East Asian

Helmi’s Shadow tells the sweeping true story of two Russian Jewish refugees, a mother (Rachel Koskin) and her daughter (Helmi). With determination and courage, they survived decades of hardship in the hidden corners of war-torn Asia and then journeyed across the Pacific at the end of the Second World War to become United States citizens after seeking safe harbor in the unlikely western desert town of Reno, Nevada. This compelling narrative is also a memoir, told lovingly by Helmi’s son, David, of growing up under the wings of these strong women in an unusual American family.

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, ...

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, ...

What are the possibilities—and hazards—facing America as it withdraws from Afghanistan and reviews its long engagement in Pakistan? Where is the Taliban now in both of these countries? What does the immediate future hold, and what are America’s choices going forward? These are some of the crucial questions that Ahmed Rashid—Pakistan’s preeminent journalist—takes on in this follow-up to his acclaimed Descent into Chaos.

The destruction of the Armenians of the Ottoman Empire in 1915-16 was the greatest atrocity of World War I. Around one million Armenians were killed, and the survivors were scattered across the world. Although it is now a century old, the issue of what most of the world calls the Armenian Genocide of 1915 is still a live and divisive issue that mobilizes Armenians across the world, shapes the identity and politics of modern Turkey, and has consumed the attention of U.S. politicians for years.

A pioneering exploration of four cities where East meets West and past becomes future: St. Petersburg, Shanghai, Mumbai, and Dubai. Every month, five million people move from the past to the future. Pouring into developing-world “instant cities” like Dubai and Shenzhen, these urban newcomers confront a modern world cobbled together from fragments of a West they have never seen. Do these fantastical boomtowns, where blueprints spring to life overnight on virgin land, represent the dawning of a brave new world? Or is their vaunted newness a mirage?

China, a challenge that looms large, is often depicted as a menacing force to be met with confrontation and containment. In some circles, there is even talk of an inevitable or imminent conflict. The Chinese Communist Party is often cast as a unique axis of evil, a threat to liberal democracies and emerging democracies in Asia and beyond. The Belt and Road Initiative, a sprawling infrastructure project that spans continents, is viewed with suspicion, seen either as a tool for economic subjugation or a pathway to conquest. What if this need not be the case? What if we were to calmly assess, ...

Malala Yousafzai was a girl who loved to learn but was told that girls would no longer be allowed to go to school. She wrote a blog that called attention to what was happening in her beautiful corner of Pakistan and realized that words can bring about change. She has continued to speak out for the right of all children to have an education. In 2014, she won the Nobel Peace Prize.

The coal-mining town of Fushun in China’s Northeast is home to a monstrous open pit. First excavated in the early twentieth century, this pit grew like a widening maw over the ensuing decades, as various Chinese and Japanese states endeavored to unearth Fushun’s purportedly “inexhaustible” carbon resources. Today, the depleted mine that remains is a wondrous and terrifying monument to fantasies of a fossil-fueled future and the technologies mobilized in attempts to turn those developmentalist dreams into reality.

Simple meditation for busy people on-the-go If you are serious about meditation, then here are 20 short and simple meditations conveniently packed into this light, easy-to-carry book so that one can take it everywhere, on-the-go. Reading this right now, perhaps you are now where I was, ready to start looking for different ways to meditate and contemplate. Finding what is right for you by trying different ways. I was there too and now I trust that you too will find your life's purpose through one or more of the simple yet powerful meditation methods I've shared in this book." It’s not ...

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 ...

This is the definitive and singular account of an epic theme park mania that roiled East Asia for three decades. Beginning in the 1990s, Japan, Korea, and China were gripped by a feverish pursuit of theme park grandeur. Over the next 30 years, developers and visionaries across East Asia built, dreamed, and destroyed some of the largest, most fantastical wonderlands ever conceived. Japan: an overview of its theme park mania, which began in the late 1980s in the aftermath of the nation's stock market and property bubble.

How did the Chinese Communist Party begin?

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.

As a National Public Radio reporter covering the last stand of the Taliban in Afghanistan's southern borderland, Sarah Chayes became deeply immersed in the attempt to rebuild a broken nation. With her NPR assignment finished in early 2002, she left reporting to help turn around the country's fortunes, accepting a job running a nonprofit founded by President Hamid Karzai's brother. With remarkable access to leading players in the postwar government, Chayes witnessed a tragic, perverse turn of events.

Retired and residing here over the years in the Philippines I have taken many photographs of the beauty beaches, flowers, as well as the beautiful trees here on the Islands. I wanted to publish a collection of my photos I have taken here to share with my readers. I truly hope you will enjoy my book entitled: The Beauty of the Philippines Panay Island. Blessed be yours truly Garry E. Lewis

People's lives can change by the smallest of circumstances, turning left at an intersection instead of right, sitting beside an unknown person in a crowded lecture hall, filling in at work for a colleague while they go on vacation. My life changed when in my last semester of Graduate study, I saw an ad posted by the Japanese government to come work in the Land of the Rising Sun. The idea was that I'd have a bit of an adventure, make some money, and take the time to consider whether I wanted to get a Doctorate degree or not. Three decades years later, I was still doing it, finding a fertile ...

Among the settlers, slaves, and indentured servants that make the treacherous journey across the Atlantic to the New World in the early 1600s—for some, an exciting opportunity, for others, a brutal abduction—there is also Tony. As a child, his homeland on the Coromandel Coast of India becomes a trading outpost for the English; as an orphaned teenager, he finds himself kidnapped from the streets of London and bound to servitude on a Virginia plantation. But Tony is not giving up on his dreams just yet.

The first rule of warfare is to know one's enemy. The second is to know thyself. More than 15 years and three quarters of a trillion dollars after the US invasion of Afghanistan, it's clear that the United States followed neither rule well. America's goals in Afghanistan were lofty to begin with: dismantle al Qaeda, remove the Taliban from power, and remake the country into a democracy.

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 ...