Mongol Empire: The Conquests of Genghis Khan and the Making of Modern China by John Man

$18.00 NZD

Category: Asia | Reading Level: very good

Genghis Khan is one of history's immortals: a leader of genius, driven by an inspiring vision for peaceful world rule. Believing he was divinely protected, Genghis united warring clans to create a nation and then an empire that ran across much of Asia. Under his grandson, Kublai Khan, the vision evolved into a more complex religious ideology, justifying further expansion. Kublai doubled the empire's size until, in the late 13th century, he and the rest of Genghis' 'Golden Family' controlled one fifth of the inhabited world. Along the way, he conquered all China, gave the nation the borders it has today, and then, finally, discovered the limits to growth. Genghis' dream of world rule turned out to be a fantasy. And yet, in terms of the sheer scale of the conquests, never has a vision and the character of one man had such an effect on the world. Charting the evolution of this vision, John Man provides a unique account of the Mongol Empire, from young Genghis to old Kublai, from a rejected teenager to the world's most powerful emperor. ...Show more

The Art of War by Tzu Sun

$10.00 NZD

Category: Military | Reading Level: very good

For more than two thousand years, Sun-tzu's "The Art of War" has provided leaders with essential advice on battlefield tactics, managing troops and terrain, and employing cunning and deception. An elemental part of Chinese culture, it has also become a touchstone for the Western struggle for survival an d success, whether in battle, in business or in relationships. Now, in this crisp, accessible new translation, John Minford brings this seminal work to life for today's readers. Capturing the literary quality of "The Art of War" - its lucid, epigrammatic, almost poetic style - as well as its philosophical and strategic content, Minford presents the core text in two different formats. First, the unadorned thirteen chapters allow readers to form their own first impressions of the ancient words of wisdom ascribed to Sun-tzu. Then the same text appears with extensive running commentary from the canon of traditional Chinese commentators and others, providing context and subtext to the work. A lively, learned introduction, chronologies, suggested readings, and other valuable apparatus round this authoritative volume. Even those readers familiar with "The Art of War" will experience it anew, finding it more fascinating - and more chilling - than ever. ...Show more

Genghis Khan. The Death and Resurrection by John Man

$12.00 NZD

Category: Asia | Reading Level: very good

Genghis Khan - creator of the greatest empire the world has ever seen - is one of history's immortals. In Central Asia, they still use his name to frighten children. In China, he is honoured as the founder of a dynasty. In Mongolia he is the father of the nation. In the USA, Time magazine, voted Genghis Khan 'the most important person of the last millennium'. But how much do we really know about this man? How is it that an unlettered, unsophisticated warrior-nomad came to have such a profound effect on world politics that his influence can still be felt some 800 years later? How he united the deeply divided Mongol peoples and went on to rule an empire that stretched from China in the east to Poland in the west (one substantially larger than Rome's at its zenith) is an epic tale of martial genius and breathtaking cruelty. John Man's towering achievement in this book, enriched by his experiences in China and Mongolia today, is to bring this little-known story vividly and viscerally to life. ...Show more

The Soong Dynasty by Sterling Seagrave

$12.00 NZD

Category: Biography | Reading Level: good

The Making and Unmaking of Empires - Britain, India, and America C.1750-1783 by P. J. Marshall

$45.00 NZD

Category: History | Reading Level: very good

In The Making and Unmaking of Empires P. J. Marshall deals with a crucial period in the history of the British Empire in trying to explain how the British at the same time lost an empire in North America, while winning one in parts of India. He shows that British objectives were much the same all over t he world and examines the conditions in America that frustrated these objectives and those in India that facilitated them. ...Show more

India - From Midnight to the Millennium and Beyond by Shashi Tharoor

$14.00 NZD

Category: Asia | Reading Level: very good

At the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, a new nation was born. It has 17 major languages and 22,000 distinct dialects. It has over a billion individuals of every ethnic extraction known to humanity. It has a population that is 32 percent illiterate, but also one of the worlds largest pools of trai ned scientists and engineers. Its ageless civilization is the birthplace of four major religions, a dozen different traditions of classical dance, and 300 ways of cooking a potato. Shashi Tharoors INDIA is a fascinating portrait of one of the worlds most interesting countriesits politics, its mentality, and its cultural riches. But it is also an eloquent argument for the importance of India to the future of America and the industrialized world. With the energy and erudition that distinguished his prize-winning novels, Tharoor points out that Indians account for a sixth of the worlds population and their choices will resonate throughout the globe. He deals with this vast theme in a work of remarkable depth and startling originality, combining elements of political scholarship, personal reflection, memoir, fiction, and polemic, all illuminated in vivid and compelling prose. ...Show more

The China Mission - George Marshall's Unfinished War, 1945-1947 by Daniel Kurtz-Phelan

$25.00 NZD

Category: America | Reading Level: very good

As World War II came to an end, General George Marshall was renowned as the architect of Allied victory. Set to retire, he instead accepted what he thought was a final mission--this time not to win a war, but to stop one. Across the Pacific, conflict between Chinese Nationalists and Communists threatene d to suck in the United States and escalate into revolution. His assignment was to broker a peace, build a Chinese democracy, and prevent a Communist takeover, all while staving off World War III. In his thirteen months in China, Marshall journeyed across battle-scarred landscapes, grappled with Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, and plotted and argued with Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and his brilliant wife, often over card games or cocktails. The results at first seemed miraculous. But as they started to come apart, Marshall was faced with a wrenching choice. Its consequences would define the rest of his career, as the secretary of state who launched the Marshall Plan and set the standard for American leadership, and the shape of the Cold War and the US-China relationship for decades to come. It would also help spark one of the darkest turns in American civic life, as Marshall and the mission became a first prominent target of McCarthyism, and the question of "who lost China" roiled American politics. The China Mission traces this neglected turning point and forgotten interlude in a heroic career--a story of not just diplomatic wrangling and guerrilla warfare, but also intricate spycraft and charismatic personalities. Drawing on eyewitness accounts both personal and official, it offers a richly detailed, gripping, close-up, and often surprising view of the central figures of the time--from Marshall, Mao, and Chiang to Eisenhower, Truman, and MacArthur--as they stood face-to-face and struggled to make history, with consequences and lessons that echo today. ...Show more

A Traveller's History of Japan by John H Chambers

$12.00 NZD

Category: Travel | Reading Level: very good

The Traveller's History series is designed for travellers who want more historical background on the country they are visiting than can be found in a tour guide. Each volume offers a complete and authoritative history of the country from the earliest times up to the present day. A Gazetteer cross-refere nced to the main text pinpoints the historical importance of sights and towns.Illustrated with maps and line drawings, this literate and lively series makes ideal before -you-go reading, and is just as handy tucked into suitcase or backpack. ...Show more

Bushido: The Classic Portrait of Samurai Martial Culture

$10.00 NZD

Category: Asia | Reading Level: very good

This is Paradise!: My North Korean Childhood by Hyok Kang

$10.00 NZD

Category: Biography | Reading Level: very good

Hyok Kang was eighteen when he escaped from North Korea, a country locked away from the outside world. This personal, illustrated account of school days in a rigidly communist institution and everyday life with his family and community provides a rare glimpse of this secretive nation. His shocking and m oving portrayal bears witness to this spirited young boy's resilience and survival in a society forced to operate under the shadow of labour camps, public executions and the deception of UN representatives by Korean officials. When the famine comes so too does death by starvation of friends and close ones, and Hyok Kang watches as his classmates drop out of school one by one, too weak to attend. All this is normal. After all, the propaganda North Koreans are fed by their government insists that compared to the rest of the world, this is paradise! Hyok Kang's childhood and courageous escape through China Vietnam and Cambodia to South Korea is a remarkable story that goes to the heart of a nation living under a disturbing delusion of paradise'. ...Show more

Japanamerica - How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the US by Roland Kelts

$10.00 NZD

Category: America | Reading Level: good

Japanamerica is the first book that directly addresses the American experience with the Japanese pop culture craze--including anime from Hayao Miyazaki's epics to the burgeoning world of hentai, or violent pornographic anime to Haruki Murakami's fiction. Including interviews with the inventor of Pac-man and executives from TokyoPop, GDH, and other major Japanese and American production companies, this book highlights the shared conflicts both countries face as anime and manga become a global form of entertainment and change both the United States and Japan in the process. ...Show more

Afghanistan: A Study of Political Developments in Central and Southern Asia by W. K. Fraser-Tytler

$40.00 NZD

Category: Asia