Tag Archives: Asia

Midnight’s Furies

Posted on July 21, 2017 by smellincoffee

Midnight’s Furies: The Deadly Legacy of India’s Partition© 2015 Nisid Hajari352 pages Although greater India has rarely remained united in its long history, there was every reason to hope that it would emerge from the centuries of British dominion in … Continue reading →

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A New History of India

Posted on July 13, 2017 by smellincoffee

A New History of India© 2000, sixth edition Stanley Wolpert471 pages India isn’t an easy place to keep running. Stanley Wolpert’s A New History of India gives a chiefly-political, mostly-modern history of one of the world’s most ancient civilizations, a land … Continue reading →

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The Elephant and the Dragon

Posted on May 6, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Elephant and the Dragon: The Rise of India and China and What It Means for All of Us© 2007  Robyn Meredith272 pages For most of the 20th century, Europe and the United States enjoyed an outsided influence on global … Continue reading →

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China: An Introduction

Posted on March 15, 2017 by smellincoffee

China: An Introduction© 1984 Lucian W. Pye400 pages Lucien Pye was born in China and later returned there to advise the US government. China: An Introduction is written in that spirit, being a review of the making of Communist China and … Continue reading →

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China Road

Posted on March 11, 2017 by smellincoffee

China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power© 2007 Rob Gifford352 pages National Road 312 spans the breadth of China, connecting its sparsely settled and scarcely developed rural interior with the port city of Shanghai,  the largest … Continue reading →

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In Spite of the Gods

Posted on March 6, 2017 by smellincoffee

In Spite of the Gods: the Rise of Modern India© 2007 Edward Luce400 pages In Spite of the Gods appraises India’s culture as its ancient civilization enters the 21st century as the world’s largest democracy and one of its largest … Continue reading →

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Trade, ancient and modern: from China to the Sharing Economy

Posted on February 4, 2017 by smellincoffee

Two micro-reviews for you…one on The Silk Road: Two Thousand Years in the Heart of Asia, the other on Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing. The Silk Road consists of several chapters in central-Asian history, with generous photographs … Continue reading →

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Looking ahead & some also-reads

Posted on January 31, 2017 by smellincoffee

I intentionally launched this year off with some fun reading, so we’re off to a good start and there’s more on the way.  Yesterday Amazon held a flash sale for science books, and I picked up a few relatively recent … Continue reading →

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In the Land of the Tiger

Posted on January 15, 2017 by smellincoffee

In the Land of the Tiger: A Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent© 1997 Valmik Thapar285 pages Imagine a Planet Earth episode focused entirely on India, and then presented in book form. The result is In the Land of the … Continue reading →

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2017: The Discovery of Asia

Posted on December 28, 2016 by smellincoffee

For several years now I have dared myself to take on a formidable challenge:  Asia.  Prior to the 20th century, it is a historical black hole for me. I have caught glimpses of it from time to time, but have … Continue reading →

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