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comment by Herunar
Herunar  ·  3406 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: Dear Hubski, what do you want to learn?

@Shubhang, I majored in History and focused on East Asian history - even did one of my end of year projects on the Indian Mutiny. I could definitely recommend some reading if you're at all interesting in that part of the world.

I want to learn Mandarin, myself. I'll be doing a Masters in Chinese Studies so I really needa get my language skills up to scratch.





Shubhang  ·  3406 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I would love to! Please do give me interesting reads! Thank you sooo much @Herunar!

Herunar  ·  3405 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Right well, here's just a brief list:

Japan:

A Brief History of the Samurai by Jonathan Clements Japan in War and Peace by John Dower Kamikaze, Cherry Blossoms, and Nationalisms by Emiko Ohnuki-Tierney (Heartbreaking)

China:

China in the 20th Century by Paul Bailey (bit biased because he was my supervisor, but, it is a fantastic general history book)

Kay Ann Johnson's Women, the Family, and the Peasant Revolution has a pretty critical view of the CCP's early policies, but her work is slightly dated. Re-Envisioning the Chinese Revolution is a more modern work and goes into the various policies of the CCP and how they were successful but also not.

India:

Modern South Asia: History, Culture, Political Economy by Ayesha Jalal and Sugata Bose (probably the definitive general history book for modern Indian history, I'd say. Really easy to read, too)

Thomas Metcalf's The New Cambridge History of India is really good too, but veeeeeeeery lengthy, to say the least.

Alternatively, if you have access to JSTOR, there are plenty of really good articles to be found on any of these subjects. But, if you don't have access to a nearby library and understandably don't want to buy a bunch of books, I'd recommend John Green's CrashCourse World History on Youtube - it gives a pretty good general look at various places in the world and he has a fair few episodes dedicated to various Asian countries.

Shubhang  ·  3405 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Thank you so much!

TheVenerableCain  ·  3406 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Given your expertise, what's your opinion on Hardcore History, specifically "The Wrath of The Khans" down at the bottom of the page? They're a fairly long listen, but if you have a commute, it's a nice time to give it a go. I personally found it very interesting, entertaining, and (seemingly) well researched, but I know nothing about that area of the world and its history, so I was curious as to how accurate the information presented is.

Herunar  ·  3405 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I've heard a lot about the Hardcore History podcasts; namely that they are really, really good. I've never listened to them, but I'd be happy to try em out and tell you what I think!

TheVenerableCain  ·  3404 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Awesome. I'll eagerly await your review!

Herunar  ·  3403 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Right, well I've just listened to the first episode so far, but I think he's done a pretty good job with it! The show's clearly really well researched and he makes sure to bring in all sorts of differing views (I know the Mongols in particular have a pretty rich historiography surrounding them so this was pretty important). The only thing I don't really agree with him on is his views on revisionist history, as he sort of dismisses it as glazing over a lot of the negative impacts of the Mongols, but I don't think that's quite the case.

I'm definitely going to be listening to more of his stuff from now on though, so thanks for the recommendation!