories and good food.

I've never been sure whether this was a cookbook, a travel book, or a wonderful life narrative. Or, I'm sure it's all of the above. If you love life and you love food and you love people, you have to have this.

And you really can omit the fire ants without damaging the recipe...

Eye opening account how some tricky diplomacy occurs from a view from former British ambassador to Uzbekistan. The book reveals the social injustice that occurs in this part of the world. Very interesting read.

I read Mr. Murray's memoir of his service in Uzbekistan with great interest because I lived in Uzbekistan at the same time he was there. Living and working in Uzbekistan meant living in a blinding fog of misinformation and government propaganda. After reading 'Dirty Diplomacy' I can understand now to what extent the Uzbek government, as well as my own American government, justified torture and corruption in the name of its 'war against terror'. Mr. Murray's book is also enlightening about the dealings of the diplomatic world. A very informative read.

First a clarification: I read "Murder in Samarkand" the British version of this book. It is an excellent, engaging and fast read. Murray details in a way I have not seen before the inner workings and nitty gritty politics of diplomacy during the "war on terror". It is a tale that should be of great interest to American readers as a different perspective on a seemingly forgotten part of the war. The book is split roughly between three topic areas which are intertwined and reported on as a first person narrative. It moves quickly and jumps between what he is doing as the British ambassador in Uzbekistan especially on human rights issues, the internal politics of the British Foreign Service as they try to restrain then fire their gonzo swashbuckling ambassador, and his description of a boozy, skirt chasing and not very discrete personal life as ambassador. In the end it is a story of a man with a strong sense of justice who exhibits exceptional courage and uses his position to stand up against horrific human rights abuses. Murray clearly has a strong sense of honor and justice and the capacity for wit, style, and resourcefulness under pressure. It is also a tragicomedy of sorts as captured by the US book title and as evidenced by the fact that he lost his career but got the belly dancer.

Uzbekistan was an important sideshow in the post 9/11 "war on terror" in Afghanistan and its story has not been well covered by US media. As part of the war on the Taliban, the US sought and got cooperation from the Uzbek government to establish a major air base within spitting distance of Afghanistan and made its deal with the devil in order to do so. The Brits, or at least Tony Blair's government, had little active role in that but did support the US. Murray, as the new ambassador, quickly fell out of step with the Blair government and the book is largely focused on the efforts of the now rogue ambassador to expose and limit the ghastly human rights abuses being carried out by the Uzbek government under the guise of supporting the war on terror. The government of Uzbekistan is kleptocracy and a police state throwback to Stalinist times. Craig Murray was one of a very few (and clearly the leading) western diplomats who accurately pointed out this inconvenient fact and its consequences. The toady US ambassadors at the time failed to take a stand and actively worked to undermine Murray. The book describes events occurring before the 2005 massacre of hundreds of protesters in Andejan which finally caused the US to back away from supporting the Ubek government.

This is not a simple history or rant against a totalitarian regime. It is a first person documentary of issues that both the US and British governments were trying to sweep under the rug. Murray's decision to incorporate some mundane details of diplomatic life actually works very well by creating a context for what is going on and by making an otherwise very political topic much more than just a polemic. His single handed quixotic struggle to expose the harm caused by the US/Uzbek marriage of convenience and the clearly horrific abuses of human rights and democracy in the region would become wearisome and dry without the spice of booze, belly dancers, and clandestine meetings. The book at times seems to deal almost as much with his unambassadorial lifestyle as it does with politics but frankly it makes a much better read because of that. Murray's memory for detail is remarkable and appears to be quite accurate according to friends who attended some of the events he describes. Having worked myself in Tashkent during the time Murray is writing about I'd add that he really doesn't exaggerate in describing Uzbekistan or the difficult lives and fears of the average citizen.

Murray could well have titled the book "Fear and Loathing in Tashkent" and tried to list Hunter Thompson as a coauthor. Hollywood would (?will) certainly not need to spice this story up for the big screen. I don't know if Murray is naturally as open as he comes across in the book or whether he has painted his self portrait (as described in the US title) simply because he thought it best to put everything on the table himself rather than let his enemies snipe at him over lifestyle issues. Murray obviously did take his job, as he defined it, very seriously and in the end did sacrifice his career rather than bend on his principles. Although he addresses some of his own foibles as part and parcel of his boozy adventures, this is not an autobiography. His marriage ends halfway through the book but he never lets on about any trouble at home (though it is hard to imagine any spouse putting up with his antics). We don't hear about the break up of his family other than noting that the final straw was his obsession and open courting of a beautiful belly dancer half his age. (I told you Hollywood would not need to spice this story up...too bad Jack Nicholson is too old to play the lead).

The book is really a combination expose, polemic and titillating confession that just works as a great read. His writing is lucid, sharp and he never drones when making political points. One cannot help but admire his willingness to risk and destroy his diplomatic career in the service of a greater good. He was right and I suspect history will be kind to him. As best I can tell he is currently an itinerant writer living in London. One comes away from this book admiring him and hoping that he will bounce back into some human rights leadership role again. And, if he doesn't, I hope at least he finds peace and happiness with his belly dancer.

The book details the real-life story of Craig Murray, a successful British career diplomat that became a pawn in the Great Game. Assigned to become Ambassador to Uzbekistan, he took over a very small embassy with all the attendant issues (morale, support, etc.) He also very quickly became aware of horrific human rights abuses in Uzbekistan that have been substantiated by other NGOs like Human Rights Watch.

His subsequent attempt to stand up against a regime that enjoyed boiling people alive, executing real or perceived enemies of the state in extra-judicial killings, etc. subsequently got Mr. Murray into trouble with the Blair administration since he was stirring the pot with one of their erstwhile allies in the "War on Terror". However, as Mr. Murray so eloquently lays out, it is precisely this type of tyrannical regime that leads to the rise of fundamentalist, extremist groups in the first place.

Mr. Murray went to extraordinary lengths to represent British interests in Uzbekistan and traveled the whole nation to get to know it better. Along the way, he tried his best to encourage Democracy and Rule of Law, a novelty in Uzbekistan. Some of his more dangerous and coloful confrontations included standing up to various local government officials, thugs, etc. and are recounted in gripping detail. It is evident that Mr. Murray risked considerable harm to himself.

Like most other diplomats in Uzbekistan, Mr. Murray could have simply looked the other way, just as the British government instructed him to when he reported human rights abuses and other issues with the regime that the Blair and Bush administrations wanted to cozy up to. That is not to say that he is a knight in shining armor, but he seems to be pretty honest about his personal flaws.

When one of his internal Memos to the Foreign Office decrying the human rights abuses in Uzbekistan was leaked to the press, the British government took extraordinary steps to kick him out of the Foreign Service. With his departure, the British Foreign Service lost one of their more courageous and competent ambassadors, though perhaps he was a bit too honest and outspoken for the diplomatic club.

This book was originally published under the title "Murder in Samarkand" in Britain. This version names more names regarding the folk working behind the scenes to kick Mr. Murray out of the Foreign Service, thanks to US freedom of speech laws. The British paperback version has more pictures, however. It's a very interesting read, and I highly recommend it.

This is an outstanding and reliable resource on diving in Bali. The author writes with clarity. It is an enjoyable read even if you can get out there as often as you'd like. Worth reading!

I received my copy of Diving Bali : The Underwater Jewel of Southeast Asia (Periplus Action Guides)yesterday, and lost a good night's sleep reading it. My only regret in buying this book is that I didn't get it before going diving in Bali last summer. The pictures are outstanding and the maps are of a very high quality. I think I'll be cancelling my diving trip to the Philippines in July and returning to Bali instead!

I know that this sounds like hyperbole, but this book is so far above and beyond any other dive guide I have used that I cannot resist. The maps are works of art and acurate, to boot.

After reading this book, my dives at the Liberty, the Tulamben drop off and Batu Kelebit seemed like visits with old friends.

As a terrific bonus, you can even dive these sites with Wally Siagian (+62 363 41869, persistantly) as I did.

Best dive guide I've read about any location. Get this one if going to Bali.

Dean Barrett's search for the legendary blossom spring provides an excellent narrative unerpinning for his adventures and travels in China. He is a fine writer with unique insights. A great book.

A really great book on China and a great way to learn about a Chinese poet. The writer searches the hills of China for a utopia which it is quite clear never existed in the first place (except maybe in his weird mind) and in that way we learn about China in a way textbooks can't teach us. Far out! I cracked up laughing in places, something I seldom do with travel books. I like the writer's weird way of looking at things. No bull, just lots of insight. A great read!

Don Quixote in China is one of those travel books that is as entertaining as it is informative. I learned a lot about Chinese people and culture while I laughed out loud. The author has a lot of fun in his search for a kind of utopia that in all probability doesn't exist anyway. But the fun and the learning experience is in his search. Well written and informative.

The author of this book sets out to locate a Chinese arcadia in the mountains of China based on clues in a fourth century poem written by a Chinese poet who was always pretty high on Chinese wine, anyway. So he heads off into China to try to locate this remote community called Peach Blossom Spring. The book is interesting, sometimes very funny, and sometimes hilarious. Although he is not afraid to criticize the Chinese it is clear he has a great love for them as well as quite a thorough knowledge of Chinese history and culture. He spends some time describing his encounters with Chinese women such as "Miss Pong" but that is part of the fun of his style.

I can highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a good read and wants to learn about China at the same time.

I bought this book for my three year old son and he quite enjoys it because of the dragon. The vocabulary is a bit difficult but not terribly so. The story is interesting and I am sure it is a book that my son will come back to again happily when he is older.

This book is about a prince who can turn into animals and a farmer who had 7 daughters. The third sister is the evil and greedy one and the seventh sister the youngest daughter, was the prettiest. If it wasn't for her weaving fine shoes the family would have died. In the story the prince is trying to find a wife. So he searched everywhere for one.
If you like Beauty And The Beast you will like this book because this is the same only that it is the Chinese version. They also have the same theme which is don't judge a book by its cover. I know this is the message because in both stories they disguise themselves and they are really are princes
This is an awesome book. I recommend it to young readers for it has excitement, romance, adventure, and more. So pick it up at your local library or buy it at a book store. Hope you enjoy.

This is a great story for children and grown-ups. Adults will enjoy reading this book to their children. A nice story from China.

An excellent book on Chinese fairy tales about a Prince/Dragon and a poor, but skilled and beautiful peasant girl. It contains exquisite illustrations that captured my preschool and grade school daughters attention. I highly recommend this fantasy book for preschoolers, through grades three. The reading level and some content (reasoning) for older grades. Recommended for students, teachers, and parents.