Popular Asian Historical Books
Find historical books written by authors from Asia for the next part of the Read Around The World Challenge. (78)
71.
The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk EN
TurkeyDescription:
Winner of the 1990 Independent Award for foreign fiction, this book tells the story of a young Italian scholar who is captured by pirates. Put up for auction at the Istanbul slave market, he is bought by a Turkish servant, eager to learn about scientific and intellectual advances in the West.
72.
To Live : A Novel by Yu Hua EN
ChinaDescription:
Originally banned in China but later named one of that nation’s most influential books, a searing novel that portrays one man’s transformation from the spoiled son of a landlord to a kindhearted peasant. “A work of astounding emotional power.” —Dai Sijie, author of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress From the author of Brothers and China in Ten Words: this celebrated contemporary classic of Chinese literature was also adapted for film by Zhang Yimou. After squandering his family’s fortune in gambling dens and brothels, the young, deeply penitent Fugui settles down to do the honest work of... continue
73.
Tomorrow I'm Dead : How a Seventeen-year-old Killing Field Survivor Became the Cambodian Freedom Army's Greatest Soldier by Bun Yom EN
CambodiaDescription:
In 1975, US troops had withdrawn from Cambodia, leaving the people defenseless against Pol Pot’s army, the Khmer Rouge. As the army took over Cambodia, thousands of innocent people were ordered out of their homes. In April 1975, fourteen-year-old Bun Yom was forced at gunpoint, along with his family, to march toward the steaming jungle. After a soldier separated Yom from his family, he had no idea he would not see them again for nine years. In his account of his involuntary journey from a normal childhood to enslavement in conditions so inhumane it seemed only death could free him, Yom shares ... continue
74.
Walking Since Daybreak by Modris Eksteins EN
LatviaDescription:
Part history, part autobiography, Eksteins relates the tragic story of the Baltic nations before, during, and after World War II through personal stories from his family. Photos and map.
75.
Warring Visions : Photography and Vietnam by Thy Phu EN
VietnamDescription:
Thy Phu explores photographs produced by dispersed communities throughout Vietnam and the Vietnamese diaspora, both during and after the Vietnam War, to complicate prominent narratives of conflict and memory and to expand understandings of how war is waged, experienced, and resolved.
76.
We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies by Tsering Yangzom Lama EN
NepalDescription:
"In the wake of China's invasion of Tibet throughout the 1950s, Lhamo and her younger sister, Tenkyi, arrive at a refugee camp in Nepal. They survived the dangerous journey across the Himalayas, but their parents did not. As Lhamo--haunted by the loss of her homeland and her mother, a village oracle--tries to rebuild a life amid a shattered community, hope arrives in the form of a young man named Samphel and his uncle, who brings with him the ancient statue of the Nameless Saint--a relic known to vanish and reappear in times of need. Decades later, the sisters are separated, and Tenkyi is livi... continue
77.
When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge by Chanrithy Him EN
Description:
A survivor of the Cambodian genocide recounts a childhood in Cambodia, where rudimentary labor camps filled with death and illness were the norm and modern technology, such as cars and electricity, no longer existed. Reprint.
78.
When Heaven and Earth Changed Places : A Vietnamese Woman's Journey from War to Peace by Le Ly Hayslip, Jay Wurts EN
Description:
Le Ly recounts her childhood in Ky La and her return to Vietnam in 1986 to search for the family she had left behind.