Temujin's young life was shaped by a series of brutal acts: the betrayal of his father by a neighboring tribe and the abandonment of his entire family, cruelly left to die on the harsh plain. But Temujin endured--and from that moment on, he was driven by a singular fury: to survive in the face of death, to kill before being killed, and to conquer enemies who could come without warning from beyond the horizon.Through a series of courageous raids against the Tartars, Temujin's legend grew. And so did the challenges he faced--from the machinations of a Chinese ambassador to the brutal abduction of his young wife, Borte. Blessed with ferocious courage, it was the young warrior's ability to learn, to imagine, and to judge the hearts of others that propelled him to greater and greater power. Until Temujin was chasing a vision: to unite many tribes into one, to make the earth tremble under the hoofbeats of a thousand warhorses, to subject unknown nations and even empires to his will.

    Set during the tumult of World War II, on the lush Malayan island of Penang, The Gift of Rain tells a riveting and poignant tale about a young man caught in the tangle of wartime loyalties and deceits.

    More than three decades later, he used his research & journalistic skills to shed light on another pivotal moment in our history: the Korean War. He considered The Coldest Winter his most accomplished work, the culmination of 45 years of writing about America's postwar foreign policy. He gives a masterful narrative of the political decisions & miscalculations on both sides. He charts the disastrous path that led to the massive entry of Chinese forces near the Yalu River & that caught Douglas MacArthur & his soldiers by surprise. He provides vivid & nuanced portraits of all the major figures-Eisenhower, Truman, Acheson, Kim, & Mao, & Generals MacArthur, Almond & Ridgway. At the same time, he provides us with his trademark highly evocative narrative journalism, chronicling the crucial battles with reportage of the highest order. As ever, he was concerned with the extraordinary courage & resolve of people asked to bear an extraordinary burden. The Coldest Winter is contemporary history in its most literary & luminescent form, providing crucial perspective on every war America has been involved in since. It's a book that Halberstam first decided to write over 30 years ago that took him nearly a decade to complete. It stands as a lasting testament to one of the greatest journalists & historians of our time, & to the fighting men whose heroism it chronicles.

    A re-creation of one of the key moments of twentieth-century history: the partition and independence of India, and the final days of the Raj.

    I've always wanted to write one but until now have been afraid to do so. The reason is simple enough: most men in my experience have very little idea of what really goes on in a woman's heart or head. Now, at the age of 74, I just might know enough and have sufficient courage to write on the subject - the way of a man with a woman, of a woman with a man.My story is set in the Pacific, although not in the paradise we've always been led to believe exists there. It is 1942 in Java and the Japanese are invading the islands like a swarm of locusts.I have tried to capture the essence of love - how in a world gone mad with malice and hate, it has the ability to forgive and to heal. As it is in this story, love is always hard earned but, in the end, a most wonderful and necessary emotion. Without love, life for most of us would lack true meaning.Sincerely,Bryce Courtenay

    It flows three thousand miles from east to west, passing through the factory towns of the coastal areas, through the rural heart of China, then up into the Gobi Desert, where it merges with the Old Silk Road. The highway witnesses every part of the social and economic revolution that is turning China upside down.In this utterly surprising and deeply personal book, acclaimed National Public Radio reporter Rob Gifford, a fluent Mandarin speaker, takes the dramatic journey along Route 312 from its start in the boomtown of Shanghai to its end on the border with Kazakhstan. Gifford reveals the rich mosaic of modern Chinese life in all its contradictions, as he poses the crucial questions that all of us are asking about China: Will it really be the next global superpower? Is it as solid and as powerful as it looks from the outside? And who are the ordinary Chinese people, to whom the twenty-first century is supposed to belong? Gifford is not alone on his journey. The largest migration in human history is taking place along highways such as Route 312, as tens of millions of people leave their homes in search of work. He sees signs of the booming urban economy everywhere, but he also uncovers many of the country’s frailties, and some of the deep-seated problems that could derail China’s rise. The whole compelling adventure is told through the cast of colorful characters Gifford meets: garrulous talk-show hosts and ambitious yuppies, impoverished peasants and tragic prostitutes, cell-phone salesmen, AIDS patients, and Tibetan monks. He rides with members of a Shanghai jeep club, hitchhikes across the Gobi desert, and sings karaoke with migrant workers at truck stops along the way.As he recounts his travels along Route 312, Rob Gifford gives a face to what has historically, for Westerners, been a faceless country and breathes life into a nation that is so often reduced to economic statistics. Finally, he sounds a warning that all is not well in the Chinese heartlands, that serious problems lie ahead, and that the future of the West has become inextricably linked with the fate of 1.3 billion Chinese people.“Informative, delightful, and powerfully moving . . . Rob Gifford’s acute powers of observation, his sense of humor and adventure, and his determination to explore the wrenching dilemmas of China’s explosive development open readers’ eyes and reward their minds.” –Robert A. Kapp, president, U.S.-China Business Council, 1994-2004

    Brian and Louise meet during their college days at Cal Poly State University in San Luis Obispo and embark on a pursuit of a calling to the nations that propels them from the Navajo Nation's painted desert in Arizona to the wild steppes of Central Asia. Along their way five children join the cross-cultural roller coaster. Disarmingly honest and charmingly humorous, their tale will thrill you and bring tears to your eyes. An intensely personal memoir, this book still manages to pack a powerful dose of missionary insight and Biblical principles for seeing the Church explode into life among peoples that have never even heard of Jesus. Get comfortable. You will not be able to put it down.From the very first page this book jerks you irretrievably into the outrageous, the uproarious and the impossible to imagine. It has got to be one of the most absolutely fascinating tales to ever prove that the truth is stranger than fiction. Nevertheless, it throbs with a sobering and relentless sense of calling and purpose that is truly inspiring. --- the late Dr. Ralph D. Winter, Founder, U.S. Center for World MissionI wept, laughed and was stirred by this book. I love a good story, and this is a really good one! You won't be able to put it down! --- Floyd McClung., author of Living on the Devil's DoorstepBrian Hogan's apostolic passion shines through with an incredible combination of raw honesty and witty humor. A gripping real-life parable unfolds that will have you laughing, weeping and rejoicing at the amazing testimony of God's grace and power revealed through ordinary people facing extra-ordinary obstacles. I wholeheartedly recommend this book as it not only tells an amazing story, but also becomes a discipleship tool that reveals to us a whole new paradigm of church and missions. --- David Broodryk, Kingdom People Network, South AfricaIf you want a radically cross-cultural journey without leaving your favorite easy chair - this book is your ticket. If you desire to plant churches that reproduce among the least reached - this is your training manual wrapped up in a most delightful, brawny and instructive story-box! I laughed - I cried - and wrestled through the realities of what it means to leave the easy chair and watch God prove Himself faithful - accomplishing His dreams for a people through one ordinary and obedient family. Brian Hogan is courageous, practical and real. Focused in the same direction for many years, he is a pioneer, church planter, mentor and model. His journey is a challenge to all those who want to be used by God. Brian's thinking will stretch and grow you; his passion and lifestyle will confront every comfortable corner of your life. There's a Sheep in my Bathtub will be top on the reading list for those I train. --- Carol Davis, director of LeafLine InitiativesBrian Hogan's Erdenet-story had been told to me a number of times as a real and astonishing exception and a true, powerful secret. I am thrilled to see it in print. Brian experienced church history in the making in 1993-1996. May his insights multiply like an epidemic and grip an entire new generation of an apostolic people, so that this planet will never remain the same. --- Wolfgang Simson, author of Houses that Change the World & The Starfish Manifesto

    Growing up a ninety-pound weakling tormented by bullies in the schoolyards of Kansas, young Matthew Polly dreamed of one day journeying to the Shaolin Temple in China to become the toughest fighter in the world, like Caine in his favorite 1970s TV series, Kung Fu. While in college, Matthew decided the time had come to pursue this quixotic dream before it was too late. Much to the dismay of his parents, he dropped out of Princeton to spend two years training with the legendary sect of monks who invented kung fu and Zen Buddhism.Expecting to find an isolated citadel populated by supernatural ascetics that he’d seen in countless badly dubbed chop-socky flicks, Matthew instead discovered a tacky tourist trap run by Communist party hacks. But the dedicated monks still trained in the rigorous age-old fighting forms—some even practicing the “iron kung fu” discipline, in which intensive training can make various body parts virtually indestructible (even the crotch). As Matthew grew in his knowledge of China and kung fu skill, he would come to represent the Temple in challenge matches and international competitions, and ultimately the monks would accept their new American initiate as close to one of their own as any Westerner had ever become.Laced with humor and illuminated by cultural insight, American Shaolin is an unforgettable coming-of-age tale of one young man’s journey into the ancient art of kung fu—and a funny and poignant portrait of a rapidly changing China.

    Their culture is filled with music, dance, family, and love of tradition passed down by storytelling through the ages.For millennia, they have survived clashes in the shadow of China, Russia, and Central Asia. Rebiya Kadeer’s courage, intellect, morality, and sacrifice give hope to the nearly eleven million Uyghurs worldwide on whose behalf she speaks as an indomitable world leader for the freedom of her people and the sovereignty of her nation.Her life story is one of legends: as a refugee child, as a poor housewife, as a multimillionaire, as a high official in China’s National People’s Congress, as a political prisoner in solitary confinement for two of nearly six years in jail, and now as a political dissident living in Washington, DC, exiled from her own land.

    Ten years later, Huo is now a beautiful young woman, who could not forget the boy she saved. However, the emperor has long forgotten Huo, and with a new love in his life, Xu Pingjun. The heartbroken Huo later meets a handsome Meng Jue, only later to find herself embroiled in a power struggles within the imperial palace

    'Burma Chronicles' presents a personal and distinctively humorous glimpse into a political hotspot, putting a popular spin on current affairs.

    Then a travel agent convinced him to spend his vacation in India. Amazed by what he saw in the land of sacred cows and shocking poverty, Jaume was transformed.That experience lead him to reconsider the world he lived in and caused him to think that he might do something to make it a little better. He devoted himself to helping a small orphanage in Bombay, one that was about to close its doors and send its forty children back to the streets (and the brothels) from which they had been rescued. Jaume seized the moment, determined not to let that happen. As a consequence, he changed his life, and much more as well.In Bombay Smiles, Jaume Sanllorente gives us an insightful and loving vision of a country of great contrasts. He reveals that the secret of his own happiness is in seeking happiness for others.Bombay Smiles is a story of loneliness, ransoms, dangers, injustices, threats of death, and acts of courage, which give an example to follow in spite of the adversities one might meet. It is a lesson of wise love, surrender, sacrifice, and hope, which invites us to start on the path toward a better world.Jaume Sanllorente was born in 1976 in Barcelona, Spain. His nonprofit organization, Bombay Smiles, provides schools, homes, and health care to thousands of children in India.

    His simple, restrained and user-friendly products appeal to people's shared experience of things. The wall-mounted CD player he designed for MUJI in 1999, based on the image of a kitchen fan, was selected into MoMA's design collection in 2005The book is the first survey on Fukasawa's work to be published in English. Edited by Fukasawa himself, and with contributions by artists, designers and lecturers, such as Antony Gormley and Jasper Morrison, the book introduces the reader to the designer's particular and innovative design approach. Illustrated with newly commissioned photography, the book showcases over 100 products, which Fukasawa elucidates with a clever combination of images and words

    Taught to play the piano by her mother, she developed quickly into a prodigy, immersing herself in the work of classical masters like Bach and Brahms. She was just ten years old when she began a rigorous course of study at the Beijing Conservatory, laying the groundwork for what was sure to be an extraordinary career. But in 1966, when Xiao-Mei was seventeen, the Cultural Revolution began, and life as she knew it changed forever. One by one, her family members were scattered, sentenced to prison or labor camps. By 1969, the art schools had closed, and Xiao-Mei was on her way to a work camp in Mongolia, where she would spend the next five years. Life in the camp was nearly unbearable, thanks to horrific living conditions and intensive brainwashing campaigns. Yet through it all Xiao-Mei clung to her passion for music and her sense of humor. And when the Revolution ended, it was the piano that helped her to heal. Heartbreaking and heartwarming, The Secret Piano is the incredible true story of one woman’s survival in the face of unbelievable odds—and in pursuit of a powerful dream.

    Accompanied by her 74-year-old husband Bill and two camels, Tom and Jerry, Thayer walked 1600 miles in 126-degree temperatures, battling fierce sandstorms, dehydration, dangerous drug smugglers, and ubiquitous scorpions. For more than 60 days Helen struggled to keep moving through this inhospitable terrain despite a severe leg injury. Without sponsors, a support team, or radio contact, hers is a journey of pure discovery and adventure. Walking the Gobi takes readers on a trip through a little-known landscape and introduces them to the culture of the nomadic people whose ancestors have eked out an existence in the Gobi for thousands of years. Thayer's respect and admiration for the culture of Gobi and her gentle weaving of natural history shine throughout this remarkable story. The author proves that Baby Boomers don't have to take life lying down-their adventures have just begun.

    Structured according to the seasonal units of an ancient Chinese almanac, East Wind Melts the Ice is made up of 72 short chapters that can be read straight through or dipped into at random. In the essays, Dalby transports us from her Berkeley garden to the streets of Kyoto, to Imperial China, to the sea cliffs of Northern California, and to points beyond. Throughout these journeys, Dalby weaves her memories of living in Japan and becoming the first and only non-Japanese geisha, her observations on the recurring phenomena of the natural world, and meditations on the cultural aesthetics of Japan, China, and California. She illuminates everyday life as well, in stories of keeping a pet butterfly, roasting rice cakes with her children, watching whales, and pampering worms to make compost. In the manner of the Japanese personal poetic essay, this vibrant work comprises 72 windows on a life lived between cultures, and the result is a wonderfully engaging read.

    Kenny Fields draws on Air Force radio logs, after-action reports, and extensive interviews to tell his story of being shot down over Vietnam and the 40 hour rescue attempt that followed.

    As the poor became their neighbours and their friends, a distinctive ministry began to emerge. Project HALO has transformed the lives of hundreds of children affected by AIDS, and empowered the poor to care for their own orphans.

    Both historically vital and hilarious, Beirut Won’t Cry introduces Mazen Kerbaj’s unique voice and urgent pen to an American audience for the very first time, teaching readers how to carry on and resist in times of war and oppression.

    The book includes sixty-eight clearly marked Vegan recipes, a complete list of spices, legumes, beans, and the pots and pans you need to start cooking, and a pantry list for beginners and another one for more committed and experienced cooks in a format that you can take right to the store with you. The most special and unique feature of this book is the TLC tips-little shortcuts and secrets that will make your cooking easier, yet delicious. From Mom with Love is often the top seller at Amazon in Indian books and in the top two or three in Asian cooking, and is frequently in the top ten at Amazon in the Entertaining and Special Occasion Cooking Categories.

    Using designs borrowed from a rich decorative arts heritage, and often incorporating traditional kimono fabrics, Japanese quilters have developed a distinctive style based on unusual motifs and striking color combinations. With Japanese Quilted Blocks to Mix and Match, any quilter can create exquisite and unique works of patchwork art in the Japanese tradition.The book presents more than 125 different block patterns, each with complete instructions and a color photograph, representing a variety of pattern sources: kamon (family crests), Hakone yosegi (parquetry) and traditional textiles, such as kasuri weave. Each 9-inch block includes a full cutting guide and fabric palette; suggestions for use, either mixing and matching or adapting to an all-over design; and icons indicating techniques and skill level. The blocks on each spread are related in design and technique.In addition to the Block Directory, Japanese Quilted Blocks to Mix and Match features an Inspiration Gallery, showcasing examples of finished quilts from leading quilters. Using these examples, author Susan Briscoe explores such topics as color ideas from traditional Japanese textiles and quilts, motifs, and recommendations for combining fabric patterns and block designs. An extensive section on technique, as well as several pages about the fabrics themselves and a listing of suppliers and organizations make this volume as practical and informative as it is beautiful.

    Kiwako is an ordinary office worker, in love with a married man, until an unwanted abortion causes her to snap. She kidnaps her lover's six-month-old baby and runs away with her, eventually taking refuge in an all-female religious commune. Here, she attempts to raise the girl.Fifteen years later, the child, Elena, is an adult contending with the difficulties of returning to her "natural family," made up of a mother who doesn't come home, an alcoholic father, and siblings with whom she can't connect.Mitsuyo Kakuta's powerful second novel in English is a sympathetic portrait of two women brought together by tragedy, each struggling to determine her own destiny. Told in the voices of both the kidnapper and her victim, this compelling exploration of the nature of motherhood and family was a critical and popular success in Japan. Now, Margaret Mitsutani's top-notch translation will enable an even greater number of readers to enjoy the work of one of today's outstanding writers.

    "Every day of your lives, you must always be sure what you're fighting for." It is Tokyo in 1939. On the Street of a Thousand Blossoms, two orphaned brothers are growing up with their loving grandparents, who inspire them to dream of a future firmly rooted in tradition. The older boy, Hiroshi, shows unusual skill at the national obsession of sumo wrestling, while Kenji is fascinated by the art of creating hard-carved masks for actors in the Noh theater.Across town, a renowned sumo master, Sho Tanaka, lives with his wife and their two young daughters: the delicate, daydreaming Aki and her independent sister, Haru. Life seems full of promise as Kenji begins an informal apprenticeship with the most famous mask-maker in Japan and Hiroshi receives a coveted invitation to train with Tanaka. But then Pearl Harbor changes everything. As the ripples of war spread to both families' quiet neighborhoods, all of the generations must put their dreams on hold---and then find their way in a new Japan.In an exquisitely moving story that spans almost thirty years, Gail Tsukiyama draws us irresistibly into the world of the brothers and the women who love them. It is a world of tradition and change, of heartbreaking loss and surprising hope, and of the impact of events beyond their control on ordinary, decent men and women. Above all, The Street of a Thousand Blossoms is a masterpiece about love and family from a glorious storyteller at the height of her powers.

    In THE SEVENTH DAUGHTER, Chiang presents a classic collection of recipes framed by her gripping life's story. Beginning with her account of a privileged childhood in 1920s and 1930s Beijing, Chiang chronicles a 1,000-mile trek on foot in the wake of the Japanese occupation, her arrival in San Francisco, and her transformation from accidental restaurateur to culinary pioneer. The book's recipes feature cherished childhood dishes and definitive Mandarin classics, while showcasing Cecilia's purist approach to authentic Chinese home cooking.   • The signature recipes and extraordinary story of Cecilia Chiang, the grande dame of Chinese cooking in America.    • Includes more than 80 recipes, 20 full-color styled food photographs, and archival photography from Chiang's private collection.    • Recipes feature in-depth notes on sourcing ingredients and tips on simplifying the recipes.    • Features menus for putting together Chinese banquets and dinners at home.

    Through original poetry, vignettes, essays, first-hand narratives, interviews, and drawings, 22 contributors cover topics such as the factors that led to their incarceration, the cruelty that occurs in prisons and immigration detention j ails, and the harsh reality of deportation that awaits many API prisoners. By offering readers a glimpse into their innermost fears, regrets, and dreams, these prisoners contribute an important voice to our societyas discussion around race, immigration, and prison issues.

    Asian American Studies. Translated from the Korean by Ji yoon Lee, Don Mee Choi and Johannes Goransson. "Kim Yi-Deum's poetry is the landscape of confession. The confession flows inside the landscape and the landscape soars inside the confession. These two elements of her poetry are interconnected in the way eros gets pulled up to the divine place. Her poetry appears as poetry, it also appears as prose. As poetry, it's polyphonic, and as prose, it's defiant. Her poetry is the theater of multiple personality. You hear the voices of hundreds of people, hundreds of things. These naked living things become her poetic subjects. In each poem, the different sensations of each body are invented. She punishes herself and accepts her own unsightly, gutless face. Her poetry is engaged in the difficult process of discovering the other inside her. Her rhythm, which emerges from the fishnet of interconnections, bites power and sets her free." Kim Hyesoon"

    Translated by Keith Holyoak, this volume includes an introduction to the poets and their work, plus a bibliography. Holyoak's translations capture the essential beauty of the poets’ language, while retaining key elements of the structure of the original poems, including their metric form and rhyme scheme. The poems transport the reader back to the Tang dynasty of 8th-century China, while at the same time conveying timeless insights into the human condition that remain as relevant today as they were centuries ago.

    Likewise, it is said that Buddhist teachings are the raft that takes us there.In this sparkling collection from one of the most vital teachers of modern Korean Buddhism, Zen Master Daehaeng shows us that there is no raft to find and, truly, no river to cross. She extends her hand to the Western reader, beckoning each of us into the unfailing wisdom accessible right now, the enlightenment that is always, already, right here.A Zen (or seon, as Korean Zen is called) master with impeccable credentials, Daehaeng has developed a refreshing approach; No River to Cross is surprisingly personal. It's disarmingly simple, yet remarkably profound, pointing us again and again to our foundation, our "True Nature" - the perfection of things just as they are.

    I would never let desire overwhelm common sense. I would never sleep with a man who was married to someone else, mime fellatio with a complete stranger on a stage, or take money for sex again. In fact, to cover all bases, I would never have sex again with anyone, man or woman, for the rest of my life. For a sum much smaller than a plane ticket an American woman can travel to a rustic hot-spring inn where anything goes after midnight, don the gorgeous kimono of a Japanese bride, romp in the dungeon rooms of tacky love hotels, act out an orgy straight from manga porn, and slip inside Kyoto’s most exclusive restaurants for exquisite dinners of seduction. The Amorous Woman experiences almost every flavor of erotic pleasure Japan has to offer—and she’s happy to take you along for the ride. Inspired by Ihara Saikaku’s 17th-century satiric novel of the pleasure quarters, this story of an American woman’s love affair with Japan—and many sexy men and women along the way—gives readers a chance to journey to a Japan few tourists ever see.

     With splashes of color and dramatic detail, a boy named Ping decorates his home with paintings of dragons. While they seem to be a proclamation of his love for dragons, they are actually an expression of his deepest fear. The Heavenly Dragon visits Ping after being impressed with the boy's outward declaration of love and respect for dragons and presents the boy with three pearls of wisdom. With bold and expansive illustrations that sweep across the pages, Demi's triumphant tale proves that the greatest fear of fear itself is one that can be conquered with truth and bravery.

    Visitors to an emerald-green island off the coast of Mumbai are reminded of these dramatic episodes by the work of skilful, dedicated sculptors, who lived more than 1,300 years ago! Their carvings have survived in the caves of Elephanta, despite the ravages of time and vandals and destroying armies.

    Drawing from interviews, statistical analysis, and archival research, this book is the first to develop a framework with which to analyze how elite politics impact both monetary and banking policies. This book serves as an important reference point for all subsequent work on Chinese banking.

    Each section introduces a new stitching technique, guiding the reader through the temari repertoire, until he/she has become a temari master by the book's conclusion. These crafts are inexpensive and fast to make—half of the 26 designs can be completed in less than two hours each. Sidebars throughout the book are loaded with beautiful watercolors and notes on Japanese culture and poetry, and colorful pictures and rich text make this unique craft book appealing to buyers both as a how-to guide and as a beautiful gift book.

    But outsiders, blocked by the closed Soviet system, couldn’t get to it. Then the Soviet Union collapsed, and a wholesale rush into the region erupted. Along with oilmen, representatives of the world’s leading nations flocked to the Caspian for a share of the thirty billion barrels of proven oil reserves at stake, and a tense geopolitical struggle began. The main players were Moscow and Washington–the former seeking to retain control of its satellite states, and the latter intent on dislodging Russia to the benefit of the West. The Oil and the Glory is the gripping account of this latest phase in the epochal struggle for control of the earth’s “black gold.” Steve LeVine, who was based in the region for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Newsweek, weaves an astonishing tale of high-stakes political gamesmanship, greed, and scandal, set in one of the most opaque corners of the world. In LeVine’s telling, the world’s energy giants jockey for position in the rich Kazakh and Azeri oilfields, while superpowers seek to gain a strategic foothold in the region and to keep each other in check. At the heart of the story is the contest to build and operate energy pipelines out of the landlocked region, the key to controlling the Caspian and its oil. The oil pipeline that resulted, the longest in the world, is among Washington’s greatest foreign policy triumphs in at least a decade and a half. Along the way, LeVine introduces such players as James Giffen, an American moneyman who was also the political “fixer” for oil companies eager to do business on the Caspian and the broker for Kazakhstan’s president and ministers; John Deuss, the flamboyant Dutch oil trader who won big but lost even bigger; Heydar Aliyev, the oft-misunderstood Azeri president who transcended his past as a Soviet Politburo member and masterminded a scheme to loosen Russian control over its former colonies in the Caspian region; and all manner of rogues, adventurers, and others drawn by the irresistible pull of untold riches and the possible “final frontier” of the fossil-fuel era. The broader story is of the geopolitical questions of the Caspian oil bonanza, such as whether Russia can be a trusted ally and trading partner with the West, and what Washington’s entry into this important but chaotic region will mean for its long-term stability.In an intense and suspenseful narrative, The Oil and the Glory is the definitive chronicle of events that are understood by few, but whose political and economic impact will be both profound and lasting."The collapse of the Soviet Union was a big opportunity for Big Oil, whose exploits are detailed in this fast-paced work of political and economic reportage by Wall Street Journal energy correspondent LeVine.Westerners had been sniffing for black gold in Russia and its satellites long before the empire disintegrated, notes the author. Averell Harriman, “the Harvard-trained scion of nineteenth-century robber baron Edward Harriman,” tried his hand at the business before turning to manganese mining, while Armand Hammer “became a money launderer for the Bolsheviks, sneaked cash to secret Bolshevik agents in the United States, and profited handsomely as the representative in Russia of some thirty American companies.” Hammer set the tone for the Americans who flocked to the Caspian in the first years of the Clinton presidency, which maneuvered for the construction of an east-west oil pipeline that, by reversing the old pattern of Central Asian materials going north to Russia and coming back as products for sale, “would favor the West and disfavor Russia.” Not a nice way to treat a fledgling democracy, but the oil scouts, of course, considered Russia a rival for Central-Asian resources second only to Iran, with its heartfelt and long-standing enmity toward the United States in the region and abroad. These scouts–the first among equals being LeVine’s heart-of-darkness antihero, Jim Giffen–kept their distance when Russia still had control over the area, spurning a Gorbachev-era program to allow foreign co-ownership. But they rushed to support separatist movements and encouraged ethnic and political divisions that opened the door to an even bigger share of the wealth. The tale of Giffen’s rise and fall (the latter for perhaps surprising reasons) occupies much of the later pages, but he never loses sight of the bigger picture: namely, Central Asia as oil lamp and potential powder keg in the realpolitik of the next few years.A complex story rendered comprehensible, with much drama and intrigue."--KIRKUS

    Based on remarkable fieldwork and extensive interviews in Chinese textile, apparel, machinery, and household appliance factories, Against the Law finds a rising tide of labor unrest mostly hidden from the world's attention. Providing a broad political and economic analysis of this labor struggle together with fine-grained ethnographic detail, the book portrays the Chinese working class as workers' stories unfold in bankrupt state factories and global sweatshops, in crowded dormitories and remote villages, at street protests as well as in quiet disenchantment with the corrupt officialdom and the fledgling legal system.

    In six short lessons of about twenty minutes, each of the two systems of "kana" writing are introduced in such a way that the absolute beginner can acquire fluency in writing in a fraction of the time normally devoted to the task.Using the same basic self-taught method devised for learning the kanji, and in collaboration with Helmut Morsbach and Kazue Kurebayashi, the author breaks the shapes of the two syllabaries into their component parts and draws on what he calls "imaginative memory" to aid the student in reassembling them into images that fix the sound of each particular kana to its writing.Now in its third edition, Remembering the Kana has helped tens of thousands of students of Japanese master the Hiragana and Katakana in a short amount of time . . . and have fun in the process.

    During this period, dramatically different policies were enacted in the colonies: in Southwest Africa, German troops carried out a brutal slaughter of the Herero people; in Samoa, authorities pursued a paternalistic defense of native culture; in Qingdao, China, policy veered between harsh racism and cultural exchange.Why did the same colonizing power act in such differing ways? In The Devil’s Handwriting, George Steinmetz tackles this question through a brilliant cross-cultural analysis of German colonialism, leading to a new conceptualization of the colonial state and postcolonial theory. Steinmetz uncovers the roots of colonial behavior in precolonial European ethnographies, where the Hereros were portrayed as cruel and inhuman, the Samoans were idealized as “noble savages,” and depictions of Chinese culture were mixed. The effects of status competition among colonial officials, colonizers’ identification with their subjects, and the different strategies of cooperation and resistance offered by the colonized are also scrutinized in this deeply nuanced and ambitious comparative history.

    Populated since prehistoric times, thus making it one of the most dynamic areas of Islamic civilization, this region was home to the world’s first powerful empire (lead by Cyrus the Great during the Achaemenid dynasty) and has influenced the aesthetic grammar of a large portion of central Asia, including Armenia, Georgia, and India.From the ancient Iranian civilizations in 500 BC, through the Islamic period, and on to modern-day Iran, Iran: The Art and Architecture of Persia explores the common characteristics and thematic threads running through Persian art. Iran presents its readers with archaeological landscapes, monuments, sculptures, carpets, and dazzling ornaments and art objects from this stunning artistic milieu. The text takes as it subject the most fascinating and unusual facets of the Persian artistic experience, with a particular focus on post-Hellenic culture, namely late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Iran investigates how the examined regions were hothouses of specific artistic developments and identifies how the Iranian passage along the Silk Route acted as a bridge between distant lands for trade as well as the dissemination of religious and material culture.The two authors, Gianroberto Scarcia and Giovanni Curatola, write in an engaging, refreshingly accessible manner, catering both to specialists and to novices wishing to immerse themselves in this captivating region and its art. Author Scarcia writes the first part of the book, covering the era from the Achaemenids to the Sassanids and examining the great architecture from Persepolis onward while also addressing the powerful metalwork produced by these cultures. The second part, by Curatola, explores the Islamic period, when architectural decoration moved into the forefront with brilliant chromatic effects etched onto massive built works. The same colors bloom throughout the other arts, including carpets and miniature paintings. Dynamic and absorbing, Iran and its over 200 color photos will take readers on a virtual tour of this region and the art it has produced over the centuries.

    Whether it is the historical expulsion of the Chinese or the cultivation of silk worms, this volume speaks to the exceptional moments and everyday realities of women's lives, of love and war, work in the fields and cities, life in their homeland and abroad.

    Written by Anthony Penrose, son of American photographer and feminist icon Lee Miller and British artist Roland Penrose, this work provides a personal insight into their life together at Farley Farm, Sussex where they played host to some of the greatest 20th-century artists.

    Dealing with themes of love, passion and mysticism, the versions presented in this book are the first sustained offerings of Attar s lyric poetry in English. Award-winning Iranian-born poet, Ali Alizadeh, and Persian specialist, Kenneth Avery, have collaborated on this project which aims to bring this remarkably vigorous yet subtle poetry to an English reading audience. The translations are accompanied by the Persian texts themselves, and explanatory notes, and are set in the context of his life and times by an illuminating introductory chapter. An original analysis of Attar s poetic language and thought is also offered. Attar, who lived in Nishapur until his death in 1220, was a complex personality, a brilliant storyteller and poet in both lyric and epic forms, and a creative and original Sufi thinker. His ideas range over the whole spectrum of Persian mysticism and religious philosophy, and his writing paved the way for the triumphs of Rumi and Hafiz. His ideas and exquisite verse deserve a wider circulation than has been accorded them until now, and this book seeks to present his poetry in an attractive way.

    The practice was promoted by senior Communist Party leaders as a uniquely Chinese healing tradition and as a harbinger of a new scientific revolution, yet the movement's mass popularity and the almost religious devotion of its followers led to its ruthless suppression.In this absorbing and revealing book, David A. Palmer relies on a combination of historical, anthropological, and sociological perspectives to describe the spread of the qigong craze and its reflection of key trends that have shaped China since 1949, including the search for a national identity and an emphasis on the absolute authority of science. Qigong offered the promise of an all-powerful technology of the body rooted in the mysteries of Chinese culture. However, after 1995 the scientific underpinnings of qigong came under attack, its leaders were denounced as charlatans, and its networks of followers, notably Falungong, were suppressed as "evil cults."According to Palmer, the success of the movement proves that a hugely important religious dimension not only survived under the CCP but was actively fostered, if not created, by high-ranking party members. Tracing the complex relationships among the masters, officials, scientists, practitioners, and ideologues involved in qigong, Palmer opens a fascinating window on the transformation of Chinese tradition as it evolved along with the Chinese state. As he brilliantly demonstrates, the rise and collapse of the qigong movement is key to understanding the politics and culture of post-Mao society.

    This lavishly illustrated volume features the work of eminent Russian anthropologist Claudia Antipina, who died in 1996 at the age of 92. Antipina was one of only a small number of Russian anthropologists who devoted their lives to research among the nomadic Kyrgyz, and she herself lived most of her life in Kyrgyzstan. The costumes and documentation in this volume represent a substantial body of research collected by Antipina during the years of her life in Kyrgyzstan, and have never before been published. The book is illustrated with the watercolor images by Temirbek Musakeev and the photographs of French/Argentinean photographer Rolando Paiva.

    . . . May concludes this definitive study by tracing the Mongol legacy to modern mechanized warfare."—Publishers Weekly"They razed cities to the ground, burnt woods, pulled down castles, tore up the vine trees, destroyed gardens, and massacred the citizens and husbandmen; if by chance they did spare any who begged their lives, they compelled them, as slaves of the lowest condition, to fight in front of them against their own kindred." —Matthew Paris recounting the devastation of Poland and Hungary in 1240During the thirteenth century, Mongol armies under Chinggis Khan and his successors established the largest contiguous land empire in history, stretching across Asia and into eastern Europe. Contemporary descriptions of their conquests have led to a popular misconception that the Mongols were an undisciplined horde of terrifying horsemen who swept over opponents by sheer force of numbers. The Mongol army actually used highly trained regiments led by brilliant tacticians, such as Subutai, that carried out planned and practiced maneuvers. It was the strength, quality, and versatility of the Mongol military organization, not unchecked ferocity, that made them the pre-eminent warriors of their time.In The Mongol Art of War, historian Timothy May overturns myths and misunderstandings that distort our understanding of Mongol warfare, and demonstrates that the armies of Chinggis Khan had more in common with modern ones than with the armies of ancient Rome and those of the medieval kingdoms they confronted. Describing the make-up of the Mongol army from its inception to the demise of the Mongol Empire, the author examines the recruitment, weaponry, and training of the Mongol warrior. He also analyzes the organization, tactics, and strategies the Mongols used, how they adapted to fighting in different conditions and terrain—such as using harsh winter weather to their advantage—and overcame a variety of opponents by steadily changing and adopting new tactics and modes of combat.

    This book is broken down into sections covering American descendents from various Asian countries, including China, Japan, Korea, Philippines, India, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Topics include the history of immigration from Asian countries, important events in U.S. history, sidebars on famous Asian Americans, language lessons, and activities that highlight arts, games, food, clothing, unique celebrations, and folklore. Kids can paint a calligraphy banner, practice Tai Chi, fold an origami dog or cat, build a Japanese rock garden, construct a Korean kite, cook bibingka, and create a chalk rangoli. A time line, glossary, and recommendations for Web sites, books, movies, and museums round out this multicultural guide.

    Most of these stories have been collected from contemporary Kurdish storytellers, with others translated and adapted from transcripts of oral tellings and small tale collections in the Kurdish dialect. Background information on the people, their history, their land, and their customs is provided, along with color photos, maps, a glossary, and sample recipes, crafts, and games. All levels.The largest ethnic group without their own nation-state, there are an estimated 30-40 million Kurds living throughout the world today. The majority live in Kurdistan, a region stretching over parts of Iraq, Iran, Turkey and Syria. As a minority in these countries, the Kurds have struggled for independence throughout history and into recent times and have often been oppressed, persecuted and deported from their land. The purpose of this volume is to introduce readers to the Kurdish people, their cultural traditions and their stories. This unique collection, the first of its kind in English, features tales collected first-hand by the author during several years of travel to the Kurdish region of Turkey. "A Fire In My Heart" serves as a reference and program resource for educators and librarians, introducing students and the public to this ancient culture. The book is especially suited to those working with Middle Eastern children and their families in the US and abroad. From the Kurdish Cinderella story, Fatima, and humorous animal tales to stories based on legendary figures, for example the Herculean Rustem? Zal, these thirty-three tales from the varied regions of Kurdistan and the four major dialects are a wonderful resource for storytellers, folklorists and scholars. After seven years recording Kurdish tellers and traveling to remote mountain villages the author provides a valuable collection of previously unpublished tales, traditional recipes and games. The book is augmented by stories translated and adapted from small tale collections in Kurdish, as well as rare color photos from Iraqi-Kurdistan in 1955 and recent photos of village life. Background information on the Kurdish people, their history, land and customs is provided. All levels.

    Silk Route Adventure takes you through rolling Mongolian prairie lands, monotonous Kazakh steppes, scales 4,000-meter passes in Kyrgyzstan, and crosses the black sands of the Karakum Desert in Turkmenistan. Throughout the journey, the author overcomes numerous obstacles and dangers, such as drunken and sometimes violent guides, hostile border police, raging rivers, snow-bound passes, and seemingly endless stretches of desert. In contrast to her remote and often harsh surroundings, she encounters the warm tradition of nomadic hospitality, witnessing a way of life largely untouched by modernity. Woven into the story of her adventure, Claire sets Mongolia and the "Stans" in their historical context, tracing their history from the height of Genghis Khan's time to their absorption into the Soviet Union when they were largely forgotten by the West.

    But when Comrade Li, one of Mao's political officers, moves into a room in their apartment, Ling begins to witness the gradual disintegration of her world. In an atmosphere of increasing mistrust, Ling fears for the safety of her neighbors and, soon, for herself and family. Over the course of four years, Ling manages to grow and blossom, even as she suffers more horrors than many people face in a lifetime.

    The author examines the social and cultural forces generated within the Sulu Sultanate by the China trade, namely the advent of organized, long distance maritime slave raiding and the assimilation of captives on a hitherto unprecedented scale into a traditional Malayo-Muslim social system. His work analyzes the dynamics of the last autonomous Malayo-Muslim maritime state over a long historical period and describes its stunning response to the world capitalist economy and the rapid "forward movement" of colonialism and modernity. It also shows how the changing world of global cultural flows and economic interactions caused by cross-cultural trade and European dominance affected men and women who were forest dwellers, highlanders, and slaves, people who worked in everyday jobs as fishers, raiders, divers and traders. Often neglected by historians, the responses of these members of society are a crucial part of the history of Southeast Asia.

    Since launching his first international mail-order catalog in 1991, Latvian nurseryman Janis Ruksans has rapidly gained a reputation as one of the world's foremost experts on rare and unusual bulbs: Juno irises striped like exotic birds; gem-like corydalis; dusky, brooding fritillaries. For decades, Ruksans has been scouring remote and dangerous regions of Europe and Asia to bring back seed of the botanical treasures that he offers through his nursery, often contending with corrupt government agents, armed rebels, drunken drivers, and even (before the fall of the Soviet Union) the KGB. Once you read Ruksans' accounts of his extensive travels, you'll never look at a flowering bulb in the same way again. A crocus will take you to the shores of Lake Abant in northwestern Turkey, a tulip to the mountains of Chimgan in Uzbekistan. Although adventure abounds in Buried Treasures, there's a great deal more for the gardener seeking trustworthy information. As well as being a renowned collector, Ruksans is a grower and propagator of bulbs second to none, and he generously shares his professional knowledge about the care and cultivation of every major and minor genus of bulb-forming plant. As richly diverse as the plants it describes, Buried Treasures will open your eyes to the beauty and fascination of the world of bulbs.

    Lee's portrait is based on a wide range of sources: underground pamphlets, diaries, court documents, contemporary newspaper reports, and interviews with participants. Thousands of students and intellectuals left universities during this period and became factory workers, forging an intellectual-labor alliance perhaps unique in world history. At the same time, minjung cultural activists reinvigorated traditional folk theater, created a new minjung literature, and influenced religious practices and academic disciplines.In its transformative scope, the minjung phenomenon is comparable to better-known contemporaneous movements in South Africa, Latin America, and Eastern Europe. Understanding the minjung movement is essential to understanding South Korea's recent resistance to U.S. influence. Along with its well-known economic transformation, South Korea has also had a profound social and political transformation. The minjung movement drove this transformation, and this book tells its story comprehensively and critically.

    The Great Wall Revisited presents 72 of the most elucidating then-and-now comparisons accompanied by concise histories of the sites that Lindesay's images revisit.

    My China is a sweeping culinary travelogue through modern-day China and Tibet. Here, Kylie Kwong, renowned chef and author of Simple Chinese Cooking, journeys to ten cities and provinces, beginning in the Toishan district, the home of her own ancestors. Along the way, she meets and cooks with an array of spirited locals and samples a range of wonderful regional meals and tastes?from the haute cuisine of glamorous Shanghai restaurants to the simple bowls of noodles and pickles at the wooden stalls of Lhasa, and the altogether different and intense spicy heat of traditional Sichuan dishes. With a chef?s passion for new flavors, Kwong discovers authentic recipes and traditional techniques and adapts them to eighty new recipes that readers can make simply at home. A rich collection of stories, recipes, and beautiful photographs, My China will transport readers to the sights, smells, and flavors of a world that inspires. It is an intimate, captivating look at modern China and all its treasures, and the perfect gift for the holidays for any armchair traveler.

    His grandfather Pak-Teh is the leader of the honey hunting clan. It is Pak-Teh who has the high honor of climbing the tall Tualang tree in the annual hunt to gather honey from the nests of giant honey bees.But Pak-Teh is getting older and is now ready to prepare someone to take his place. He believes that Nizam is the one. Even though Nizam has climbed the mighty Tualang—the bee tree—in the daylight, he has never done it at night. Will he be brave enough?On the first moonless night of the honey hunt, Nizam and Pak-Teh and the other honey hunters enter the dark rainforest. Pak-Teh starts the hunt with a prayer and a traditional story. Then he begins to climb. Nizam follows. Can he climb that high and not be afraid? Will the angry bees sting him?At the top, Nizam and Pak-Teh use the honey hunters’ secret to keep from being stung, while their clansmen below soothe the bees with chanting. After a week of gathering honey in the nights, the clan returns home to celebrate their sweet and miraculous golden harvest.At this feast, Pak-Teh honors Nizam with an important announcement.This is a collaboration between three remarkable people: a scientist who has been fascinated with insects since the third grade; a writer who believes that writing children’s books is her way of building a better world; and an artist who never stops sketching and drawing as he travels.Meet the creators of The Bee Tree:Stephen Buchmann has traveled all over the world studying bees. He is a member of the entomology department faculty at the University of Arizona, and the author/co-author of 150 scientific papers and 8 books (including The Forgotten Pollinators and Letters from the Hive). He is active in international pollination research, conservation and policies to protect the world’s pollinators and the plants they pollinate. He served on a National Academy of Science committee investigating the status of pollinators in North America.Diana Cohn is an award winning children’s book author. Her books include ¡Sí, Se Puede! / Yes, We Can! (Cinco Puntos Press); Dream Carver (Chronicle Books); and Mr. Goethe’s Garden (Bell Pond Books). She is a hobbyist beekeeper with a deep interest in pollination ecology. She first met Steve Buchmann while working on a radio documentary on the pollination crisis in America. As a result of their meeting they co-founded The Bee Works, an organization dedicated to public education about pollination ecology.Paul Mirocha’s illustrations first appeared in Gathering the Desert by Gary Paul Nabhan, winner of the John Burroughs Medal for natural history in 1985. After 13 years as a graphic designer for the University of Arizona’s Office of Arid Lands Studies, Paul left to become a full-time illustrator, producing over 20 children’s picture books and pop-ups as well as modern nature writing, among them High Tide in Tucson, Prodigal Summer, and Small Wonder, by Barbara Kingsolver. Paul has made five trips to Malaysia. His paintings in The Bee Tree come directly from his sketchbook and memories from those experiences.

    This assassin was tasked, by the affluent head of a local triad, to retrieve Hero's family heirloom - the legendary Blood Sword. Barely escaping with his life, Hero has now reached adulthood, having mastered several forms of kung fu to aid him in his lifelong endeavor to safeguard the family treasure. But now his enemies turn their gaze to his newborn son. The tales of Blood Sword begin here.

    With clear insight and without academic jargon, Jacoby examines the works of over 150 filmmakers to uncover what makes their films worth watching.Included are artistic profiles of everyone from Yutaka Abe to Isao Yukisada, including masters like Kinji Fukasaku, Juzo Itami, Akira Kurosawa, Takashi Miike, Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujiro Ozu, and Yoji Yamada. Each entry includes a critical summary and filmography, making this book an essential reference and guide.UK-based Alexander Jacoby is a writer and researcher on Japanese film.

    Kh'tsun himself was arrested while defending the Dalai Lama's summer palace, and after four years in prisons and labor camps, he spent close to two decades in Lhasa as a requisitioned laborer and "class enemy."In this eloquent autobiography, Kh'tsun describes what life was like during those troubled years. His account is one of the most dispassionate, detailed, and readable firsthand descriptions yet published of Tibet under the Communist occupation. Kh'tsun talks of his prison experiences as well as the state of civil society following his release, and he offers keenly observed accounts of well-known events, such as the launch of the Cultural Revolution, as well as lesser-known aspects of everyday life in occupied Lhasa.Since Communist China continues to occupy Tibet, the facts of this era remain obscure, and few of those who lived through it have recorded their experiences at length. Kh'tsun's story will captivate any reader seeking a refreshingly human account of what occurred during the Maoists' shockingly brutal regime.

    Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sky is a revealing account of the perils and pitfalls of life during Saddam Hussein’s final year in power, the US-led occupation and the demands of juggling domesticity, danger and deadlines in a war zone. It is sometimes frightening – with constant surveillance from the dreaded mukhabarat secret police; sometimes devastating – the loss of a close friend in the bombing of the UN’s Baghdad headquarters; and at times darkly humorous.During this incredible journey Gina finds nothing is what it seems and there's no black and white when you’re stuck between the devil and the deep blue sky of Iraq.

    With the help of full-color photography and illustrated cutaways, floor plans, and reconstructions of the stunning architecture of both cities, "DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Beijing & Shanghai" allows you to visualize your destinations. Insider travel tips and DK's indispensable maps and street views of key areas will ensure that you can find your way through the hustle and bustle of these cultural hubs with ease.Detailed listings include the best hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops for all budgets.

    Using Hong Kong as a case study, Janet Scott looks at paper offerings from every conceivable angle - how they are made, sold, and used. Her comprehensive investigation touches on virtually every aspect of Chinese popular religion as it explores the many forms of these intricate objects, their manufacture, their significance, and their importance in rituals to honor gods, care for ancestors, and contend with ghosts.Throughout For Gods, Ghosts and Ancestors, paper offerings are presented as a vibrant and living tradition expressing worshippers' respect and gratitude for the gods, as well as love and concern for departed family members. Ranging from fake paper money to paper furniture, servant dolls, cigarettes, and toiletries - all multihued and artfully constructed - paper offerings are intended to provide for the needs of those in the spirit world.Readers are introduced to the variety of paper offerings and their uses in worship, in assisting worshippers with personal difficulties, and in rituals directed to gods, ghosts, and ancestors. We learn of the manufacture and sale of paper goods, life in paper shops, the training of those who make paper offerings, and the symbolic and artistic dimensions of the objects. Finally, the book considers the survival of this traditional craft, the importance of flexibility and innovation, and the role of compassion and filial piety in the use of paper offerings.

    The poems describe not just seasonal changes and the vagaries of love - which form the thematic core of traditional Japanese poetry - but also the devastations of war, childbirth, conflicts between child-rearing and work, experiences as refugees, experiences as non-Japanese residents in Japan, and more.Sections of poetry open with headnotes, and the editor has provided explanations of terms and references for those unfamiliar with the Japanese language. Other useful tools include a glossary of poetic terms, a chronology, and a bibliography that points the reader toward other works by and about these poets. There is no comparable collection available in English.Students and anyone who appreciates poetry and Japanese culture will treasure this magnificent anthology. Editor and translator Hiroaki Sato is a past winner of the PEN America translator prize and the Japan-United States Friendship Commission's 1999 literary translation award.

    When Gram comes to visit Japan for the first time, Baachan takes them on a trip to the seashore to gather Wakame, a long, curvy seaweed that floats near the shore. While the three gather their equipment and ride the streetcar toward the beach, Baachan explains about Wakame and other seaweeds. Gram remembers how some seaweeds are used in Maine, and Nanami translates for them both. By the end of the day, Nanami's two grandmothers discover that they have much in common despite being from countries that were on opposing sides in the war they both remember vividly. Now, looking out across the beach at the surfers, dog-walkers, and seaweed gatherers, they share an understanding of this precious peace.

    Originally used by Japanese farmers to quilt together several layers of fabric for warmth and durability, sashiko patterns are increasingly being adapted as decorative elements in contemporary designs and needlecraft projects. Sashiko Style presents 70 different patterns of three types: linear, curvy and single-stitch ("hitome zashi") patterns. Full-color photos showcase the many different ways in which the patterns can be used to make beautiful and useful items such as napkins, tablecloths, placemats and runners; tote bags; pillows; curtains and wall hangings. The book introduces basic skills that even beginners can master and includes detailed equipment lists with photos, as well as step-by-step instructions for pattern drafting. A special feature of Sashiko Style is the handy, pullout pattern template insert.

    For Indian thinkers, a philosophical treatise about the self should not only reveal the truth about the nature of the soul, but should also engage the reader in a process of study and contemplation that will eventually lead to self-transformation. By combining careful attention to philosophical content and sensitivity to literary form, Ganeri deepens our understanding of some of the greatest works in Indian literary history. His magisterial survey includes the Upanisads, the Buddha's discourses, the epic Mahabharata, and the writings of Candrakirti, whose work was later to provide the foundation for Tibetan Buddhism. Ganeri argues that many Western theories of selfhood are not only present in, but are developed to high degree of sophistication in these writings, and that there are other ideas about the self found in the work of classical Indian thinkers which present-day analytic philosophers have not yet begun to explore.; Scholars and students of philosophy and religious studies, particularly those with an interest in Indian and Western conceptions of the self, will find this book fascinating reading.

    British and Indian officials had designed a modern, architecturally distinct city center adjacent to the old walled city, administered under new methods of urban governance.In Making Lahore Modern, William J. Glover investigates the traditions that shaped colonial Lahore. In particular, he focuses on the conviction that both British and Indian actors who implemented urbanization came to share: that the material fabric of the city could lead to social and moral improvement. This belief in the power of the physical environment to shape individual and collective sentiments, he argues, links the colonial history of Lahore to nineteenth-century urbanization around the world.Glover highlights three aspects of Lahore’s history that show this process unfolding. First, he examines the concepts through which the British understood the Indian city and envisioned its transformation. Second, through a detailed study of new buildings and the adaptation of existing structures, he explores the role of planning, design, and reuse. Finally, he analyzes the changes in urban imagination as evidenced in Indian writings on the city in this period. Throughout, Glover emphasizes that colonial urbanism was not simply imposed; it was a collaborative project between Indian citizens and the British.Offering an in-depth study of a single provincial city, Glover reveals that urban change in colonial India was not a monolithic process and establishes Lahore as a key site for understanding the genealogy of modern global urbanism.William J. Glover is associate professor of architecture at the University of Michigan.

    Even today the hypersexual female ghost continues to be a source of fascination in East Asian media, much like the sexually predatory vampire in American and European movies, TV, and novels. But while vampires can be of either gender, erotic Chinese ghosts are almost exclusively female. The significance of this gender asymmetry in Chinese literary history is the subject of Judith Zeitlin's elegantly written and meticulously researched new book.Zeitlin's study centers on the seventeenth century, one of the most interesting and creative periods of Chinese literature and politically one of the most traumatic, witnessing the overthrow of the Ming, the Manchu conquest, and the subsequent founding of the Qing. Drawing on fiction, drama, poetry, medical cases, and visual culture, the author departs from more traditional literary studies, which tend to focus on a single genre or author. Ranging widely across disciplines, she integrates detailed analyses of great literary works with insights drawn from the history of medicine, art history, comparative literature, anthropology, religion, and performance studies.The Phantom Heroine probes the complex literary and cultural roots of the Chinese ghost tradition. Zeitlin is the first to address its most remarkable feature: the phenomenon of verse attributed to phantom writers--that is, authors actually reputed to be spirits of the deceased. She also makes the case for the importance of lyric poetry in developing a ghostly aesthetics and image code. Most strikingly, Zeitlin shows that the representation of female ghosts, far from being a marginal preoccupation, expresses cultural concerns of central importance.

    Yet he was also a mathematical genius, an herbalist's son who became a confidant of kings, and an exile who was hunted by assassins. Widely praised for its breadth and scholarship, in this revealing biography Hazhir Teimourian brings to life one of the greatest and most popular of poets.

    But in our demanding society, where stress is the norm, fearfulness can become a way of life. In this inspiring book, leading Tibetan Bon practitioner Christopher Hansard explains the 'twelve types of fear' believed by traditional teaching to affect our lives. He shares with us age-old techniques for facing and overcoming these fears, and shows how without them we can better connect with our deepest selves, transform relationships and find increased peace, humour and confidence. Drawing from his deep personal knowledge of Tibetan teachings, and with easy-to-follow exercises and inspiring case studies, Christopher shows us how we can stop living with our fears -- and start living our life.

    Sanjam Ahluwalia draws attention to the history of Indian birth control by including western activists such as Margaret Sanger and Marie Stopes alongside important Indian campaigners. In revealing the elitist politics of middle-class feminists, Indian nationalists, Western activists, colonial authorities, and the medical establishment, Ahluwalia finds that they all sought to rationalize procreation and regulate women while invoking competing notions of freedom, femininity, and family. _x000B__x000B_Ahluwalia's remarkable interviews with practicing midwives in rural northern India fills a gaping void in the documentary history of birth control and shows that the movement has had little appeal to nonelite groups in India. She argues that elitist birth control efforts failed to account for Indian women's values and needs and have worked to restrict reproductive rights rather than liberate subaltern Indian women since colonial times. _x000B__x000B_

    Julian Cope, eccentric and visionary rock musician, hip archaeologist and one time frontman of Teardrop Explodes, follows the runaway underground success of his book 'Krautrocksampler' with 'Japrocksampler', a cult deconstruction of Japanese rock music.

    "Flying through intense anti-aircraft fire," the citation read, "he made an aggressive attack on a Japanese carrier, first strafing and then delivering a well placed bomb from low altitude. After this attack the carrier was left burning and subsequently sank." The burning carrier was the Zuikaku, the last Japanese carrier afloat that had taken part in the Pearl Harbor attack. In this gripping memoir, Davis gives us a fighter pilots view of World War II. Recreating the life-and-death drama of dog fighting and dive bombing over the Pacific, Davis recounts how his squadron shot down 155 enemy planes while losing only 2 of their own in aerial combat. No torpedo bomber or dive bomber they escorted was ever downed by an enemy aircraft. His is a story of "courage and skill . . . in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval service," as his citation noted. It is also a rare true-life account of what such heroics feel like behind a cockpit, in the face of a deadly enemy.

    The clash over settlement is no mere policy disagreement, he maintains, but rather a struggle over the very meaning of Zionism. The book presents an absorbing study of religious settlers’ ideology and how it has evolved in response to Israel’s history of wars, peace efforts, assassination, the pull-out from Gaza, and other tumultuous events.Taub tracks the efforts of religious settlers to reconcile with mainstream Zionism but concludes that the project cannot succeed. A new Zionist consensus recognizes that Israel must pull out of the occupied territories or face an unacceptable alternative: the dissolution of Israel into a binational state with a Jewish minority.

    Pages: 240 Publisher: 8 BOOKS New Zen is a unique publication aa collection of the most innovative modern Japanese tea ceremony rooms. Or chashitsu. Designed by contemporary architects. Traditionally chashitsu are made up of certain elements a an alcove (tokonoma). with a flower and painted scroll. tatami mats. a sunken heart (ro) and chashitsu windows a never contain furniture and are used for contemplation. In the last fifteen years Japanese architects have been reinterpreting the tea ceremony room. creating modern meditative spaces. The result is that these rooms represent some of the most interesting interior design and architecture in Japan. featuring a vast array of materials. including paper. wood. plastic. metal and concrete. This book is the only one to examine this phenomenon.

    Previous novels by Williams include 'The Palace of Heavenly Pleasure' and 'The Emperor's Bones'.

    Examines the history of Islam - especially that of local mullahs, or Muslim clerics-in the North-West Frontier, an autonomous zone straddling the boundary of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

    These were spectacular times that witnessed the most extraordinary urban expansion and building explosion in the history of the city. Showing how architecture and urban form became involved in the representation and construction of a changing social order, Shirine Hamadeh reassesses the dominance of the paradigm of Westernization in interpretations of this period and challenges the suggestion that change in the eighteenth century could only occur by turning toward a now superior West. Drawing on a genre of Ottoman poetry written in celebration of the built environment and on a vast array of related textual and visual sources, Hamadeh demonstrates that architectural change was the result of a dynamic synthesis between internal and external factors, and closely mirrored the process of decloisonnement of the city's social landscape.Examining novel forms, spaces, and decorative vocabularies; changing patterns of patronage; and new patterns of architectural perception; The City's Pleasures shows how these exposed and reinforced the internal dynamics that were played out between a society in flux and a state anxious to recreate an ideal system of social hierarchies. Profoundly hybrid in nature, the new architectural idiom reflected a growing permeability between elite and middle-class sensibilities, an unprecedented degree of receptivity to Western and Eastern foreign traditions, and a clear departure from the parameters of the classical canon. Innovation became the new operative doctrine. As the built environment was experienced, perceived, and appreciated by contemporary observers, it increasingly revealed itself as a perpetual source of sensory pleasures.

    Packed with full-color photographs, illustrations, and detailed maps, this updated guide explores the region's many dynamic features, from the best places to spot colorful fish and exotic jungle-dwelling animals like orangutans, to the incredible food and the ultra-modern metropolises of Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. In this guide you'll find detailed listings of the best hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops for all budgets. Explore local festivals and markets, day trips and excursions, gorgeous beaches, and find your way effortlessly around the region. DK's insider tips and cultural insights will help you explore every corner of Malaysia and Singapore, as if you were a local."DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Malaysia & Singapore" showing you what others only tell you.

    Packed with full-color photographs, illustrations, and detailed maps, this updated guide explores the region's many dynamic features, from the best places to spot colorful fish and exotic jungle-dwelling animals like orangutans, to the incredible food and the ultra-modern metropolises of Kuala Lumpur and Singapore.In this guide you'll find detailed listings of the best hotels, restaurants, bars, and shops for all budgets. Explore local festivals and markets, day trips and excursions, gorgeous beaches, and find your way effortlessly around the region. DK's insider tips and cultural insights will help you explore every corner of Malaysia and Singapore, as if you were a local. DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Malaysia & Singapore-showing you what others only tell you.

    --Martin Hill* Reminiscent of the internationally best-selling Earth from Above, Martin Hill's Earth to Earth transforms the beauty of everyday items found in nature and elevates them to ecological art.Ecology is a science that is entering its renaissance as issues of global warming, greenhouse emissions, and ozone depletion make their way from scientific debates and newspaper headlines to family breakfast tables. Environmental photographer Martin Hill and project collaborator Philippa Jones visit remote locations around the globe to create a stunning array of evocative photographs that represent a visual circle of life promoting ecological sustainability and responsibility.In addition to an eloquent introduction by Sir Edmund Hillary, ecologically minded quotes and facts appear throughout the collection:* Each day more solar energy falls to the earth than the total amount of energy the planet's six billion inhabitants would consume in 25 years.* What use is a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?In Earth to Earth Hill presents more than 70 transcendent four-color photographs that capture images of natural items found in nature, which he then transforms into exquisitely intricate sculptural masterpieces. Prior to leaving each location--whether at the top of a snow-covered mountain or on the sand-blown shores of a windy beach--Hill ensures that each site is left exactly as it was found.

    Since 1900, more Christians have been killed in for Christ in China than in all other countries of the world combined.

    This steady commerce provided the financial foundation for the sustained patronage of luxury goods as well as Buddhist monastic sites and devotional sculpture. Drawing on the collections of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, this book traces the complex and changing artistic tradition of Gandhara, from Northwest Pakistan and Eastern Afghanistan in the 2nd century BC until the 8th century.This book also explores early urban material, international trade, and the emergence and development of Buddhist art in the region, specifically addressing the relic tradition, narrative art, and iconic representations of Buddhas and bodhisattvas. The latest period of production is characterized by the fabrication of monumental imagery as well as the clay and stucco production of Afghanistan.

    Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge regime ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, and Indonesian forces occupied East Timor from 1975 to 1999. This book examines the horrific consequences of Cambodian communist revolution and Indonesian anti-communist counterinsurgency. It also chronicles the two cases of indigenous resistance to genocide and extermination, the international cover-ups that obstructed documentation of these crimes, and efforts to hold the perpetrators legally accountable.The perpetrator regimes inflicted casualties in similar proportions. Each caused the deaths of about one-fifth of the population of the nation. Cambodia's mortality was approximately 1.7 million, and approximately 170,000 perished in East Timor. In both cases, most of the deaths occurred in the five-year period from 1975 to1980. In addition, Cambodia and East Timor not only shared the experience of genocide but also of civil war, international intervention, and UN conflict resolution. U.S. policymakers supported the invading Indonesians in Timor, as well as the indigenous Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. Both regimes exterminated ethnic minorities, including local Chinese, as well as political dissidents. Yet the ideological fuel that ignited each conflagration was quite different. Jakarta pursued anti-communism; the Khmer Rouge were communists. In East Timor the major Indonesian goal was conquest. In Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge's goal was revolution. Maoist ideology influenced Pol Pot's regime, but it also influenced the East Timorese resistance to the Indonesia's occupiers.Genocide and Resistance in Southeast Asia is significant both for its historical documentation and for its contribution to the study of the politics and mechanisms of genocide. It is a fundamental contribution that will be read by historians, human rights activists, and genocide studies specialists.

    A fisherman's song at dawn on the banks of the Mekong, a chaos of color on the ghats of the Ganges, the silence of the vast steppes of Kazakhstan, a marching mile of red hats along the Great Wall road: Asia is all this and more. From the tropical beaches of Bali to the frozen slopes of Everest, "The Asia Book" draws together a definitive collection of the sights, sounds and tastes of this captivating continent. Here's how to start - open at any page and begin your own journey. Track the voyage of Lawrence of Arabia, hear the stories of the Silk Road trail, or plan an island-hopping itinerary. Settle back and discover the fascinating people, radical ingenuity, humbling hospitality and inspiring spirit of each country. Let Lonely Planet's photographers, authors and travellers lead you through five regions, 46 countries, and more than two thousand years of stories.

    

    These tours were exercises in political theater that took the Manchu emperor through one of the Qing empire's most prosperous regions.This study elucidates the tensions and the constant negotiations characterizing the relationship between the imperial center and Jiangnan, which straddled the two key provinces of Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Politically, economically, and culturally, Jiangnan was the undisputed center of the Han Chinese world; it also remained a bastion of Ming loyalism and anti-Manchu sentiment. How did the Qing court constitute its authority and legitimate its domination over this pivotal region? What were the precise terms and historical dynamics of Qing rule over China proper during the long eighteenth century?In the course of addressing such questions, this study also explores the political culture within and through which High Qing rule was constituted and contested by a range of actors, all of whom operated within socially and historically structured contexts. The author argues that the southern tours occupied a central place in the historical formation of Qing rule during a period of momentous change affecting all strata of the eighteenth-century polity.

    A short trip back to the country he no longer calls home gives Ben the chance to escape the heartbreak and hedonism, but Singapore has perhaps more to offer him than he realised.....Torn between old and new, past and present, East and West, Ben is forced to reconsider his notions of love, and of home.

    ...It is a significant addition to the literature and...I know of no immediate competitors with which this can be compared.Its publication is to be welcomed as a contribution to the debates about culture, modernity and gender in twentieth-century China, and, more widely, to the growing body of work on clothing and identity. ' --Verity Wilson, formerly Curator of Costume, Victoria and Albert Museum, London'This is the long-awaited, authoritative and definitive study of fashion in modern China, a topic if not a nascent field that has attracted recent scholarly and media attention. The author, a pioneer in this area, has accomplished an incredible feat-producing a vigorously-argued book that would advance intellectual debates while remaining accessible to the general reader.This book has a great many strengths. Previous Anglophone monographs on Chinese dress--by Vollmer, Garrett and Wilson for example--were works of collectors and museum curators. They focus on the material construction of dress and their regional or social variations at the expense of systemic cultural and economic analyses. As a result, the meaning of fashion as a cultural-economic phenomenon in China remains dimly understood. This is the first book-length work that situates fashion in historical contexts, from the world trading system and urban development to revolutionary movements in modern China. ... The book will launch fashion study as a serious intellectual endeavor in the field of Chinese studies while appealing to scholars in comparative fields (fashion studies, socio-economic history, cultural history, and post-colonial studies) and the general reader alike. It would make an appropriate textbook in an advanced undergraduate class on modern Chinese history or comparative history of fashion.' --Professor Dorothy Ko, Columbia University.

    excellent reviews. background on 341 key terms.

    In 1944, the 3rd Marines assaulted Chorito Cliff and Bundeschu Ridge. A Hog Leg is the nickname for an 1860 Colt .45 Revolver. Within the carnage of battle is a war pitting a young man, Tim Cullen, against his battalion commander over the possession of an 1860 Army Colt .45 Hog leg revolver which can be traced back to Capt. Myles Keogh who died with Custer. The last owner is the doomed Lt. Jack Buck of Giddings, TX. Buck will be killed in the taking of Bundeschu Ridge, but Jack Buck had exacted a promise from Pvt. Tim Cullen of his platoon to keep it from the hands of Major Lucas Opley, an up from the ranks Marine of legend, and return the Colt to his family in Texas. Parallel to Cullen's ordeals and suffering on Japanese occupied Guam are movie house operator Juan Cruz and his family, as well as an exiled Japanese American Dentist and his movie star wife. Exacting the cruelty is the oafish Boson Otayama and the American educated Lt. Kato. Awaiting liberation are also such historical figures of Guam's history as Father Duenas and Pastor Sablan. The revolver, in its shoulder holster, will be taken from Lt. John A. Buck's body by Cullen at an aid station on Guam's Red Beach 2 and cause Cullen no end of problems. The Battalion commander wants the Colt Hog-leg. Cullen hangs on to the weapon but never uses it and is repeatedly ordered by Maj. Opley to hand it over. Opley wants it for himself. This through-the ranks career officer will undo himself through his own devices and be sent home under a cloud after years of service to the Corps after the Guam Campaign.

    Nor is anti-Westernism a natural response to Western imperialism. Instead, by focusing on the agency and achievements of non-Western intellectuals, Aydin demonstrates that modern anti-Western discourse grew out of the legitimacy crisis of a single, Eurocentric global polity in the age of high imperialism.Aydin compares Ottoman Pan-Islamic and Japanese Pan-Asian visions of world order from the middle of the nineteenth century to the end of World War II. He looks at when the idea of a universal "West" first took root in the minds of Asian intellectuals and reformers and how it became essential in criticizing the West for violating its own "standards of civilization." Aydin also illustrates why these anti-Western visions contributed to the decolonization process and considers their influence on the international relations of both the Ottoman and Japanese Empires during WWI and WWII. "The Politics of Anti-Westernism in Asia" offers a rare, global perspective on how religious tradition and the experience of European colonialism interacted with Muslim and non-Muslim discontent with globalization, the international order, and modernization. Aydin's approach reveals the epistemological limitations of Orientalist knowledge categories, especially the idea of Eastern and Western civilizations, and the way in which these limitations have shaped not only the contradictions and political complicities of anti-Western discourses but also contemporary interpretations of anti-Western trends. In moving beyond essentialist readings of this history, Aydin provides a fresh understanding of the history of contemporary anti-Americanism as well as the ongoing struggle to establish a legitimate and inclusive international society.

    He has journeyed to the remote corners of the earth in search of wild things, weathering treacherous terrain, plane crashes, and hostile governments. Life in the Valley of Death recounts his most ambitious and dangerous adventure yet: the creation of the world's largest tiger preserve.The tale is set in the lush Hukaung Valley of Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. An escape route for refugees fleeing the Japanese army during World War II, this rugged stretch of land claimed the lives of thousands of children, women, and soldiers. Today it is home to one of the largest tiger populations outside of India—a population threatened by rampant poaching and the recent encroachment of gold prospectors.To save the remaining tigers, Rabinowitz must navigate not only an unforgiving landscape, but the tangled web of politics in Myanmar. Faced with a military dictatorship, an insurgent army, tribes once infamous for taking the heads of their enemies, and villagers living on less than one U.S. dollar per day, the scientist and adventurer most comfortable with animals is thrust into a diplomatic minefield. As he works to balance the interests of disparate factions and endangered wildlife, his own life is threatened by an incurable disease.The resulting story is one of destruction and loss, but also renewal. In forests reviled as the valley of death, Rabinowitz finds new life for himself, for communities haunted by poverty and violence, and for the tigers he vowed to protect.

    We have witnessed the US become embroiled in a divisive and seemingly unwinnable war in Iraq.. We have looked on as new nuclear rivalries have sprung up with Iran and North Korea. We have also seen Europe struggle to define its place in the New World Order. And we have observed the balance of world focus shift towards China and India as they have continued their unprecedented economic rise.What is the significance of all of this? Are these random events or is there an underlying pattern? What is required of leaders and individuals to propel the world in a more positive direction? The Master Strategist provides the means to decipher these changes, offering unique insights into the issues and patterns that are defining the future, and pointing the way to strategies for a freer and more peaceful and prosperous world.