Asian Review of Books

A publication of Image Alpha (Holdings) and Paddyfield.com -- 09 September 2010

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winner of the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize

Recent reviews: Recent Asian-themed non-fiction

Pearl Buck in China Journey to the Good Earth by Hilary Spurling
	The much honored biographer unearths the life and work of Nobel Prize winner Pearl Buck, whose novels captured ordinary life in China. Review: the Christian Science Monitor Review: The Asian Review of Books Review: the Independent Review: The Observer Review: the Guardian

Sovereignty at the Edge Macau and the Question of Chineseness by Cathryn H Clayton
	How have conceptions and practices of sovereignty shaped how - Chineseness is imagined? This ethnography addresses this question through... Review: The Asian Review of Books

Kissing the Mask Beauty, Understatement and Femininity in Japanese Noh Theater, with Some Thoughts on Muses (Especially Helga Testorf), by William T Vollmann
	Writing with the extraordinary awareness and endless curiosity that has defined his oeuvre, Vollmann takes an in-depth look into the... Review: The Asian Review of Books Review: the New York Review of Books

Japan Transformed Political Change and Economic Restructuring by Frances McCall Rosenbluth
	With little domestic fanfare and even less attention internationally, Japan has been reinventing itself since the 1990s, dramatically... Review: The Asian Review of Books

Honey Gatherers by Mimlu Sen
	Mimlu Sen is living a bohemian life in Paris when she witnesses an electrifying performance by three wandering minstrels from rural India.... Review: The Asian Review of Books Review: the Independent

Party The Secret World of China's Communist Rulers by Richard McGregor
	Review: The Asian Review of Books Review: the Christian Science Monitor Review: the Economist

Nothing to Envy Ordinary Lives in North Korea by Barbara Demick
	"Nothing to Envy" follows the lives of six North Koreans over 15 years--a chaotic period that saw the unchallenged rise to power of Kim... Review: The Asian Review of Books Review: The Observer Review: the Guardian Review: The Christian Science Monitor

Happy Valley A History and Tour of the Hong Kong Cemetery by Ken Nicolson
	Hong Kong's oldest Western cemetery garden is located in Happy Valley. This history and tour highlights the need for urgent action... Review: The Asian Review of Books

Let Our Fame Be Great Journeys Among the Defiant People of the Caucasus by Oliver Bullough
	Two centuries ago, the Russians pushed out of the cold north towards the Caucasus Mountains, the range that blocked their access to... Review: The Asian Review of Books Review: the Christian Science Monitor Review: The Guardian Review: the Economist Review: The Independent

Delhi Adventures in a Megacity by Sam Miller
	"Delhi" is a travel book with a difference: a beautiful, considered meditation on one man's obsession with this great city. Miller's quest... Review: the Christian Science Monitor

From Fatwa to Jihad The Rushdie Affair and Its Legacy by Kenan Malik
	Examines how the Salman Rushdie affair transformed the debate worldwide on multiculturalism, tolerance and free speech, helped fuel the... Review: the Christian Science Monitor

Faith Misplaced The Broken Promise of U.S.-Arab Relations 1820-2001 by Ussama Makdis
	A dramatic portrait of a defining choice in US foreign policy that sacrificed years of carefully built good relations with the Arab world,... Review: the Christian Science Monitor

Everything is Broken The Untold Story of Life Under Burma's Military Regime by Emma Larkin
	On May 2, 2008, an enormous tropical cyclone made landfall in Burma. This title not only exposes the extent of the damage, but provides a... Review: the Christian Science Monitor Review: The Economist

Every Man in This Village Is a Liar An Education in War by Megan K Stack
	A few weeks after 9/11, Stack, a national correspondent for the "Los Angeles Times," was thrust into Afghanistan and Pakistan. "Every Man... Review: the Christian Science Monitor

Nine Lives In Search of the Sacred in Modern India by William Dalrymple
	From the author of "The Last Mughal" comes a mesmerizing book that explores how traditional religions are observed in today's India,... Review: the Christian Science Monitor Review: The Asian Review of Books Review: The Guardian Review: The Guardian Review: The Independent Review: The Observer

When a Billion Chinese Jump How China Will Save Mankind - or Destroy it by Jonathan Watts
	With foul air, filthy water, rising temperatures and encroaching deserts, China is suffering an environmental disaster. This title presents... Review: The Guardian Review: The Independent

Arabs and the Holocaust The Arab-Israeli War of Narratives by Gilbert Achcar
	Political scientist Achcar delivers an unprecedented and judicious examination of what the Holocaust means--and doesn't mean--in the Arab... Review: The Guardian Review: the Economist Review: the Independent

Inside the Kingdom Kings, Clerics, Modernists, Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia by Robert Lacey
	Journalist and bestselling author Lacey provides a modern history of Saudi Arabia, as told in the Saudis' own words, revealing a people... Review: The Observer Review: the Economist Review: The Economist Review: the Independent

Views expressed by the reviewers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the publication.