Charles Holcombe

The third edition of this ambitious book begins by asking: What is East Asia? Today, many of the features that made the region distinct have been submerged under revolution, politics, or globalization. Yet in ancient times, what we now think of as China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam had both historical and cultural coherence. Thoroughly revised and updated to include recent developments in East Asian politics, with new illustrations and suggestions for further reading, this book traces the story of East Asia from the dawn of history to the modern age. New discussion questions at the end of each chapter encourage readers to reflect, while a glossary, pronunciation guide, and parallel timeline enable a closer engagement with this complex subject. Charles Holcombe is an experienced and sure-footed guide who encapsulates, in a fast-moving and colorful narrative, the connections, commonalities, and differences of one of the most remarkable regions on earth.

The third edition of this ambitious book begins by asking: What is East Asia? Today, many of the features that made the region distinct have been submerged under revolution, politics, or globalization. Yet in ancient times, what we now think of as China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam had both historical and cultural coherence. Thoroughly revised and updated to include recent developments in East Asian politics, with new illustrations and suggestions for further reading, this book traces the story of East Asia from the dawn of history to the modern age. New discussion questions at the end of each chapter encourage readers to reflect, while a glossary, pronunciation guide, and parallel timeline enable a closer engagement with this complex subject. Charles Holcombe is an experienced and sure-footed guide who encapsulates, in a fast-moving and colorful narrative, the connections, commonalities, and differences of one of the most remarkable regions on earth.

Charles Holcombe begins by asking the question 'what is East Asia?' In the modern age, many of the features that made the region - now defined as including China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam - distinct have been submerged by the effects of revolution, politics or globalization. Yet, as an ancient civilization, the region had both an historical and cultural coherence. This shared past is at the heart of this ambitious book, which traces the story of East Asia from the dawn of history to the twenty-first century. The second edition has been imaginatively revised and expanded to place emphasis on cross-cultural interactions and connections, both within East Asia and beyond, with new material on Vietnam and modern pop culture. The second edition also features a Chinese character list, additional maps and new illustrations.