A Short History of Asia : Stone Age to 2000 AD

Rating:
Summary: An easy, informative read
Review: I picked up this book whilst searching for texts for an Asian Studies course I plan to teach this fall. Nolan's treatment is quite sensitive to Asian perspectives, and careful to highlight and correct traditionally held but erroneous beliefs: Gutenberg invented moveable type printing (Koreans did 400 years prior); zero was invented by Arabic mathematicians (they got the idea from Indians). The writing is concise and comprehensive without being exhaustive - I'd almost call it a page-turner. What it lacks in pictures, maps, or graphs it makes up for in tight yet readable text. Of special note are the latter chapters dealing with modern Asia - incredibly understandable and helpful. The only offense I take is the (typical) brief treatment of smaller nations (e.g. Korea, the Philippines), and the space given Japan, China, and India. In fairness, though, Mason DOES go into more detail on the smaller countries than most comparable books, and in 300 pages, to expect more is probably unrealistic. All of you who wish you'd paid more attention during the lectures on Vietnam and China's Cultural Revolution, anyone wanting to know why Southeast Asia is as it is, anyone simply fascinated by the East must read this book.

Rating:
Summary: An easy, informative read
Review: I picked up this book whilst searching for texts for an Asian Studies course I plan to teach this fall. Nolan's treatment is quite sensitive to Asian perspectives, and careful to highlight and correct traditionally held but erroneous beliefs: Gutenberg invented moveable type printing (Koreans did 400 years prior); zero was invented by Arabic mathematicians (they got the idea from Indians). The writing is concise and comprehensive without being exhaustive - I'd almost call it a page-turner. What it lacks in pictures, maps, or graphs it makes up for in tight yet readable text. Of special note are the latter chapters dealing with modern Asia - incredibly understandable and helpful. The only offense I take is the (typical) brief treatment of smaller nations (e.g. Korea, the Philippines), and the space given Japan, China, and India. In fairness, though, Mason DOES go into more detail on the smaller countries than most comparable books, and in 300 pages, to expect more is probably unrealistic. All of you who wish you'd paid more attention during the lectures on Vietnam and China's Cultural Revolution, anyone wanting to know why Southeast Asia is as it is, anyone simply fascinated by the East must read this book.

Rating:
Summary: A great book by a smart guy . . .
Review: The first book anyone should read about Asia

James Bradley Author FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS [e-mail]