A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century, by Charles Holcombe
A problem I’ve previously observed with introductory-level academic histories is their tendency to combine the worst of both worlds: they are too dry for the novice reader while containing insufficient detail for those who are more advanced.
This book, I think, gets the balance right. It provides a clear, concise introduction to the history of China, Japan, and Korea, and importantly, also discusses the links between the three. Did you know that when the Korean kingdoms of Silla and Baekje (romanised as Paekche in the book) went to war in 660, Tang China and Yamato Japan backed opposite sides? “At a great river battle fought in 663,” Holcombe writes, “the combined Tang and Sillan navies reportedly sank four hundred Japanese warships, sealing the fate of Paekche and ending Japanese influence on the continent for almost a millennium.” Or that Park Chung-hee, South Korea’s president from 1961 to 1979, deployed the same slogan (“rich country, strong military”) as the Meiji industrialisers a century earlier?
As someone who has read bits and pieces about the three nations discussed in the book, I found it both useful and interesting as a glimpse at the “big picture”. Recommended.
***
The Forbidden Game: Golf and the Chinese Dream, by Dan Washburn
Despite the name, this isn’t really a book about golf. It’s a book about contemporary China, as seen through the experiences of three men:
- Wang Libo, a rural cabbie whose land is seized to make room for a golf course;
- Martin Moore, an American builder who comes to China; and
- The heart of the book: Zhou Xunshu, who goes from impoverished villager to golf pro.
The book comes alive as we read about Zhou’s struggles: the terror and thill of handling a borrowed golf club worth three months’ pay, his subsequent pride as he polishes his first club with toothbrush and soap, the ups and downs of trying to cobble together a career on the (barely remunerated) Chinese tournament circuit while also supporting a family. His journey encapsulates the transformation of a country, and that, by itself, is worth the price of admission. Recommended.
For more detail, here is the review that sold me on the book, while here is an excerpt that highlights the author’s visit to Zhou’s remote hometown.