East Asia

The English East India Company was the mother of the modern multinational. Its trading empire encircled the globe, importing Asian luxuries such as spices, textiles, and teas. But it also conquered much of India with its private army and broke open China's markets with opium. The Company's practices shocked its contemporaries and still reverberate today.

Combining research from Asian scholars with his many years of experience living and working in East Asia, Brad directs our attention to Paul's letter to the Romans. He argues that some traditional East Asian cultural values are closer to those of the first-century biblical world than common Western cultural values. In addition, he adds his voice to the scholarship engaging the values of honor and shame in particular and their influence on biblical interpretation.

The key to understanding the calamitous Afghan war is the complex, ultimately failed relationship between the powerful, duplicitous Karzai family and the United States, brilliantly portrayed here by the former Kabul bureau chief for The Washington Post.

Eighteen-year-old Xifeng is beautiful. The stars say she is destined for greatness, that she is meant to be empress of Feng Lu. But only if she embraces the darkness within her. Growing up as a peasant in a forgotten village, Xifeng longs to fulfill the destiny promised to her by her cruel aunt, the witch Guma, who has read the cards and seen glimmers of Xifeng's majestic future. But is the price of the throne too high? Because in order to achieve greatness, she must spurn the young man who loves her and exploit the callous magic that runs through her veins.

Meet Tony: insatiably curious, deeply compassionate, with a unique perspective on every scene he encounters. Kidnapped and transported to the New World after traveling from the British East India Company’s outpost on the Coromandel Coast to the teeming streets of London, young Tony finds himself in Jamestown, Virginia, where he and his fellow indentured servants—boys like himself, men from Africa, a mad woman from London—must work the tobacco plantations. Orphaned and afraid, Tony initially longs for home.

Why do Muslim-majority countries exhibit high levels of authoritarianism and low levels of socioeconomic development in comparison to world averages? Ahmet T. Kuru criticizes explanations that point to Islam as the cause of this disparity, because Muslims were philosophically and socioeconomically more developed than Western Europeans between the 9th and 12th centuries. Nor was Western colonialism the cause: Muslims had already suffered political and socioeconomic problems when colonization began.

Located in the Tarim Basin of Asia during the first few centuries CE, a people and a kingdom grew to prominence in medieval central and east Asian geopolitics. The people are known today as the Tocharians, and their primary kingdom was Kucha, but despite their longevity, this incredible kingdom and its people have been overlooked and misunderstood by modern societies and historians for centuries. The lack of in-depth studies on the Tocharians largely stems from the fact that they are relatively newcomers to the modern academic scene.

On October 25, 1947, the United States government helped the Chinese Nationalist Party, Kuomingtang (KMT) President Chiang Kai-Shek flee the overwhelming communist forces. President Chiang established the new democratic government known as the Republic of China on an island later to be known as Taiwan, previously a major trading center called the “the beautiful isle” or Formosa. This audiobook will not only account for the transformation of Taiwan in the eyes of the colonizers but understand the detrimental impact that the reshaping caused.

Jin Zhara already had enough to worry about—appeasing her stepmother’s cruel whims, looking after her blind younger sister, and keeping her own magical gifts under control—without having to deal with rumors of monsters re-emerging in the marsh. But when a chance encounter with an easily flustered young man named Han brings her into contact with a secret magical liberation organization called the Guardians of Dawn, Zhara realizes there may be more to these rumors than she thought.

Not your typical travelogue. Instead, this book is organized by the nature of the experience the author had while traveling. I am an avid world traveler. I have lived in a variety of international locations, and I have both studied abroad and taught abroad. I have backpacked, camped out, stayed at youth hostels, and now, in my senior years, I have stayed in topnotch hotels and resorts. I have flown standby, and I have flown first class. I have hitchhiked, and I have taken public transportation, slow trains, fast trains, boats, and ships. I cherish my memories. They are solid, like granite, ...

This young listeners edition of the worldwide best seller Three Cups of Tea has been specially adapted for younger listeners and updated by Greg Mortenson to bring his remarkable story of humanitarianism up to date for the present.

READY FOR A ROARING ADVENTURE? HERE YOU ARE!What separates a man from a monster or demon is found in the heart. Step into the mystical realm of ancient China, where a serpent's quest for love and humanity has captivated hearts for centuries. "The Legend of Lady White Snake" is a mesmerizing literary analysis of the iconic myth of Madam White Snake, a powerful and alluring symbol of transformation and devotion. Story lines for game night and an an epic in its own right! Experience the epic romance and martial arts adventure of Lady White Snake like never before! Discover the nine worlds of ...

In early 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy were advancing on all fronts, humiliating Allied forces throughout the Pacific. In a matter of months, Japan had conquered an area larger than Hitler's empire at its apex. Hawaiians and Australians feared a future under Hirohito. The fate of half of mankind was hanging in the balance.

Stunned by the silence of Antarctica, the lively streets of Rio de Janeiro, the grandeur of the Forbidden City in Beijing, and the beauty of the metro stations in Moscow, inveterate traveller Vilas Kale explored the far corners of the world with enthusiasm and great interest. In his younger days he hitchhiked with his cousins across the Middle East and Europe, a trip that fuelled his need to see more, do more, experience more. And even as he found success as an entrepreneur, that spirit of adventure prevailed, taking him on more exciting trips to Africa, Australia, the United States, ...

Folk tales of the Shaolin Temple depict warrior monks with superhuman abilities. Today, dozens of East Asian fighting styles trace their roots back to the Buddhist brawlers of Shaolin, although any quest for the true story soon wanders into a labyrinth of forgeries, secret texts and modern retellings. This new study approaches the martial arts from their origins in military exercises and callisthenics. It examines a rich folklore from old wuxia tales of crime-fighting heroes to modern kung fu movies.

Having spent centuries in the shadows of its neighbors China and Japan, Korea is now the object of considerable interest for radically different reasons - the South as an economic success story and for its vibrant popular culture; the North as the home to one of the world's most repressive regimes, at once both bizarre and menacing. Korea: A Very Short Introduction explores the history, culture, and society of a deeply divided region.

For more than 2,500 years, the forbidding territory of Afghanistan has served as a vital crossroads not only for armies but also for clashes between civilizations. As a result of the United States' engaging in armed conflict with the Afghan regime, an understanding of the military history of that blood-soaked land has become essential to every American.

In this groundbreaking book, renowned scholar Philip Jenkins explores a vast and forgotten network of the world’s largest and most influential Christian churches that existed to the east of the Roman Empire. These churches and their leaders ruled the Middle East for centuries and became the chief administrators and academics in the new Muslim empire. The author recounts the shocking history of how these churches—those that had the closest link to Jesus and the early church—eventually died.

After 38 years of employment, Matthew Lightfoot escaped the confines of corporate life with the intention of travelling the world. Instead of adding to his adventures in 150 countries, he found his movements restricted by the lockdowns imposed in response to the Covid pandemic. Nearly three years after leaving work he finally set forth again to discover whether it's still possible to travel independently and unplanned in a post-Covid world. Whether travelling through Europe in a motorhome, or South East Asia and India by dilapidated buses, overnight trains and slow-boats, the author of the ...

Zakia and Ali were from different tribes, but they grew up on neighboring farms in the hinterlands of Afghanistan. By the time they were young teenagers, Zakia, strikingly beautiful and fiercely opinionated, and Ali, shy and tender, had fallen in love. Defying their families, sectarian differences, cultural conventions, and Afghan civil and Islamic law, they ran away together only to live under constant threat from Zakia's large and vengeful family, who have vowed to kill her to restore the family's honor.