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“The Steppe and Its Empire” by Michael Khodarkovsky
When Ivan the Terrible received the English ambassador Jerome Edward Horsey in 1580, he showed him the Kremlin’s treasury room, full of gifts and tribute from sultans, beys and khans: scimitars, saddles, bridles and quivers, all covered in jewels and nielloed steel. Horsey could imagine he had been transported to Cathay, Tabriz, or Lahore. Viewing…
“Alone in Japan” by Tom Feiling
When Japan was first opened to widespread Western contact in the late 19th century, visitors saw it as a glimpse…
“The Editor” by Jennifer Lindsay
In 1819, Singapore came under the control of the English East India Company, under murky circumstances involving its rivalrous local…
“Exquisite Things and Strange Wonders” by Amir Khusraw Dihlavi
Classical Persian literature offers very few autobiographies. We tend to admire the works of great poets in that tradition, in…
“Guts, Glory and Empire” by Selma Carvalho
Long hidden in private papers is the account of the revolver shots that rang out in Stone Town on an…
“Brokering a Race War: Japanese Americans in the Pacific War and the Occupation of Japan” by Eiichiro Azuma
Historians writing of Japanese Americans (also known as Nisei) in the Second World War have produced more books on their fighting in Europe as soldiers of the US Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) than they have on how the Nisei gathered intelligence and produced propaganda for US civilian agencies and the Army in the…
“Plant Lady” by Minyoung Kang
At first glance, Minyoung Kang’s new book, Plant Lady, might be mistaken for yet another addition to the Korean comfort fiction genre. After all, Shanna Tan has translated Korean novels set in bookshops, laundromats, and photo studios, to name but a few. On the cover of the US edition of Plant Lady, a young woman…
“The Seekers of Deer Creek” by Thao Thai
Inter-War Paris was a mecca for artists from around the world, including East Asia and, in particular, the then French…
“Eyes of the Sky” by Syaman Rapongan
At just 45 square kilometers, Orchid (Lanyu) Island might be tiny but it is a completely different world from nearby…
“Exit 8” by Genki Kawamura
“Do not overlook any anomalies… If you find an anomaly, turn back immediately… If you do not find any anomalies,…
“The Resurrected” by Joost Hiltermann
Joost Hiltermann’s new novel is a powerful exploration of the 1988 Anfal genocide, launched against the Iraqi Kurds by Saddam…
“The Young Die Old” by Nguyễn Bình Phương
The Young Die Old is Nguyễn Bình Phương second novel and was published in 1994 to great acclaim in his homeland where it is considered a modern classic. After having been previously published in French and Korean, it is now also available in English, translated by Khải Q Nguyễn. The novel marks a radical departure…
“Stormy Seas” by Thung-Hong Lin
How can a small democracy resist the influence of a powerful authoritarian neighbor? Taiwan is frequently praised for its successful economic development and peaceful transition to democracy, serving as a…
“From Lab to Life: How AI Works in China” by Collin Hogue-Spears
From Lab to Life: How AI Works in China argues that China built the world’s first governed AI ecosystem, a market in which regulation, commercial capability, and distribution developed together. Since August 2023, China has required consumer-facing generative AI services to clear government filing before…
“Unraveling Threads” by Brenda Lin
A memoir-in-essays that, in its exploration of language, family ties, and Taiwanese history, distills how the handmade holds memory, inheritance, and the work of care-taking. “Tactile memory feels like it…
“Xiong Yanghe: Family, Military Career and Taijiquan Legacy” by Michael A DeMarco
Born in Jiangsu Province in 1889, Xiong Yanghe grew up on his family’s estate. His early decades were marked by warfare among various factions within China and devastating encroachments by…
“The Woven Image” by Yong Cho
East Asia’s Yuan Empire (1271–1368), led by the nomadic Mongol people and Qubilai Khan (1215–1294), was marked by cross-cultural exchange and significant developments in trade, technology, and infrastructure. The Mongol…
“Chitra Demands to Go Home” by Rajendrani Mukhopadhyay
A poignant debut novel that explores mother-son relationships, cross-cultural conversations, and the tribulations of getting older. Chitra Demands to Go Home tells the story of Chitra, a 75-year-old Bengali woman who…
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