Browse

The Cultural Revolution: A Very Short Introduction illuminates China's decade-long Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution. Moving beyond Mao Zedong, this VSI links Beijing's elite politics to broader aspects of society and culture, highlighting many changes in daily life, employment, and the economy. It also situates this very nationalist outburst of Chinese radicalism within a global context, showing that the Cultural Revolution was mirrored in the radical youth movement that swept much of the world. It was during the Cultural Revolution that China and the United States tempered their long hostility, which sowed the seeds for China's subsequent decades of spectacular economic growth.Less

Gandhi was one of the few men in history to fight simultaneously on moral, religious, political, social, economic, and cultural fronts. During his time as a lawyer in South Africa he developed his strategy of non-violence — the idea of opposing unjust laws by non-violent protest — which he made the basis of his successful struggle against British rule in India. Gandhi: A Very Short Introduction outlines both Gandhi's major philosophical insights and the limitations of his thought. It looks at Gandhi's cosmocentric anthropology, his spiritual view of politics, his unique form of liberal communitarianism, and his theories of oppression, non-violent action, and active citizenship.Less

Mao: A Very Short Introduction chronicles Mao's journey from peasant child to ruler of China. He was a founder of both the Chinese Communist Party and the Red Army. His revolution unified China and began its rise to world power status. He was the architect of the Great Leap Forward that he hoped would make China both prosperous and egalitarian, but instead ended in economic disaster resulting in millions of deaths. It was Mao's growing suspicion of his fellow leaders that led him to launch the Cultural Revolution, and his last years were dogged by ill-health and his despairing attempts to find a successor whom he trusted.Less

China today is never out of the news: from international finance to human rights controversies, global coverage of its rising international presence, and the Chinese ‘economic miracle’. It seems to be a country of contradictions: a peasant society with some of the world’s most futuristic cities; heir to an ancient civilization that is still trying to find a modern identity. Modern China: A Very Short Introduction offers the reader an entry to understanding the world’s most populous nation, giving an integrated picture of modern Chinese society, culture, economy, politics, and art. This new edition addresses China’s current global position, accounting for the country’s growth in global significance over the past decade.Less

The Mongols: A Very Short Introduction follows the Mongol empire from its height of success to its collapse from internal disunity. Struggles for succession and ill-planned, expensive military campaigns ultimately tore apart one of the most influential empires in history. Along with their leader Chinggis Khan (Genghis Kahn), the Mongols conjure up images of plunder and total destruction. Chinggis and his descendants introduced a level of violence that had perhaps never been seen in world history. Adopting political and economic institutions familiar to the conquered populations and recruiting native officials, they won over many of their non-Mongol subjects. Mongol nobles were ardent patrons of art and culture. Their most significant contribution was to foster the greatest contacts among diverse civilizations in world history.Less

The Silk Road: A Very Short Introduction looks beyond the initial exotic impression conveyed by the phrase ‘silk road’ to sketch the historical background against which the silk road flourished, and consider the significance of old-world intercultural exchange to Eurasian and world history generally. This VSI outlines the dynamics of Central Eurasian history that promoted silk road interactions, especially the role of nomad empires; and highlights the biological, technological and cultural as well as economic exchanges on the silk road. It also discusses the ideological connotations and abstract uses of the concept and disputes the common assertion of a ‘silk road decline’ from around 1500.Less

The eleven countries of Southeast Asia are diverse in every way, from the ethnicities and religions of their residents to their political systems and levels of prosperity. These nations—Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Singapore, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, and East Timor—are each unique, yet shared traditions mean that each country is also typically Southeast Asian. Southeast Asia: A Very Short Introduction traces the region’s history from the earliest “mandala” kingdoms to the colonial era and the present day. Synthesizing the ideas of leading scholars, it provides an analysis of contemporary Southeast Asia that accommodates its bewildering ethnic, religious, and political complexities while exposing the underlying patterns that make it a unified world region.Less