Popular Asian Historical Books
Find historical books written by authors from Asia for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (74)
31.
Pinjar: The Skeleton and Other Stories by Amrita Pitam EN
IndiaDescription:
"The skeleton ... [is] set against the background of religious and clan feuds on the eve of Partition ... That man is a compelling account of a young man born under strange circumstances and abandoned at the altar of God"--Page 4 of cover
32.
Red Scarf Girl : A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang EN
ChinaDescription:
In 1966 Ji-li Jiang turned twelve. An outstanding student and leader, she had everything: brains, the admiration of her peers, and a bright future in China′s Communist Party. But that year China′s leader, Mao Ze-dong, launched the Cultural Revolution, and everything changed. Over the next few years Ji-li and her family were humiliated and scorned by former friends, neighbors, and co-workers. They lived in constant terror of arrest. Finally, with the detention of her father, Ji-li faced the most difficult choice of her life. Told with simplicity and grace, this is the true story of one family′s... continue
33.
Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji EN
IranDescription:
From "a striking new talent"(Sandra Dallas, author of Tallgrass) comes an unforgettable debut novel of young love and coming of age in an Iran headed toward revolution. In this poignant, eye-opening and emotionally vivid novel, Mahbod Seraji lays bare the beauty and brutality of the centuries-old Persian culture, while reaffirming the human experiences we all share. In a middle-class neighborhood of Iran's sprawling capital city, 17-year-old Pasha Shahed spends the summer of 1973 on his rooftop with his best friend Ahmed, joking around one minute and asking burning questions about life the nex... continue
34.
Samurai! by Saburo Sakai, Martin Caidin, Fred Saito EN
JapanDescription:
Saburo Sakai was Japan's greatest fighter pilot to survive World War II. A veteran of more than two hundred dogfights, Sakai reportedly shot down sixty-four Allied planes, but he is best known for flying his crippled Zero nearly 600 miles to safety while partially paralyzed and nearly blind from multiple wounds.
35.
Sapiens : A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari EN
IsraelDescription:
One hundred thousand years ago, at least six human species inhabited the earth. Today there is just one. Us. Homo sapiens. How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations, and human rights; to trust money, books, and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables, and consumerism? And what will our world be like in the millennia to come? In Sapiens, Professor Yuval Noah Harari spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the earth to the ... continue
36.
Sapiens: a Graphic History : The Birth of Humankind (Vol. 1) by Yuval Noah Harari EN
Description:
The first volume of the full-color illustrated adaptation of his groundbreaking book, renowned historian Yuval Harari tells the story of humankind's creation and evolution, exploring the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be 'human'. The second volume focuses on the Agricultural Revolution--when humans fell into a trap we've yet to escape: working harder and harder with diminishing returns.
37.
Country: Asia / 
Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Description:
When the Barbri Mosque at Ayodhya, India, was destroyed by Hindu fundamentalists on December 6,1992, fierce mob reprisals took place against the Hindu minority in Muslim Bangladesh. These incidents form the backdrop for Dr. Taslima Nasrin's explosive and courageous book, "Shame", describing the nightmarish fate of one family within her country's small Hindu community.
38.
Christmas Island39.
Swimming Back to Trout River : A Novel by Linda Rui Feng EN
Description:
"A lyrical novel set against the backdrop of China's Cultural Revolution that follows a father's quest to reunite his family before his precocious daughter's momentous birthday ... In the summer of 1986 in a small Chinese village, ten-year-old Junie receives a momentous letter from her parents, who had left for America years ago: her father promises to return home and collect her by her twelfth birthday. But Junie's growing determination to stay put in the idyllic countryside with her beloved grandparents threatens to derail her family's shared future"--
40.
The Aquariums of Pyongyang : Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag by Chol-hwan Kang, Pierre Rigoulot EN
Country: Asia / 
North Korea
North Korea
Description:
Part horror story, part historical document, part memoir, part political tract, one man's suffering gives eyewitness proof to an ongoing sorrowful chapter of modern history.