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Asia: A Concise History
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Table of Contents

Preface xi

Introduction xiii

List of Maps xx

Photo Credits xxi

Part 1: Ancient Asia 1

Chapter 1: Ancient West Asia 3

The First Civilisation: Sumer 3

The Great Empires: Babylon, Assyria and Persia 12

Understanding the World: Religion and Myth 21

Endgame: Greco-Roman Europe Versus Persian Asia 30

Chapter 2: Ancient South Asia 41

Asia’s Second Civilisation: The Indus Valley 41

Epic India: The Aryan Invasion 49

The Buddhist Revolution: The Mauryan Empire 55

The Age of Invasion: From the Bactrians to the Huns 64

Chapter 3: Ancient East Asia 74

The Cradle of the East: The Shang Dynasty 74

Classical China: The Zhou Dynasty 82

Imperial Unification: The Qin and Former Han Emperors 90

Imperial Crisis: The Failure of the Later Han 100

Chapter 4: Ancient Central Asia 107

The Steppe: An Intercontinental Highway 107

Nomads: The Scourge of the Sown 116

The Spread of Buddhism: The First Pan-Asian Faith 126

The Great Raid: Attila the Hun 135

Part 2: Medieval Asia 141

Chapter 5: Medieval West Asia 143

Islam: The Second Pan-Asian Faith 143

The Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphates 151

The Coming of the Seljuks 157

The Crusades 161

Safavid Persia 166

The Ottoman Empire 171

Chapter 6: Medieval South Asia 178

The Arrival of Islam 178

The Hindu and Buddhist Kingdoms 186

The Mughal Empire 192

European Rivalry 202

The British Triumph 210

Chapter 7: Medieval East Asia 213

Tang and Song China 213

Confucian Korea 225

Feudal Japan 230

The Ming Revival 239

Chapter 8: Medieval Central Asia 246

The Turks and the Qidans 246

The Tibetan Empire 251

The Mongol Empire 256

Tamerlane, the Sword of Islam 267

The Manchu Conquests 271

Chapter 9: Medieval Southeast Asia 277

Independent Vietnam 277

The Khmer Empire 282

The Kingdoms of Burma 289

The Island Powers: Srivijaya, Mataram and Majapahit 293

The Slow Spread of Islam 300

The Advent of European Power 302

The Rise of the Thai 307

Part 3: Modern Asia 315

Chapter 10: Modern West Asia 317

The Fall of the Ottoman Empire 317

Between World Wars 322

The Founding of Israel 327

Syria, Lebanon and Jordan 328

Iraq versus Iran 330

Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States 335

Modern Turkey 336

Chapter 11: Modern South Asia 339

The British Raj 339

The Indian Mutiny 344

The End of Company Rule 351

Gandhi and Indian Nationalism 353

Independence and Partition 358

Sri Lanka and Bangladesh 360

Chapter 12: Modern East Asia 363

China’s Humiliation 363

Japanese Imperialism 369

The People’s Republic of China 378

The Korean War 382

The Rise of the Pacific Rim 384

Chapter 13: Modern Central Asia 386

The Russian Advance 386

The Great Game 393

Afghanistan, the Land of Bones 397

Siberia and Mongolia 400

The Central Asian Republics 403

Chapter 14: Modern Southeast Asia 407

The Dutch East Indies 407

The British Possessions 410

French Indochina and Thailand 415

The Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere 419

Post-War Decolonisation 423

The Republic of Indonesia 427

The Tragedy of Vietnam 430

Filipino Democracy 434

Postscript: The Rise of Present-Day Asia 437

Glossary 441

Further Reading 444

Index 453

About the Author

Arthur Cotterell, currently residing in England, was a former Principal of Kingston College in London. He has spent many years combining senior educational management with historical research. Arthur currently spends most of his time on writing, and travels extensively throughout Asia.
Arthur is the respected author of more than thirty books. His most recent publications include, The Imperial Capitals of China, Leadership and Chariot.

Reviews

November 2012
Book by Chia-Hui Francis Lin, PhD, The University of Melbourne, Australia, first published by East Asia Integration Studies:
http://asianintegration.org/index.php?option=com_joomlib&task=view&id=88&Itemid=75

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