Category Archives: Reviews

East Asia, past and present

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 … Continue reading

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Books read

How Asia Works, by Joe Studwell. One part explanation of how Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and most recently, China have modernised since the end of WW2 — and one part caustic polemic about why Southeast Asia hasn’t matched up. The discussion of … Continue reading

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Writing on the Wall: Social Media: The First 2,000 Years, by Tom Standage

Did you know that the classic media business model (widely distributed, subsidised by advertising) only took off in 1833 with the launch of the New York Sun? The Sun sold at 1/6th the price of its rivals; juiced circulation with … Continue reading

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Books read – June through September 2013

Global Interactions in the Early Modern Age, 1400-1800, by Charles H Parker. This is an introductory (270 pages) academic work, covering a number of topics: European and Asian empires, trade, population movements, ecological change, and cultural and religious shifts. Therein … Continue reading

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Book log: April/May 2013

To Conquer the Air: The Wright Brothers and the Great Race for Flight, by James Tobin. A narrative history of the early pioneers of heavier-than-air flight, particularly the Wright Brothers and Samuel Langley. Not as memorable as it could have … Continue reading

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Book log: March/early April 2013

From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals who Remade Asia, by Pankaj Mishra. One of those books I found fascinating as a glimpse into a different world, and worldview, despite my real disagreements with the author. Here is a useful … Continue reading

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My 2012 holiday reading

Early Modern Europe: An Oxford History. I spent ages searching for a book of this sort – a clear, concise, holistic overview of the subject. The book is divided into three parts, each broadly dedicated to a specific century – … Continue reading

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Why the West industrialised before the rest: David Landes’ The Wealth and Poverty of Nations; Kenneth Pomeranz’s The Great Divergence

Still in search of why the Industrial Revolution occurred, why it came first in Britain, and why the West beat the Rest to the punch, I turned to two more books: David Landes’ The Wealth and Poverty of Nations, and … Continue reading

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Book review: Adapt, by Tim Harford

Please note I am not an expert in the topics covered by this book; rather, my perspective is that of an interested lay reader.   Adapt: Why Success Always Starts With Failure, by Tim Harford (2011): At the very top … Continue reading

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Two books on the history of human civilisation: Civilization, by Niall Ferguson; Why the West Rules – For Now, by Ian Morris

Conquest and imperialism have been part of human history since the first caveman speared his rival in a fight over a hunk of mammoth meat, and they reached their zenith with the European powers of the nineteenth century. But why … Continue reading

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