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Asian History Library Online – Free PDF Books about Asia

Asian History Library Online - Free PDF Books about Asia

Hundreds of Asian history books pdf in subject collections at Internet Archive. Textbooks also. Online library free.


Book Collections on Asian History

History of Asia PDF – Collection

History of Asia pdf books at the Internet Archive. Some books: Concise History of Southeast Asia, Atlas and Survey of South Asian History, Asian Merchants and Businessmen in the Indian Ocean, Asia: a concise history, Modern South Asia, In Search of Southeast Asia, The Rise and Rule of Tamerlane, When Asia was the World, The Travels of Marco Polo, many more.

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History of Asia Politics & Government – Collection – Asian History Library Online

PDF books related to the history of politics and government in Asia. Some titles: An Introduction to South Asia, Indian Subcontinent, South Asia’s Modern History, The Making of the Asia Pacific, Nations Under Siege.

History of Asian Social Life and Customs – Collection

Free books on the history of social life and customs in Asia. Some titles: Daily Life in the Mongol Empire, The Making of Anthropology in East and Southeast Asia, Far Eastern Beginnings, The Night My Mother Met Bruce Lee, Highness: The Maharajahs of India.

Asian Economic History – Collection – Asian History Textbooks PDF

Free books on Asian Economic History. Some books: Japan Restored, Dealing with China, China New Zealand and the Complexities of Globalization, The Durable Slum, Capitalism: A Ghost Story.

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Asian Social History Books – Collection – Asian History Books PDF

Free Books on Asian social history. Some titles: Elephant Complex: Travels in Sri Lanka, New Korean Wave, Tokyo: A Biography, Merchant Communities in Asia 1600-1980.

More Collections of Free Books on Asia Topics

Suggested Books on Asian History

CORE BOOKS – History of Asia PDF – Asian Studies PDF

Empires of the Silk Road: A History of Central Eurasia from the Bronze Age to the Present – Asian History Library Online

Beckwith, Christopher I.
Princeton University 2009

The first complete history of Central Eurasia from ancient times to the present day. Beckwith describes the rise and fall of the great Central Eurasian empires, including those of the Scythians, Attila the Hun, the Turks and Tibetans, and Genghis Khan and the Mongols. In addition, he explains why the heartland of Central Eurasia led the world economically, scientifically, and artistically for many centuries despite invasions by Persians, Greeks, Arabs, Chinese, and others.


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Pacific Century: The Emergence of Modern Pacific Asia – Asian History Books PDF

Borthwick, Mark
Westview 1992        Dewey Dec.    950

“The Asia-Pacific region is rapidly emerging as the global economic and political powerhouse of the twenty-first century. Looking at both Southeast and East Asia, this richly illustrated volume stresses broad, cross-cutting themes of regional history, with an emphasis on the interactions between cultures and nations.” – Publisher.


Looking at the Sun: The Rise of the New East Asian Economic and Political System

Fallows, James M.
Pantheon 1994        Dewey Dec.    950

The Western world believes that capitalism has won, that our model of individual enterprise and rights has triumphed. But in East Asia a new system has emerged that challenges the economic principles the West extols. In fact, as James Fallows vividly demonstrates, the theories we embrace to explain how nations rise and fall have prevented us from seeing the true nature of this new system and its enormous impact on us. Extraordinary in depth and scope, Looking At the Sun provides the first clear picture of the Asian rise and the magnitude of its challenge to the Western world.


South Korean History pdf


When Asia Was the World

Gordon, Stewart
Da Capo 2009

While European intellectual, cultural, and commercial life stagnated during the early medieval period, Asia flourished as the wellspring of science, philosophy, and religion. The different regions of Asia’s vast civilization, from Arabia to China, hummed with commerce, international diplomacy, and the brisk exchange of ideas. Stewart Gordon has fashioned a fascinating and unique look at Asia from A.D. 700 to 1500.


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Central Asia: A Global Studies Handbook – Asian History Library Online

Hanks, Reuel R.
ABC-CLIO 2005

The world is beginning to take notice of Central Asia as the crossroads between the Middle East, Asia, and Europe. Central Asia: A Global Studies Handbook explores the three central states of the region, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, and provides insight to their past, present, and future. From the geography, history, and economics to politics, education, and religion, students and teachers will find this an informative and comprehensive research source, while business-people and travelers will discover a fascinating look into the region’s society. From the times of Alexander through globalization and the politicization of Islam, the mysteries of Central Asia are finally brought to light.


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Encyclopedia of Ancient Asian Civilizations – Asian History Books PDF

Higham, Charles F. W.
Facts on File 2004        Dewey Dec.    950

The civilizations of Ancient Asia have played a major role in humankind’s development through their accumulated knowledge and impressive achievements. “A good beginning point for research, especially in regard to archaeological excavations.” -Booklist.


China and Japan in the Global Setting

Ireye, Akira
Harvard Univ. 1992        Dewey Dec.    950

“This is an eloquently written, serious, and original set of lectures. The book will interest political scientists as much as historians because of its explicit orientation to what the author calls ‘international history’ and because of his very interesting manipulation of the three concepts of power, economy, and culture in order to explain why his three eras—late Meiji, interwar, and postwar—differ from each other.”—Chalmers Johnson, University of California, San Diego.


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Encyclopedia of Modern Asia (vol 1)

– Volume 2

– Volume 3

– Volume 4

– Volume 5

– Volume 6

Levinson, David
Scribner 2002        Dewey Dec.    950

This set is alphabetically arranged by topic. Vol 6 provides the index for the whole set. The topics cover the 33 Asian countries’ geography, economics, politics, human rights, cultures and languages, and biographies.


The Great Empires of Asia

Masselos, Jim, ed.
Arcadia 2010

Asian empires led the world economically, scientifically and culturally for hundreds of years, and posed a constant challenge to the countries of Europe. How and why did those empires gain such power, and lose it? What legacies did they leave? This book brings together a team of distinguished historians to survey seven great Asian empires that rose and fell between 800 CE and the mid-20th century. They show how those seven empires played a key role in forming today’s global civilization.


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Asia: A Concise History – Asian History Textbooks PDF

Meyer, Milton W.
Rowman & Littlefield 1997

This comprehensive introduction to Asia offers readers a clear overview of the continent from ancient times to the present.


Keys to Understanding the Middle East

Payind, Alam and McClimans, Melinda
The Ohio State University 2017

This book is intended for readers who have never studied the Middle East, or experts who may wish to fill gaps in their knowledge of the region from other disciplines. The languages, cultural, religious and sectarian communities of the region, and selected turning points and influential people in history are starting points for gaining an understanding of the diverse contexts of the region.


Epidemics in Modern Asia

Peckham, Robert
Cambridge University 2016

Encompassing two centuries of Asian history, Robert Peckham explores the profound impact that infectious disease has had on societies across the region: from India to China and the Russian Far East. The book tracks the links between biology, history, and geopolitics, highlighting infectious disease’s interdependencies with empire, modernization, revolution, nationalism, migration, and transnational patterns of trade.


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Women in Asia: Restoring Women to History

Ramusack, Barbara N. and Sievers, Sharon
Indiana University 1999

Barbara N. Ramusack writes on South and Southeast Asia, surveying both the prescriptive roles and the lived experiences of women, as well as the construction of gender from early states to the 1990s. Sharon Sievers presents an overview of women’s participation in the histories of China, Japan, and Korea from prehistory to the modern period that provides a framework for incorporating women into world history classrooms.


East Asia: The Great Tradition – Asian History Library Online

Reischauer, Edwin O. and Fairbank, John K.
Houghton Mifflin 1960        Dewey Dec.    950

“Sets out to give a survey of the history of China and the lands that have derived their high culture from China – Korea and Japan (but not Vietnam) – up to the time when they became intimately involved with European imperialism. … J.K. Fairbank has contributed three chapters on the Mongol period, the Ming and the Ch’ing.” – J. Royal Asiatic Society.


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A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations – Asian History Textbooks PDF

Schirokauer, Conrad et al.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2006        Dewey Dec.    950

“Explores the development of China and Japan through their art, religion, literature, and thought as well as through their economic, political, and social history. The author team combines strong research with extensive classroom teaching experience to offer a clear, consistent, and highly readable text that is accessible to students with no previous knowledge of the history of East Asia.” – Publisher.


An Outline History of East Asia to 1200

Schneewind, Sarah
eScholarship 2020

This is the second edition of the open access textbook that arose out of a course at the University of California, San Diego, called HILD 10: East Asia: The Great Tradition. The course covers what have become two Chinas, Japan, and two Koreas from roughly 1200 BC to about AD 1200.


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A History Of The Far East In Modern Times – Asian History Textbooks PDF

Vinacke, Harold M.
Appleton-Century-Crofts 1923        Dewey Dec.    950

Originally published in 1923, this 6th edition was updated and published in approximately 1960. The majority of the book is about the histories of China and Japan, with some chapters on Korea and very brief entries on other countries in the region.


Genghis Khan and the Quest for God: How the World’s Greatest Conqueror Gave Us Religious Freedom

Weatherford, Jack
Penguin 2016

Genghis Khan conquered by arms and bravery, but he ruled by commerce and religion. He created the world’s greatest trading network and drastically lowered taxes for merchants, but he knew that if his empire was going to last, he would need something stronger and more binding than trade. He needed religion. And so, unlike the Christian, Taoist and Muslim conquerors who came before him, he gave his subjects freedom of religion.

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