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The Penguin History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850-2009
Jonathan Fenby (Author),Tarix, -
Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane
S. Frederick Starr,Tarix, -
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The Penguin History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-First Century
Robert Service (Author),Tarix,
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The Penguin History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850-2009
Jonathan Fenby (Author),The crucial book for understanding modern China, now updated to include the rule of Xi Jinping In 1850, China was the 'sick man of Asia'. Now it is set to become the most powerful nation on earth. The Penguin History of Modern China shows how turbulent that journey has been. For 150 years China has endured as a victim of brutality on an unmatched scale, of oppression, war and famine. This makes its current position as the newest and, arguably, most important global superpower all the more extraordinary. Jonathan Fenby's clear, authoritative and brilliantly written account of China's recent past, now updated to take in the ascendency of Xi Jinping and China's global ambitions, is the definitive guide to this remarkable transformation.
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Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane
S. Frederick Starr,In this sweeping and richly illustrated history, S. Frederick Starr tells the fascinating but largely unknown story of Central Asia’s medieval enlightenment through the eventful lives and astonishing accomplishments of its greatest minds—remarkable figures who built a bridge to the modern world. Because nearly all of these figures wrote in Arabic, they were long assumed to have been Arabs. In fact, they were from Central Asia—drawn from the Persianate and Turkic peoples of a region that today extends from Kazakhstan southward through Afghanistan, and from the easternmost province of Iran through Xinjiang, China. Lost Enlightenment recounts how, between the years 800 and 1200, Central Asia led the world in trade and economic development, the size and sophistication of its cities, the refinement of its arts, and, above all, in the advancement of knowledge in many fields. Central Asians achieved signal breakthroughs in astronomy, mathematics, geology, medicine, chemistry, music, social science, philosophy, and theology, among other subjects.
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Why the West Rules - for Now: The Patterns of History and What They
an Morris,In the middle of the eighteenth century, British entrepreneurs unleashed the astounding energies of steam and coal and the world changed forever. Factories, railways and gunboats then propelled the West's rise to power, and computers and nuclear weapons in the twentieth century secured its global supremacy. Today, however, many worry that the emergence of China and India spell the end of the West as a superpower. How long will the power of the West last? In order to find out we need to know: why has the West been so dominant for the past two hundred years? With flair and authority, historian and achaeologist Ian Morris draws uniquely on 15,000 years of history to offer fresh insights on what the future will bring. Deeply researched and brilliantly argued, Why The West Rules - For Now is a gripping and truly original history of the world.
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The Penguin History of Modern Russia: From Tsarism to the Twenty-First Century
Robert Service (Author),Russia's recent past has encompassed revolution, civil war, mass terror and two world wars, and the country is still undergoing huge change and upheaval. In his acclaimed history, now updated to 2009, Robert Service provides a superb panoramic viewpoint on Russia, exploring the complex, changing interaction between rulers and ruled from Nicholas II, Lenin and Stalin through to Gorbachev, Yeltsin, Putin and beyond. This new edition also discusses continuing economic and social difficulties, Russia's determination to restore its major role on the world stage and how, despite the recent years of de-communization, the seven decades of communist rule which penetrated every aspect of life still continue to influence Russia today.