Popular Asian Historical Books
Find historical books written by authors from Asia for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (75)
51.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine by Ilan Pappé EN
IsraelDescription:
"The 1948 Palestine-Israel War is known to Israelis as 'The War of Independence', but for Palestinians it will forever be the Nakba, the 'catastrophe'. Alongside the creation of the State of Israel, the end of the war led to one of the largest forced migrations in modern history. Around a million people were expelled from their homes at gunpoint, civilians were massacred, and hundreds of Palestinian villages deliberately destroyed. Though the truth about the mass expulsion has been systematically distorted and suppressed, had it taken place in the twenty-first century it could only have been c... continue
52.
The Garden of Departed Cats by Bilge Karasu EN
TurkeyDescription:
A surreal, utterly unique Turkish novel about a human chess game.
53.
The Interpreter's Daughter by Teresa Lim EN
SingaporeDescription:
A photograph passed down through generations inspires this beautifully written, compelling memoir of one Singapore family and the secrets that defined their story A cherished family photograph, taken in Hong Kong, 1935, sets Teresa Lim on a journey to uncover her family history. Through detective work, serendipity, and the kindness of strangers she was guided to the fascinating, ordinary, extraordinary life of her great-aunt Fanny, and her world of sworn spinsters, ghost husbands and the working-class feminists of 19th century south China. But to recover her great-aunt's past, we must first ge... continue
54.
Cocos Islands55.
The Lover by Marguerite Duras EN
VietnamDescription:
Set in prewar Indochina, this is the haunting tale of a tumultuous affair between an adolescent French girl and her Chinese lover. The author evokes life on the margins of Saigon in the waning days of France's colonial empire, and its representation in the passionate relationship between two unforgettable outcasts.
Malaysia57.
The Mountains Sing by Que Mai Phan Nguyen EN
Description:
The International Bestseller New York Times Editors’ Choice SelectionWinner of the 2020 Lannan Literary Awards Fellowship "[An] absorbing, stirring novel . . . that, in more than one sense, remedies history." —The New York Times Book Review “A triumph, a novelistic rendition of one of the most difficult times in Vietnamese history . . . Vast in scope and intimate in its telling . . . Moving and riveting.” —VIET THANH NGUYEN, author of The Sympathizer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize With the epic sweep of Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko or Yaa Gyasi’s Homegoing and the lyrical beauty of Vaddey Ratner’s In... continue
58.
The Orphan Sky by Ella Leya EN
Country: Asia / 
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan
Description:
Leila, a young classical pianist, dreams of winning international competitions and bringing awards to her beloved country Azerbaijan. When she receives an assignment from her communist mentor to spy on a music shop suspected of traitorous Western influences, she is determined to prove her worth to the Party. When Leila meets Tahir, the painter who owns the music shop, his jazz recordings, abstract art, and subversive political opinions crack open the veneer of the world she's been living in. Now her comrades force her to make an impossible choice.
59.
The Pearl that Broke Its Shell : A Novel by Nadia Hashimi EN
Country: Asia / 
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Description:
Afghan-American Nadia Hashimi's literary debut novel is a searing tale of powerlessness, fate, and the freedom to control one's own fate that combines the cultural flavor and emotional resonance of the works of Khaled Hosseini, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Lisa See. In Kabul, 2007, with a drug-addicted father and no brothers, Rahima and her sisters can only sporadically attend school, and can rarely leave the house. Their only hope lies in the ancient custom of bacha posh, which allows young Rahima to dress and be treated as a boy until she is of marriageable age. As a son, she can attend school, go to ... continue
60.
The Punkhawala and the Prostitute by Wesley Leon Aroozoo EN
Description:
Behind the golden façade of a land filled with opportunities dwell two destitute souls, shipped to Singapore in the late 1800s. Oseki, an ingenue forced into prostitution as a karayuki, grapples with being betrayed by her own father and transforms into a monster she can’t recognise. Gobind, a deaf convict from India, serves his sentence as a punkhawala to a British hunter obsessed with killing Rimau Satan, a man-eating tiger of mythic proportions. Whenever Gobind hunts with his master, his butchered memories lurk in the darkness, aching to pounce. When Oseki’s and Gobind’s paths intertwine, th... continue