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Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present 
Hessler, P.
New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2006. ISBN 0060826584.
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| This book reveals a rapidly modernizing China that still has roots in its ancient past. Drawing on experiences during his four years as an English teacher and freelance writer based in Beijing, Hessler tells the story of his friends and students--the lower- and middle-class people who are buffeted by the shifting political and economic currents as China rises to global prominence. Hessler uses ancient artifacts, particularly the Shang Dynasty turtle shells that bear the oldest examples of Chinese writing, as a device to provide a deeper context for China's dramatic social changes. 512 pages. |
In the Wake of the Jomon 
Turk, J.
New York: McGraw Hill, 2005. ISBN 0071449027.
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| Turk claims to re-enact part of a late Ice Age migration to America by Japan's Jomon, who he believes were ancestral to early inhabitants of the Northwest such as Kennewick Man. See also our review. 287 pages. |
Arts of Southeast Asia
Kerlogue, F.
New York: Thames & Hudson, 2004. ISBN 0500203814.
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| With over 100 color illustrations of art, this book describes major artistic achievements of Southeast Asia from prehistory to modern day. The book also describes major religions in how they have shaped the region's historic cultures. 224 pages. |
New Perspectives on China's Past: Twentieth-Century Chinese Archaeology
Yang, X., ed.
New Haven: Yale University Press, 2004. ISBN 0300096348.
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| This expansive two-volume set, edited by the curator of Chinese Art at the Nelson Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri, details archaeological treasures from China's ancient culture. 800 pages. |
Written on Bamboo & Silk
Tsien, T.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. ISBN 0226814181.
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| Updated and expanded, this book contains the major work on the history and development of Chinese writing. Also included are the descriptions of Chinese documents and artifacts uncovered since the first edition, over 40 years ago. 323 pages. |
Samarkand, Bukhara, Kiva
Chuvin, P.
Paris: Editions Flammarion, 2003. ISBN 2080111698.
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| "Garden that Ravishes the Heart" and "Pavilion of Delight" once existed in the vibrant and mythical lands along the Silk Road. "Castle of Demons" still does. All are lovingly documented in this hefty, glossy tome celebrating the three capitals of Central Asia. The author's informative yet never overbearing text on the region's historical monuments is well served by an excellent English translation, but the scene-stealer here is Gèrard Degeorge's spectacular photographs of 100- and 1,000-year-old fortresses, mosques, and residences. 248 pages. |
A Peaceful Realm: The Rise and Fall of the Indus Civilization
McIntosh, J.
Boulder: Westview Press, 2002. ISBN 0813335329.
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| A Peaceful Realm presents an abundantly illustrated and informative picture of what is known of the great Indus civilization. 224 pages. |
Dunhuang Manuscript Forgeries
Whitfield, S., ed.
London: The British Library, 2002. ISBN 0712346317.
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| Scientists, conservators, and scholars analyze the calligraphy, wording, and materials of the Dunhuang manuscripts of pre-eleventh century China to reveal which are actually modern forgeries. Includes color and black-and-white photographs of the manuscripts, and charts, and graphs. Part of the British Library Studies in Conservation Science series. 358 pages. |
Hawai'i's Russian Adventure: A New Look at Old History
Mills, P.
Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2002. ISBN 0824824040.
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| In the early 1800s, when thousands of American and European traders arrived in Hawai'i, Russia expanded its trading outposts as far as western Kaua'i and together with Kaua'i's chiefs began planning the construction of Fort Elisabeth in 1816. Peter Mills examines the fort and its place in the history of Kaua'i, and how Hawaiians have been ignored in their own history. 295 pages. |
India: An Archaeological History
Chakrabarti, Dilip K.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 0195658809.
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| An archaeological examination of the prehistory and history of India, from its Palaeolithic beginnings to its historic foundations. 392 pages. |
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