Asia Reference Works

"This book is about Southeast Asia in a new era. This new era began with a new century and a new millennium posing great challenges to the region and to each country in it. It has a chapter on each of the ten countries in the region, covering both the politics and the economic aspects. It has one on the region as a whole, and one on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It has a thoughtful afterword that is a summary of its contents but is more than the sum of the individual chapters. Many books and chapters of books have been written on Southeast Asia, usually by external observers. Aside from being up-to-date, this book is different from most of them in several ways. Most of the chapters are written by Southeast Asians; indeed, most of the country-chapters are written by natives of those countries. This means that the perspectives are based on local insights, which provide nuance and sensitivity. The book is addressed primarily to the young people of Southeast Asia, so that they can get to know their neighbours better. Each chapter has a guide to further reading and a series of questions to provoke further research and deeper inquiry."--publisher.

Volume four of a six-volume set in which alphabetically arranged entries provide information on every aspect of modern Asia, including its culture, people, economy, government, arts, geography, architecture, religion, and history.

“A good read for anyone who wants to understand what actually determines whether a developing economy will succeed.” —Bill Gates, “Top 5 Books of the Year” An Economist Best Book of the Year from a reporter who has spent two decades in the region, and who the Financial Times said “should be named chief myth-buster for Asian business.” In How Asia Works, Joe Studwell distills his extensive research into the economies of nine countries—Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China—into an accessible, readable narrative that debunks Western misconceptions, shows what really happened in Asia and why, and for once makes clear why some countries have boomed while others have languished. Studwell’s in-depth analysis focuses on three main areas: land policy, manufacturing, and finance. Land reform has been essential to the success of Asian economies, giving a kick-start to development by utilizing a large workforce and providing capital for growth. With manufacturing, industrial development alone is not sufficient, Studwell argues. Instead, countries need “export discipline,” a government that forces companies to compete on the global scale. And in finance, effective regulation is essential for fostering, and sustaining growth. To explore all of these subjects, Studwell journeys far and wide, drawing on fascinating examples from a Philippine sugar baron’s stifling of reform to the explosive growth at a Korean steel mill. “Provocative . . . How Asia Works is a striking and enlightening book . . . A lively mix of scholarship, reporting and polemic.” —The Economist

This guide to the literature of Asian history represents a first attempt to present in an integrated fashion all the major source materials, without distinction as to place or language of publication. Of the approximately 950 books and periodicals referred to, about two-thirds are in English, and about 140 are in Japanese. In addition to books and articles on historical and political subjects, the Bibliographyalso lists appropriate encyclopedias, yearbooks, biographical dictionaries, atlases, gazetteers, and sources of census and statistical information. The selection of references was made after an examination of contents or on the advice of specialists. The criteria for selection included the comprehensiveness of the work, the avoidance of overlap with other works cited, and the quality of the work itself. There is an obviously modern bias to this guide with its concentration on problems of concern to modern Asia rather than traditional Asia, but materials have not been limited to those of a strictly contemporary interest, and books with an early modern emphasis have also been included. The work encompasses materials published up to the end of 1968; extended editions of this guide will appear at regular intervals in the future, and to facilitate this, the text has been transcribed on computer tape. The countries and regions covered are: Asia generally; Southern Asia generally. Ceylon; India; Nepal; Pakistan. Southeast Asia generally; Burma; Thailand; Malaysia; the Philippines; Indochina generally; Vietnam; Laos; Cambodia. East Asia generally; China; Mongolia; Korea; Japan.

This is a selected, annotated list of some 2,000 books on Asia in English and French currently in print, chosen with the aim of providing a long-term historical perspective for the general reader. The list is presented in four main parts: Asia as a whole; the Islamic world; India, South and Southeast Asia; the Far East. Subdivisions cover such topics as: general and reference works; history, social science, and law; history of literature; literature in translation; religion and ideas; arts, crafts, architecture, and science; and the lands in modern times.

Textbook on bibliography. Partly historical examination of the scope and content of oriental and Asian studies, with some reference to africa. International organizations, universitys and research centres interested in such studies. Manuscripts, reference books, periodicals and bibliographies. Directory of librarys in asia, UK, USA and USSR.