This book approaches the concept of tenko (political conversion) as a response to the global crisis of interwar modernity, as opposed to a distinctly Japanese experience in postwar debates. Tenko connotes the expressions of ideological conversion performed by members of the Japanese Communist Party, starting in 1933, whereby they renounced Marxism and expressed support for Japan's imperial expansion on the continent. Although tenko has a significant presence in Japan's postwar intellectual and literary histories, this contributed volume is one of the first in Englishm language scholarship to approach the phenomenon. International perspectives from both established and early career scholars show tenko as inseparable from the global politics of empire, deeply marked by an age of mechanical reproduction, mediatization and the manipulation of language. Chapters draw on a wide range of interdisciplinary methodologies, from political theory and intellectual history to literary studies. In this way, tenko is explored through new conceptual and analytical frameworks, including questions of gender and the role of affect in politics, implications that render the phenomenon distinctly relevant to the contemporary moment. Tenko: Cultures of Political Conversion in Transwar Japan will prove a valuable resource to students and scholars of Japanese and East Asian history, literature and politics.

Cambodian history is Cold War history, asserts Y-Dang Troeung in Refugee Lifeworlds. Constructing a genealogy of the afterlife of the Cold War in Cambodia, Troeung mines historical archives and family anecdotes to illuminate the refugee experience, and the enduring impact of war, genocide, and displacement in the lives of Cambodian people. Troeung, a child of refugees herself, employs a method of autotheory that melds critical theory, autobiography, and textual analysis to examine the work of contemporary artists, filmmakers, and authors. She references a proverb about the Cambodian kapok tree that speaks to the silences, persecutions, and modes of resistance enacted during the Cambodian Genocide, and highlights various literary texts, artworks, and films that seek to document and preserve Cambodian histories nearly extinguished by the Khmer Rouge regime. Addressing the various artistic responses to prisons and camps, issues of trauma, disability, and aphasia, as well as racism and decolonialism, Refugee Lifeworlds repositions Cambodia within the broader transpacific formation of the Cold War. In doing so, Troeung reframes questions of international complicity and responsibility in ways that implicate us all.

A "NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW" EDITORS' CHOICE

A "SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE" BESTSELLER

In AD 70, when the Second Temple was destroyed, a handful of visionaries saved Judaism by reinventing it, taking what had been a national religion and turning it into an idea. Whenever a Jew studied--wherever he was--he would be in the holy city, and his faith preserved. But in our own time, Zionists have turned the book back into a temple, and unlike an idea, a temple can be destroyed. With exuberance, humor, and real scholarship, Israel is Real offers "a serious attempt by a gifted storyteller to enliven and elucidate Jewish religious, cultural, and political history . . . A powerful narrative" ("Los Angeles Times").

This volume of wide-ranging essays by sport historians and sociologists examines the complex relations of war, peace and sport through a series of case studies from South and North America, Europe, North Africa, Asia and New Zealand. From formal military training in the late nineteenth century to contemporary esports, the relationship between military and sporting cultures has endured across nations in times of conflict and peace. This collection contextualizes debates around the morality and desirability of continuing to play sport against the backdrop of war as others are dying for their nation. It also examines the legacy and memory of particular wars as expressed in a range of sporting practices in the immediate aftermath of conflicts such as the World Wars and wars of independence. At the same time, this book analyses the history of sport and peace by considering how sport can operate as a pacification in some contexts and a tool of reconciliation in others. Together, and through an introductory framing essay, these essays offer scholars of sport, conflict studies and cultural history more broadly a multinational analysis of the war-peace-sport nexus that has operated throughout the world since the late nineteenth century.

At the intersection of history, material culture studies, and post-socialist memory studies, Journeys of Soviet Things is an oral history of socialist globalisation constructed around the journeys of Cold War era Soviet objects in India and Cuba. During the Cold War, an important means to perpetuate Soviet ideals of modernisation and anti-imperialist solidarity across the world was the circulation of 'banal' objects, produced in the Soviet Union and purchased, awarded, and gifted for use in homes across the world. Based on oral accounts of Indian and Cuban interlocutors, this book examines the itineraries of Soviet objects such as cars, washing machines, cameras, books, nesting dolls, porcelain, and many other things. Explored this way, the Cold War is a matter of personal, affective, everyday experience. At the same time, by indicating the cohabitation of things in their home from around the world, interlocutors also go on to undercut simple geopolitical binaries that pit Soviet against American techno-politics. Accounts of Soviet objects in India and Cuba reveal a bricolage of preferences that crisscrossed ideological dualities of East vs West, communist vs capitalist, making for an alternative cosmopolitanism that was in equal measure shaped by personal, local, and national histories and experiences. This book will appeal to researchers and students interested in Cold War history, the history of transnational solidarities, and Soviet material culture.

An ambitious asymmetric area control game of tense negotiations and political intrigue.

As the sun rises over the deserts, rivers, and oases of the Caliphate, a delicate balance has been upset. As one of many rival powers in the region, you now have the opportunity to alter the course of history and seize power for yourself. The ambitious Sultan sits in a golden palace, presiding over great works of architecture. The secretive Murshid works to covertly undermine the central authorities through an expansive network of agents. The wandering tribes of the Nomad aim to sow discord in order to secure employment for their experienced mercenary citizenry. The ravaging forces of the Warlord sweep across the land, chasing after promises of plunder. And, in the face of chaos and uncertainty, the Caliph aims to preserve order through military might. Will you successfully navigate this web of rivalries and rise to prominence, or will you squabble with your lesser adversaries and fade into obscurity?

Crescent Moon is an area control game for four or five players. Take on the role of one of five radically asymmetric characters, each with their own objectives to fulfil, unique actions to utilise, and game-changing special powers to employ. Build symbiotic relationships with your allies, undermine your rivals, and choose your friends and enemies wisely in this cut-throat game of power and politics.

Number of players: 4-5
Ages: 14+
Play time: 150-180 minutes
Components: 59 Custom Wooden Pieces, 5 Player Booklets, 82 Cards, 62 Wooden Discs, 16 Hexes, 5 Cloth Bags, 196 Tokens

Reflections on a lost poem and its rediscovery by contemporary poets Gilgamesh is the most ancient long poem known to exist. It is also the newest classic in the canon of world literature. Lost for centuries to the sands of the Middle East but found again in the 1850s, it is a story of monsters, gods, and cataclysms, and of intimate friendship and love. Acclaimed literary historian Michael Schmidt provides a unique meditation on the rediscovery of Gilgamesh, showing how part of its special fascination is its captivating otherness. He reflects on the work of leading poets such as Charles Olson, Louis Zukofsky, and Yusef Komunyakaa, whose own encounters with the poem are revelatory, and he reads its many translations and editions to bring it vividly to life for today's readers.

This volume examines the power relationships between the rulers of the Late Bronze and Iron Age and their subjects in the Levant through the lens of "cultural hegemony". It explores the impact of these foreign powers on all social classes and reconstructs the public presence of cultural control. The book serves to determine the impact of foreign control on the daily lives of those living in the ancient Levant, and offers a means by which to attempt to discuss non-elites in the ancient Near East. It examines expressions of foreign ideology within public performance such as religious expressions and in public places, observable by all social classes, which assert control or dominance over local identity markers. In utilizing textual, epigraphic, and archaeological records, it paints a more complete picture of Levantine society during this time while also drawing upon evidence from neighbouring Anatolia, Egypt, and Mesopotamia. This is a fascinating resource for students and scholars of the ancient Near East, particularly the Levant but also Anatolia, Egypt, and Mesopotamia in the Late Bronze and Iron Age periods. It is also useful for scholars working on power and imperialism across history.

The Indian Ocean world has a rich history of socio-economic and cultural exchanges across time and space. This book and its companion, Merchants and Ports in the Indian Ocean World, explore these connections around the wider Indian Ocean world. The book examines the many overlapping linkages that existed from the early modern period and into the colonial era. It offers a clear understanding of the economic networks that extended across the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic during the 19th century. With a critical historical lens, the volume discusses themes like the opium trade in the Malay-Indonesian Archipelago - the biggest opium trade market at the time; the Safavid mission to Siam; and the economic relationship between Pondicherry and West Africa, via France. Rich in archival material, this book will be of interest for scholars and researchers of Indian Ocean history, maritime history, Indian history, economic and commercial history, South Asian history, and social history, anthropology, and trade relations in general.

This pioneering monograph examines how culture informs popular understandings and experiences of mental health in East Asia, as well as providing resolutions for the future. Questions about mental health problems have gained new urgency as their consequences are growing more visible in East Asia. Yet, our understanding, funding, and evidence has not kept pace. Anson Au explores the social and psychological concepts, and network structures that make up the blueprint of East Asian cultures and untangles their myriad of influences on how people think, feel, and trust with respect to mental health experiences. Chapters explore themes such as cultural beliefs about mental health, the role of social support and social media, and mental health stigma. Drawing on the latest quantitative evidence, network science, and novel qualitative data, this book paints a portrait of mental health in the region and articulates culturally sensitive policies and practices tailored for East Asian cultures that improve mental health experiences.

The book aims to broaden understanding of the diverse positions and meanings of motherhood by investigating understudied and marginalized mothers (rural itinerant, African American, and Irish Catholic American) between 1920 and 1960. Fuelled by anxieties around feminism, a perception of men's loss of status and masculinity, racial tensions, and fears about immigration, "antimaternalism" discourse blamed mothers for a wide range of social ills in the first half of the 20th Century. Mothering, Time, and Antimaternalism considers the ideas, practices, and depictions of antimaternalism, and the ways that mothers responded. Religion, class, race, ethnicity, gender, and immigration status are all analysed as factors shaping maternal experience. The book develops the historical context of American motherhood between 1920 and 1960, examining how changing ideas - scientific motherhood, time efficiency, devaluation of domesticity, racial and religious bias - influenced the construction and experiences of motherhood. This is a fascinating and important book suitable for students and scholars in history, gender studies, cultural studies and sociology.

This book analyses the complexity of South and Southeast Asia in international health, taking into account the impact of the geopolitics of the Cold War on the development of public health and development in the regions. In light of the recent health pandemic, which has mobilized experts and governments and led to a securitized approach to global health, this book offers a regional approach to global health histories. The chapters provide case studies ranging from the Cold War to the present time and covering countries from across South and Southeast Asia. Contributors analyse issues related to disease control, an adjunct to wider Cold War geopolitics. They also examine the responses of regional organizations, particularly the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation), towards COVID-19. Collectively, the book illustrates how narrowly-conceived global health programs implemented by aid agencies failed to account for the local, national or regional contexts. Situating health in South and Southeast Asia in broader global contexts, the book will be a valuable contribution to the History of Medicine and Health and Political Economy of South and Southeast Asia.

Deconstructing the Myths of Islamic Art addresses how researchers can challenge stereotypical notions of Islam and Islamic art while avoiding the creation of new myths and the encouragement of nationalistic and ethnic attitudes. Despite its Orientalist origins, the field of Islamic art has continued to evolve and shape our understanding of the various civilizations of Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. Situated in this field, this book addresses how universities, museums, and other educational institutions can continue to challenge stereotypical or homogeneous notions of Islam and Islamic art. It reviews subtle and overt mythologies through scholarly research, museum collections and exhibitions, classroom perspectives, and artists' initiatives. This collaborative volume addresses a conspicuous and persistent gap in the literature, which can only be filled by recognizing and resolving persistent myths regarding Islamic art from diverse academic and professional perspectives. The book will be of interest to scholars working in art history, museum studies, visual culture, and Middle Eastern studies.

Museums, International Exhibitions and China's Cultural Diplomacy examines the role museums and, more specifically, international exhibitions, have played in shaping China's international image to date. Drawing on theories and methods from museum studies and international relations, the book evaluates the contribution international exhibitions make to China's cultural diplomacy strategy. Considering their impact on the country's international image, Kong also probes the mechanisms and processes involved, examining in detail the policy of, and international activities promoted by, the Chinese government. The book also analyses the motives of the Chinese and overseas museums that host these exhibitions. Taking some major exhibitions that were on show in the UK during the 21st century as a representative case study, the book reveals the mechanisms by which these exhibitions were developed and shared overseas. Questioning who really shapes the image of China, Kong challenges Western assumptions and looks ahead to consider whether, moving forward, the Chinese government and museums could work together in a mutually beneficial way. Museums, International Exhibitions and China's Cultural Diplomacy contributes to the growing literature on museums and diplomacy. As such, it will be of interest to academics and students engaged in the study of museums and heritage, international relations, culture, politics, China and wider Asia.

This is the first full-length history of early Kashmir locating it beyond its regional context, from pre-history to the 13th century. Drawing on a variety of sources - including conventional archaeological and literary sources, as well as non-conventional sources like philology, toponym, surnames - it presents a connected history of early Kashmir over the longue duree. It also challenges tendencies towards nationalist historiographies of the region by situating it in the context of the shared histories of humanity. The volume will be of great interest to scholars and researchers of history, archaeology, and South Asian studies.

'Sabrina Mahfouz is a tidal wave of truth swallowing the banks of empire with a torrent of information which will not be damned' Lemn Sissay 'A bold, brave look at the ways imperialism affects us all, from the universally political to the insightfully intimate' Riz Ahmed 'Impossible to put down while you're reading, and impossible to forget about when you've finished' Glamour Are you not made of Suez silt? How do we know you won't shore our boats by making yourself bigger than we made you? Sabrina Mahfouz once sat in a Whitehall interview room and was interrogated about everything from her political leanings to her private life. It was ostensibly a job interview, but implicit in their demands was the unspoken question: as a woman of Middle Eastern heritage, could she really be trusted? Years later, Sabrina found herself confronting the meaning behind this interrogation, and how it was specifically informed by the British Empire's historical dominance in the Middle East. THESE BODIES OF WATER investigates this history through the Middle Eastern coastlines and waterways that were so vital to the Empire's hold. Interwoven with her own personal experiences, Sabrina combines history, politics, myth and poetry in a devastating examination of this unacknowledged part of Britain's colonial past. Part history, part polemic and part intimate memoir, THESE BODIES OF WATER is a tapestry of writing that tells the story of Britain's relationship with the Middle East in the most revealing terms.

In Monetary Authorities Allan E. S. Lumba explores how the United States used monetary policy and banking systems to justify racial and class hierarchies, enforce capitalist exploitation, and counter movements for decolonization in the American colonial Philippines. Lumba shows that colonial economic experts justified American imperial authority by claiming that Filipinos did not possess the racial capacities to properly manage money. Financial independence, then, became a key metric of racial capitalism by which Filipinos had to prove their ability to self-govern. At the same time, the colonial state used its monetary authority to police the economic activities of colonized subjects and to curb movements for decolonization. It later offered a conditional form of decolonization that left the Philippines reliant on U.S. financial institutions. By showing how imperial governance was entwined with the racialization and regulation of monetary systems in the Philippines, Lumba illuminates a key mechanism through which the United States securitized the imperial world order.

First Published in 1981. Contrary to Chairman Mao's assertion that political power comes from the barrel of a gun, this study contends that political power in China in the early 1920s emanated from the boardrooms of foreign banks. The author's interest in the way financial concerns have shaped foreign policy began with the discovery that the Lloyd George government attempted to influence the American government's policy on the British war debts by offering concessions concerning the renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance. This study should provide understanding concerning the causes of Chinese bitterness as well as suggest the conflicts experienced by diplomats in balancing public and private interests.

This book carries out a comprehensive analysis of the Maria Luz incident, a truly significant episode in Japanese and world history, from a legal perspective. In July 1872, the Maria Luz, a barque flying the Peruvian flag, carried Chinese indentured servants from Macau to Peru. After the ship stopped for repairs in Kanagawa Bay, a number of legal issues arose that were destined to change the perception and use of the law in Japan forever. The case had a tremendous impact on the collective imagination, both Japanese and international: it is one of the first occurrences in which an Asian country decided to resist the pressure of a Western nation, and responded using the most refined tools of domestic and international law. Moreover, the final outcome of the case (arbitration in front of the Czar of Russia) marks the debut of Japan on the stage of international arbitration. While historians have written widely on the subject, the legal importance of this event has been relatively neglected. This book uses the case to explore the technical legal issues Japan was facing in its transition from pre-modernity to modernity. These include unequal treaties, extraterritoriality clauses, the need to establish an updated judicial system, and a delicate balance between asserting sovereignty and resorting to diplomacy in solving disputes involving foreigners. Based on original documents, this book is an invaluable resource for researchers and academics in the fields of legal history, dispute resolution, international law, Japanese history and Asian studies.

Oren re-examines Japan's threat perception during the first two decades of the Cold War, using a wide range of source materials, including many unavailable in English, or only recently declassified. There is a widely shared misconception that during the Cold War the Japanese were largely shielded from threats due to the American military protection, the regional balance of power, Japan's geographical insularity, and domestic aversion to militarism. Oren dispels this, showing how security threats pervaded Japanese strategic thinking in this period. By dispelling this misconception, Oren enables us to more accurately gauge the degree to which Japan's threat perception has evolved during and after the end of the Cold War and to enhance our understanding of Tokyo's strategic calculus in the current situation of rivalry between China and the United States. This book will be of great value to both scholars of Japanese history and contemporary international relations.

This book looks at China's May Fourth Movement and how it has been contextualized in modern Chinese history. Tracing the roots of the movement and of modern Chinese literary and intellectual traditions it analyses how it transformed ideas, culture and social practices in the country. The volume presents a critical in-depth study of the May Fourth Movement from interdisciplinary perspectives. With essays written by scholars and experts from India, China and the West, it discusses concepts and themes such as nationalism; the citizen and revolutionary morality in the late Qing dynasty as well as Lu Xun's struggle with the aporetic temporalities of capitalist modernity; the May Fourth spirit and the Communist Party of China; the birth of the 'New Woman'; and the literature, cinema and art produced during the movement. It also examines how the waves created by the movement in Chinese culture and society continue to influence and shape events and thoughts in contemporary times. This book will be of interest to scholars and researchers of Chinese Studies, Chinese history, Asian Studies, Asian history, Political history, and cultural history.

American Colonial Spaces in the Philippines tells the story of U.S. colonialists who attempted, in the first decades of the twentieth century, to build an enduring American empire in the Philippines through the production of space. From concrete interventions in infrastructure, urban planning, and built environments to more abstract projects of mapping and territorialization, the book traces the efforts of U.S. Insular Government agents to make space for empire in the Philippines through forms of territory, map, landscape, and road, and how these spaces were understood as solutions to problems of colonial rule. Through the lens of space, the book offers an original history of a highly transformative, but largely misunderstood or forgotten, imperial moment, when the Philippine archipelago, made up of thousands of islands and an ethnically and religiously diverse population of more than seven million, became the unlikely primary setting for U.S. experimentation with formal colonial governance. Telling that story around key figures including Cameron Forbes, Daniel Burnham, Dean Worcester, and William Howard Taft, the book provides distinctive chapters dedicated to spaces of territory (sovereignty), maps (knowledge), landscape (aesthetics), and roads (circulation), suggesting new and integrative historical geographical approaches. This book will be of interest to students of Cultural, Historical, and Political Geography, American History, American Studies, Philippine Studies, Southeast Asia/Philippines; Asian Studies as well as general readers interested in these areas.

First Published in 1981. The objective of this study is to reconstruct the difficulty faced by American and British policy-makers in 'determining the capabilities and intentions' of their two main wartime allies regarding the Middle East. Specifically, it seeks to explore the role of great power relations in the Middle East in the breakdown of the wartime alliance and in the origins of the Cold War.