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Books > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history
Chaos in Yemen challenges recent interpretations of Yemen's complex social, political and economic transformations since unification in 1990. By offering a new perspective to the violence afflicting the larger region, it explains why the 'Abdullah 'Ali Salih regime has become the principal beneficiary of these conflicts. Adopting an inter-disciplinary approach, the author offers an alternative understanding of what is creating discord in the Red Sea region by integrating the region's history to an interpretation of current events. In turn, by refusing to solely link Yemen to the "global struggle against Islamists," this work sheds new light on the issues policy-makers are facing in the larger Middle East. As such, this study offers an alternative perspective to Yemen's complex domestic affairs that challenge the over-emphasis on the tribe and sectarianism. Offering an alternative set of approaches to studying societies facing new forms of state authoritarianism, this timely contribution will be of great relevance to students and scholars of the Middle East and the larger Islamic world, Conflict Resolution, Comparative Politics, and International Relations.
First published in 1937 this is a collection of articles written
by the author under the pseudonym 'Waseda Eisaku' for the Japan
Tourist Bureau's magazine over twenty five years. Intended to
satisfy the intellectual curiosity of cultivated tourists from
abroad by giving the insider's view of all things Japanese, it was
published as a book just before the outbreak of World War II. Writing in the first person, Katsumata becomes both guide and confidante, writing about his own travel experiences in Japan and about Japanese customs and practices that interest him, such as traditional incense ceremonies, or fishing with rod and creel. This personal approach results in an unusual selection of topics and itineraries including tray landscapes, old Japanese clocks, hot springs, Japanese humour, sumo wrestling, pines in Japanese scenery, the Japanese sun flag and Buddhist temple bells. The author not only describes, but draws the reader into his own experiences - his joy on buying an antiquarian book he cannot really afford, the monotony he feels when travelling too long through snowy landscapes, the delight he takes in telling you that the best bait for carp fishing is sweet potato. Katsumata's unconventional choice of subjects and his informal and individualistic writing style make this a refreshingly different guide to Japan, and a valuable record of the period in which it was written.
* Concise but comprehensive overview of the history * Includes approximately 20 primary source documents * Perfect for assigning this work for wide range of undergraduate courses in the U.S., ranging from introductory lecture courses to research seminars * Written by scholars who are experts in Japanese, East and South-East Asian history
This volume is a history of the Japanese drive for the conquest of Greater East Asia. It includes an account of the Malayan campaign and the Fall of Singapore, followed by an outline of the dominant features of the campaign in S E Asia and the Pacific and ending with the attack on Japan and the unconditional surrender. As a prisoner in Tokyo, the author was able to observe the reactions of the people and the government to the bombing of Japan, and by revealing their overwhelming defeat, to dispose of the fiction that surrender was brought about by two atomic bombs. The outstanding value of the work is its analysis of the fundamental problems of Japan.
Socialism first gained a major foothold in Japan after the revolution and the subsequent Meiji restoration of 1868. Against the background of the rapid development of capitalism in Japan after the revolution, and the accompanying emergence of the working class, this study shows how early Japanese socialists drew on both Western influences and elements from traditional Japanese culture. In the early 1980s most of the world interested in Japan was fascinated by its educational system, industrial policy or low crime rates - things which explained the economic miracle and made it 'Number One'. John Crump, however, was searching for the origins of socialist thought there. Historians of the socialist movement before and since the 1980s have described the thought of those who figure in the dramas Crump describes. What sets his study apart is the degree to which the theoretical debates discussed matter to him. Other authors often lack sympathy with, or seem frustrated by, the importance given to apparently trivial differences that consumed endless debate. However, at the time he wrote this book, the author was still an activist, even though his activity manifested itself mainly in his scholarship. His aim was to do more than give an account of the formation of socialist thought in Japan. He wanted his readers to think more deeply about the development of capitalism in Japan. This book made an original contribution to the study of Japan in the 1980s. Its unique perspective shines a bright light on debates still relevant today.
The fact that the Portuguese opened up the Far East to European maritime enterprise is well known, but the prosperity to which their trade attained in that region is less so, as historians have tended to dwell on the English or Dutch activities. The period of Luso-Japanese trade is therefore of interest in more ways than one, and in particular the first decade of the seventeenth century when Japan was being moulded by Tokugawa Iyeyasu and when the country was still open to foreigners regardless of their race or religion. This volume involved considerable research in four languages and most of the information is here presented to the English reader for the first time.
First published in 1985, this is a comprehensive study of the Middle East's most strategic country, set against the background of the Islamic heritage of Iran and the rise and fall of the Pahlavi dynasty. Dilip Hiro describes the various phases through which the Islamic revolution has passed, gives an incisive account of the first Gulf War, and provides an historical survey of Iran's relations with the West, the Soviet bloc, and other countries of the region.
Originally published in 1952, this account of the growth and uses of Western learning in Japan has been enlarged by two new chapters that extend the story from 1798 to 1830. The author has incorporated the results of recent research by scholars in Japan and the West and made corrections in the text.
Cuneiform script on tablets of clay is, as far as we know, the oldest form of writing in the world. The choice of clay as writing medium in ancient Mesopotamia meant that records of all kinds could survive down to modern times, preserving fascinating documents from ancient civilization, written by a variety of people and societies. From reading these tablets we can understand not only the history and economics of the time but also the beliefs, ideas and superstitions. This new book will bring the world in which the cuneiform was written to life for the non-expert reader, revealing how ancient inscriptions can lead to a new way of thinking about the past. It will explain how this pre-alphabetic writing really worked and how it was possible to use cuneiform signs to record so many different languages so long ago. Richly illustrated with a wealth of fresh examples ranging from elementary school exercises to revealing private letters or beautifully calligraphic literature for the royal library, we will meet people that arent so very different from ourselves. We will read the work of many scribes from mundane record keepers to state fortune tellers, using tricks from puns to cryptography. For the first time cuneiform tablets and their messages are not remote and inaccessible, but wonderfully human documents that resonate today.
Volume I: 'Translated and Edited with a Preliminary Essay on the Intercourse between China and the Western Nations previous to the Discovery of the Cape Route'. Containing the travels of Friar Odoric of Pordenone, 1316-30, and letters and reports from missionary friars from Cathay and India, 1292-1338, in English translation. With a list of 'illustrations from drawings by the author'. The supplementary material includes the 1866 annual report. Volume II: Contains contemporary notices of Cathay under the Mongols, from Rashiduddin; Pegolotti's notices of the land route to Cathay and of Asiatic trade in the fourteenth century; Marignolli's recollections of eastern travel; Ibn Battuta's travels in Bengal and China; the journey of Benedict Goes from Agra to Cathay; all in English translation, with Latin and Italian texts of Odoric's narrative. For a revised version of the whole work, see Second Series 33, 37, 38, 41. This is a new print-on-demand hardback edition of the volumes first published in 1866.
The Japanese occupation of both British Borneo -- Brunei, Sarawak and North Borneo -- and Dutch Borneo in 1941 to 1945 is a much understudied subject. Of particular interest is the occupation of Dutch Borneo, governed by the Imperial Japanese Navy that had long-term plans for permanent possession'. This book surveys Borneo under Western colonialism, examines pre-war Japanese interests in Borneo, and analyses the Japanese military invasion and occupation. It goes on to consider the nature of Japanese rule in Borneo, contrasting the different regimes of the Imperial Japanese Army, which ruled the north, and the Navy. A wide range of issues are discussed, including the incorporation of the economy in the Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere and the effects of this on Borneo's economy. The book also covers issues such as the relationship with the various indigenous inhabitants, with Islam and the Muslim community, and the Chinese, as well as topics of acculturation and propaganda, and major uprisings and mass executions. It examines the impact of the wartime conditions and policies on the local multiethnic peoples and their responses, providing an invaluable contribution to the greater understanding of the significance of the wartime Japanese occupation in the historical development of Borneo.
Pan'gyesurok (or "Pan'gye's Random Jottings") was written by the Korean scholar and social critic Yu Hyongwon(1622-1673), who proposed to reform the Joseon dynasty and realise an ideal Confucian society. It was recognised as a leading work of political science by Yu's contemporaries and continues to be a key text in understanding the intellectual culture of the late Joseon period. Yu describes the problems of the political and social realities of 17th Century Korea, reporting on his attempts to solve these problems using a Confucian philosophical approach. In doing so, he establishes most of the key terminology relating to politics and society in Korea in the late Joseon. His writings were used as a model for reforms within Korea over the following centuries, inspiring social pioneers like Yi Ik and Chong Yakyong. Pan'gyesurok demonstrates how Confucian thought spread outside China and how it was modified to fit the situation on the Korean peninsula. Providing both the first English translation of the full Pan'gyesurok text as well as glossaries, notes and research papers on the importance of the text, this four volume set is an essential resource for international scholars of Korean and East Asian history.
Pan'gye surok (or "Pan'gye's Random Jottings") was written by the Korean scholar and social critic Yu Hyongwon(1622-1673), who proposed to reform the Joseon dynasty and realise an ideal Confucian society. It was recognised as a leading work of political science by Yu's contemporaries and continues to be a key text in understanding the intellectual culture of the late Joseon period. Yu describes the problems of the political and social realities of 17th Century Korea, reporting on his attempts to solve these problems using a Confucian philosophical approach. In doing so, he establishes most of the key terminology relating to politics and society in Korea in the late Joseon. His writings were used as a model for reforms within Korea over the following centuries, inspiring social pioneers like Yi Ik and Chong Yakyong. Pan'gye surok demonstrates how Confucian thought spread outside China and how it was modified to fit the situation on the Korean peninsula. Providing both the first English translation of the full Pan'gyesurok text as well as glossaries, notes and research papers on the importance of the text, this four volume set is an essential resource for international scholars of Korean and East Asian history.
The Vietnam War was one of the most heavily documented conflicts of the twentieth century. Although the events themselves recede further into history every year, the political and cultural changes the war brought about continue to resonate, even as a new generation of Americans grapples with its own divisive conflict. America and the Vietnam War: Re-examining the Culture and History of a Generation reconsiders the social and cultural aspects of the conflict that helped to fundamentally change the nation. With chapters written by subject area specialists, America and the Vietnam War takes on subjects such as women's role in the war, the music and the films of the time, the Vietnamese perspective, race and the war, and veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder. Features include:
Heavily illustrated and welcoming to students and scholars of this infamous and pivotal time, America and the Vietnam War is a perfect companion to any course on the Vietnam War Era.
It is now generally recognized that Japan has been much the most successful of the countries outside Europe and North America in achieving modernization. The transformation from a feudal society with a Confucian ethic to a 'modern, Western style economy' is charted in this book which follows the political, economic and social changes from the decline of the Tokugawa in the 1860s all the way through to the death of Emperor Hirohito and the end of the Showa era in 1989.
Tokugawa Ieyasu founded a dynasty of rulers, organized a system of government and set in train the re-orientation of the religion of Japan so that he would take the premier place in it. Calm, capable and entirely fearless, Ieyasu deliberately brought the opposition to a head and crushed in a decisive battle, after which he made himself Shogun, despite not being from the Minamoto clan. He organized the Japanese legal and educational systems and encouraged trade with Europe (playing off the Protestant powers of Holland and England against Catholic Spain and Portugal). This book remains one of the few volumes on Tokugawa Ieyasu which draws on more material from Japanese sources than quotations from the European documents from his era and is therefore much more accurate and thorough in its examination of the life and legacy of one of the greatest Shoguns.
Shunsuke Tsurumi, one of Japan's most distinguished contemporary philosophers, continues his study of the intellectual and social history of modern Japan with this penetrating analysis of popular culture in the post-war years. Japanese manga (comics), manzai (dialogues), television, advertising and popular songs are the medium for a revealing examination of the many contradictory forces at work beneath the surface of an apparently uniform and universal culture. The author argues that the iconography of these popular forms has deep and significant implication for the development of Japanese national life in the post-growth years that lie ahead.
First published in 1979, prior to the Iran-Iraq war, this important collection of speeches explains some of the strategic foundations of Iraq's foreign and internal policies under the Ba?th Arab Socialist Party. This work concerns itself with aspects varying from advice on youth ? ?Let us win the young to safeguard the future? ?, to speeches on Iraq's diplomatic relations. This fundamental work, concerning a historical and contemporary range of social and foreign affairs in Iraq, will be of considerable value to both political and diplomatic departments, and universities and research organisations involved with the Middle East. It is also of major significance to anyone with an interest in the rise to power of one of the twentieth century's most infamous dictators.
This is an important document in the history of Japanese-American relations. In 2002, President Bush spoke of the great Japanese scholar and statesman Inazo Nitobe, who envisioned a future of friendship between the two nations. This book is one of the means by which Nitobe sought to bridge the Pacific. Writing before World War I, he presents a detailed account of Japan and the Japanese in terms easily understandable to western readers, emphasising points of similarity rather than difference, often citing the work of western historians and philosophers in order to explain Japanese practices, always searching for common aims and goals. He deals with the effect of the past on the present, national characteristics, religious beliefs, morals and moral ideals, education, economic conditions, Japan as coloniser, relations between the United States and Japan, and AmericaaEURO (TM)s influence in the Far East, concluding with the hope that wherever else war may break out, lasting peace would reign over the Pacific. In this he was disappointed, but the fact that Nitobe is cited today as the architect of Japanese-American friendship makes this volume essential reading for the historian.
Bridging African and Arab histories, this book examines the relationship between Islam, nationalism and the evolution of identity politics from late 19th Century to World War II.? It provides a cross-national, cross-regional analysis of religious reform, nationalism, anti-colonialism from Zanzibar to Oman, North Africa and the Middle East. This book widens the scope of modern Arab history by integrating Omani rule in Zanzibar in the historiography of Arab nationalism and Islamic reform.? It examines the intellectual and political ties and networks between Zanzibar, Oman, Algeria, Egypt, Istanbul and the Levant and the ways those links shaped the politics of identity of the Omani elite in Zanzibar.? Out of these connections emerges an Omani intelligentsia strongly tied to the Arab cultural nahda and to movements of Islamic reform, pan-Islamism and pan-Arabism.? The book examines Zanzibari nationalism, as formulated by the Omani intelligentsia, through the prism of these pan-Islamic connections and in the light of Omani responses to British policies in Zanzibar. The author sheds light on Ibadism - an overlooked sect of Islam - and its modern intellectual history and the role of the Omani elite in bridging Ibadism with pan-Islamism and pan-Arabism. Although much has been written about nationalism in the Arab world, this is the first book to discuss nationalism in Zanzibar in the wider context of religious reform and nationalism in the Arab world, and the first to offer a new framework of analysis to the study of pan-Islamic and pan-Arab movements and nationalism.
Asian American War Stories examines contemporary Asian American literature that considers both the short-term and the long-term effects of war, trauma, and displacement on civilians, as well as the ways that individuals seek healing in the face of suffering. Through the works of contemporary writers like Chang-rae Lee, Ocean Vuong, Nora Okja Keller, Julie Otsuka, Lan Cao, and Lawson Inada, this book explores the ways that recent Asian American literature reflects the enduring consequences of America's wars in Asia at the individual and collective levels. The book also considers the journeys that individuals take as they pursue healing of their traumatic wounds.
The first war between China and Japan in 1894/95 was one of the most fateful events, not only in modern Japanese and Chinese history, but in international history as well. The war and subsequent events catapulted Japan on its trajectory toward temporary hegemony in East Asia, whereas China entered a long period of domestic unrest and foreign intervention. Repercussions of these developments can be still felt, especially in the mutual perceptions of Chinese and Japanese people today. However, despite considerable scholarship on Sino-Japanese relations, the perplexing question remains how the Japanese attitude exactly changed after the triumphant victory in 1895 over its former role model and competitor. This book examines the transformation of Japan's attitude toward China up to the time of the Russo-Japanese War (1904/5), when the psychological framework within which future Chinese-Japanese relations worked reached its erstwhile completion. It shows the transformation process through a close reading of sources, a large number of which is introduced to the scholarly discussion for the first time. Zachmann demonstrates how modern Sino-Japanese attitudes were shaped by a multitude of factors, domestic and international, and, in turn, informed Japan's course in international politics. Winner of the JaDe Prize 2010 awarded by the German Foundation for the Promotion of Japanese-German Culture and Science Relations
In this evocative study of the fall of the Mughal Empire and the
beginning of the Raj, award-winning historian William Dalrymple
uses previously undiscovered sources to investigate a pivotal
moment in history.
This edited volume examines the historical development of Chinese-medium schools from the British colonial era to recent decades of divergent development after the 1965 separation of Singapore and Malaysia. Educational institutions have been a crucial state apparatus in shaping the cultural identity and ideology of ethnic Chinese in Singapore and Malaysia. This volume applies various perspectives from education theory to heritage studies in dealing with the cultural legacy and memory of such schools as situated in larger contexts of society. The book offers comprehensive practice-based analysis and reflection about the complex relationships between language acquisition, identity construction, and state formation from socio-political-cultural perspectives. It covers a broad range of aspects from identities of culture, gender, and religion, to the roles played by the state and the community in various aspects of education such as textbooks, cultural activities, and adult education, as well as the representation of culture in Chinese schools through cultural memory and literature. The readership includes academics, students and members of the public interested in the history and society of the Chinese diaspora, especially in South East Asia. This also appeals to scholars interested in a bilingual or multilingual outlook in education as well as diasporic studies.
In early 2005 regional protests in Kyrgyzstan soon became national ones as protesters seized control of the countrya (TM)s capital, Bishkek. The countrya (TM)s president for fifteen years, Askar Akaev, fled the country and after a night of extensive looting, a new president, Kurmanbek Bakiev, came to power. The events quickly earned the epithet a ~Tulip Revolutiona (TM) and were interpreted as the third of the colour revolutions in the post-Soviet space, following Ukraine and Georgia. But did the events in Kyrgyzstan amount to a a ~revolutiona (TM)? How much change followed and with what academic and policy implications? This innovative, unique study of these events brings together a new generation of Kyrgyz scholars together with established international observers to assess what happened in Kyrgyzstan and after, and the wider implications. This book was published as a special issue of Central Asian Survey. |
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