Introduction: what is East Asia?; 1. The origins of civilization in East Asia; 2. The formative era; 3. The age of cosmopolitanism; 4. The creation of a community: China, Korea, and Japan (7th–10th centuries); 5. Mature independent trajectories (10th–16th centuries); 6. Early-modern East Asia (16th–18th centuries); 7. The nineteenth-century encounter of civilizations; 8. The age of Westernization (1900–29); 9. The dark valley (1930–45); 10. Japan since 1945; 11. Korea since 1945; 12. China since 1945; Afterword.
This book traces the story of East Asia from the dawn of history to the present.
Charles Holcombe is Professor of History at the University of Northern Iowa. His publications include The Genesis of East Asia, 221 B.C.–A.D. 907 (2001) and In the Shadow of the Han: Literati Thought and Society at the Start of the Southern Dynasties (1994).
"For general readers and interested students alike, this book will
be a delight. Holcombe has a good eye and ear for what is
historically important, and his coherent narrative thread connects
the chapters of his book like the beads of a necklace" - David
Curtis Wright, Department of History, University of Calgary
“Holcombe’s book is going to be a very important text for
undergraduates and general readers looking for a fresh approach to
East Asian history. He takes the reader through all the requisite
periods and places, yet does so in ways which bring out new
insights and connections. Holcombe engages with important themes in
current scholarship and shows how they are really relevant to
better understanding the complex and diverse history of this
critical region. His approach to synchronous developments across
China, Korea and Japan, and the ways in which the historical
narratives of these countries interact with each other, make this a
most useful and enlightening book.” - Ken Hammond, Professor of
East Asian History, New Mexico State University
“Treading a line between the emerging field of transnational
history and a more traditional regional history, Holcombe has
written a valuable and impressive guide to the histories of East
Asia. The historical and regional scope, reaching from the ancient
past to the ultra-modern present, is unprecedented in a volume of
this size. Students of East Asia and of international history will
find this book essential reading.” - Chris Goto-Jones, Professor
and Director of the Modern East Asia Research Centre, Leiden
University
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