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Books > Humanities > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history
Covering the Arab-Israeli conflict from its origins to the present,
this valuable resource traces the evolution of this ongoing,
seemingly unresolvable dispute through a wide array of primary
source documents. Arab-Israeli Conflict: A Documentary and
Reference Guide provides a fresh, accessible, and thorough overview
of the Arab-Israeli conflict, covering its origins in the late-19th
century to the present-day situation and enabling readers to grasp
why peace has proved so elusive, despite massive international
efforts to reach a permanent and lasting solution to this
protracted animosity. Chronological chapters first address the
years up to the establishment of Israel in 1948, then move forward
to the wars of 1956 and 1967 and their impact; the 1973 Yom Kippur
War and early efforts to reach a lasting peace settlement; and the
ongoing international and Israeli-Palestinian negotiations since
the mid-1980s. Readers will come away with not only an
understanding of why so many great powers were from the beginning
interested in the fate of the territory known as Palestine and of
the current issues from an international perspective, but also an
appreciation of the personalities and ethnic backgrounds involved
that make the conflict so difficult to resolve. Allows a wide
audience of readers-from high school and college students to
general readers-to understand the complex roots of the conflicting
claims to the territory of Palestine Places the Arab-Israeli
conflict in the broader international context of World Wars I and
II and the Cold War, providing readers with an appreciation of why
so many outside powers have taken an interest in the battle over
this territory Relates the conflict over the territory of Palestine
to both the region's imperial and colonial past and the history of
20th-century global decolonization and nationalism Includes some 90
primary source documents, including major official statements by
all parties to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, including Zionists,
Israel, the Arab League, the Palestine Liberation Organization,
Hamas, and Hezbollah as well as Great Britain, France, the League
of Nations, the United States, the Soviet Union, and the Quartet
Covers key topics-such as the creation of Israel in 1948 and the
subsequent wars of 1956, 1967, and 1973; the impact of Israel's
territorial acquisitions in 1967; the international peace
negotiations of subsequent years that slowly brought peace
settlements between Israel and some Arab states; and the
establishment of Palestinian rule in the West Bank and Gaza-in
detail
Few gave tiny Singapore much chance of survival when it was granted
independence in 1965. How is it, then, that today the former
British colonial trading post is a thriving Asian metropolis with
not only the world's number one airline, best airport, and busiest
port of trade, but also the world's fourth-highest per capita real
income? The story of that transformation is told here by
Singapore's charismatic, controversial founding father, Lee Kuan
Yew. Rising from a legacy of divisive colonialism, the devastation
of the Second World War, and general poverty and disorder following
the withdrawal of foreign forces, Singapore now is hailed as a city
of the future. This miraculous history is dramatically recounted by
the man who not only lived through it all but who fearlessly forged
ahead and brought about most of these changes. Mr. Lee is one of
the most respected political figures in the world today ("Time" and
"Newsweek" regularly profile his socio-economic strategies and his
regime), and recognition of his name among academic, political,
historical and sociological circles is guaranteed. This volume also
features a foreword from Dr. Henry Kissinger.
To understand the turnaround in Spain's stance towards Japan during
World War II, this book goes beyond mutual contacts and explains
through images, representations, and racism why Madrid aimed at
declaring war on Japan but not against the III Reich -as London
ironically replied when it learned of Spain's warmongering against
one of the Axis members.
'A learned, wise, wonderfully written single volume history of a
civilisation that I knew I should know more about' Tom Holland
'Masterful and engrossing...well-paced, eminently readable and
well-timed. A must-read for those who want - and need - to know
about the China of yesterday, today and tomorrow' Peter Frankopan
China's story is extraordinarily rich and dramatic. Now Michael
Wood, one of the UK's pre-eminent historians, brings it all
together in a major new one-volume history of China that is
essential reading for anyone who wants to understand its burgeoning
role in our world today. China is the oldest living civilisation on
earth, but its history is still surprisingly little known in the
wider world. Michael Wood's sparkling narrative, which mingles the
grand sweep with local and personal stories, woven together with
the author's own travel journals, is an enthralling account of
China's 4000-year-old tradition, taking in life stationed on the
Great Wall or inside the Forbidden City. The story is enriched with
the latest archaeological and documentary discoveries;
correspondence and court cases going back to the Qin and Han
dynasties; family letters from soldiers in the real-life Terracotta
Army; stories from Silk Road merchants and Buddhist travellers,
along with memoirs and diaries of emperors, poets and peasants. In
the modern era, the book is full of new insights, with the
electrifying manifestos of the feminist revolutionaries Qiu Jin and
He Zhen, extraordinary eye-witness accounts of the Japanese
invasion, the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution under
Chairman Mao, and fascinating newly published sources for the great
turning points in China's modern history, including the Tiananmen
Square crisis of 1989, and the new order of President Xi Jinping. A
compelling portrait of a single civilisation over an immense period
of time, the book is full of intimate detail and colourful voices,
taking us from the desolate Mongolian steppes to the ultra-modern
world of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. It also asks what were
the forces that have kept China together for so long? Why was China
overtaken by the west after the 18th century? What lies behind
China's extraordinary rise today? The Story of China tells a
thrilling story of intense drama, fabulous creativity and deep
humanity; a portrait of a country that will be of the greatest
importance to the world in the twenty-first century.
"Cultural Responses to Occupation in Japan" examines how the
performing arts, and the performing body specifically, have shaped
and been shaped by the political and historical conditions
experienced in Japan during the Cold War and post-Cold War periods.
This study of original and secondary materials from the fields of
theatre, dance, performance art, film and poetry probes the
interrelationship that exists between the body and the
nation-state. Important artistic works, such as Ankoku Butoh (dance
of darkness) and its subsequent re-interpretation by a leading
political performance company Gekidan Kaitaisha (theatre of
deconstruction), are analysed using ethnographic, historical and
theoretical modes. This approach reveals the nuanced and prolonged
effects of military, cultural and political occupation in Japan
over a duration of dramatic change."Cultural Responses to
Occupation in Japan" explores issues of discrimination,
marginality, trauma, memory and the mediation of history in a
ground-breaking work that will be of great significance to anyone
interested in the symbiosis of culture and conflict.""
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