New Book Announcements

New Non-Fiction Books
New Book Annoucement: “Rethinking Community in Myanmar: Practices of We-Formation among Muslims and Hindus in Urban Yangon” by Judith Beyer
20 February 202310 March 2023
In this first anthropological study of Muslim and Hindu lives in urban Myanmar today, Beyer develops the concept of ‘we-formation’ to demonstrate that individuals are always more than members of wider groups. ‘We-formation’ complements her rich political, legal and historical analysis of ‘community’, a term used by Beyer’s interlocutors themselves, even as it reinforces ethno-religious…
Read More New Book Annoucement: “Rethinking Community in Myanmar: Practices of We-Formation among Muslims and Hindus in Urban Yangon” by Judith Beyer
New Non-Fiction Books
New Book Announcement: “The Precious Summary: A History of the Mongols from Chinggis Khan to the Qing Dynasty”
15 February 202315 February 2023
The Mongols, their khans, and the empire they built and ruled in the 13th and 14th centuries exert an enduring fascination. Caricatured as a marauding horde that ravaged surrounding peoples, in reality the Mongols created institutions, trading networks, economic systems, and intellectual and technological exchanges that shaped the early modern world. However, the centuries after…
Read More New Book Announcement: “The Precious Summary: A History of the Mongols from Chinggis Khan to the Qing Dynasty”
New Non-Fiction Books
New Book Announcement: “New Threats to Academic Freedom in Asia”, edited by Dimitar D Gueorguiev
13 February 202312 February 2023
New Threats to Academic Freedom in Asia examines the increasingly dire state of academic freedom in Asia. Using cross-national data and in-depth case studies, the authors shed light on the multifaceted nature of academic censorship and provide reference points to those working in restrictive academic environments.
Read More New Book Announcement: “New Threats to Academic Freedom in Asia”, edited by Dimitar D Gueorguiev
New Non-Fiction Books
New Book Announcement: “Plato Goes to China: The Greek Classics and Chinese Nationalism” by Shadi Bartsch
5 February 202310 March 2023
As improbable as it may sound, an illuminating way to understand today’s China and how it views the West is to look at the astonishing ways Chinese intellectuals are interpreting—or is it misinterpreting?—the Greek classics. In Plato Goes to China, Shadi Bartsch offers a provocative look at Chinese politics and ideology by exploring Chinese readings…
Read More New Book Announcement: “Plato Goes to China: The Greek Classics and Chinese Nationalism” by Shadi Bartsch
New Non-Fiction Books
New Book Announcement: “Radio for the Millions: Hindi-Urdu Broadcasting Across Borders” by Isabel Huacuja Alonso
30 January 202329 January 2023
From news about World War II to the broadcasting of music from popular movies, radio played a crucial role in an increasingly divided South Asia for more than half a century. Radio for the Millions examines the history of Hindi-Urdu radio during the height of its popularity from the 1930s to the 1980s, showing how…
Read More New Book Announcement: “Radio for the Millions: Hindi-Urdu Broadcasting Across Borders” by Isabel Huacuja Alonso
New Non-Fiction Books
New Book Announcement: “India And Faraway Lands: 5,000 Years Of Connected History” by Ashutosh Mehndiratta
26 January 2023
India and Faraway Lands is a compact yet panoramic exploration of the story of India from a global perspective. Meticulously researched and lucidly told, the book takes the readers on a journey around the world, in reverse chronological order, tracing pivotal events and unraveling intriguing connections with India—starting with the present that is more visible…
Read More New Book Announcement: “India And Faraway Lands: 5,000 Years Of Connected History” by Ashutosh Mehndiratta
New Non-Fiction Books
New Book Announcement: “Waves of Upheaval in Myanmar: Gendered Transformations and Political Transitions”, edited by Jenny Hedström and Elisabeth Olivius
23 January 2023
This is the first comprehensive account of the multifaceted processes of gendered transformation that took place in Myanmar between 2011 and 2021, and which continues to shape events today. The period began with the end of direct military rule and the transition to a hybrid, semi-democratic regime, precipitating far-reaching political, economic and social changes across…
Read More New Book Announcement: “Waves of Upheaval in Myanmar: Gendered Transformations and Political Transitions”, edited by Jenny Hedström and Elisabeth Olivius
New Non-Fiction Books
New Book Announcement: “The Journey of Hindi Language Journalism in India: From Raj to Swaraj and Beyond” by Mrinal Pande
19 January 202322 January 2023
In India, the English-language media is considered the “national media”, while vernacular media remains “regional”. However, from the 1980s onwards, demographic changes and growth in literacy in the Hindi heartland broadened the market for Hindi newspapers.
Read More New Book Announcement: “The Journey of Hindi Language Journalism in India: From Raj to Swaraj and Beyond” by Mrinal Pande
New Fiction Books
New Book Annoucement: “The Village Maestro & 100 Other Stories” by Varghese Mathai
16 January 2023
Power tales. Brief by design (micro-stories, really). But unforgettably impactful. Their professor-author first delivered them as his signature “class-openers” on US university campuses.Literature, history, science, philosophy, the scriptures, and even personal life – all are raided for these stories. Nimble and quick, they bridge diverse knowledge fields, never failing to leave an inspirational stamp on…
Read More New Book Annoucement: “The Village Maestro & 100 Other Stories” by Varghese Mathai
New Non-Fiction Books
New Book Announcement: “The Second Karmapa Karma Pakshi” by Charles Manson
10 January 202322 January 2023
Karma Pakshi is considered influential in the development of the reincarnate lama tradition, a system that led to the lineage of the Dalai Lamas. Born in East Tibet in the 13th century, Karma Pakshi himself was the first master to be named Karmapa, a lineage that continues to modern times and has millions of admirers…
Read More New Book Announcement: “The Second Karmapa Karma Pakshi” by Charles Manson
New Non-Fiction Books
New Book Announcement: “States of Disconnect: The China-India Literary Relation in the Twentieth Century” by Adhira Mangalagiri
22 December 2022
In an interconnected world, literature moves through transnational networks, crosses borders, and bridges diverse cultures. In these ways, literature can bring people closer together. Today, as hopes for globalization wane and exclusionary nationalism is on the march, can literature still offer new ways of relating with others? Comparative literature has long been under the spell…
Read More New Book Announcement: “States of Disconnect: The China-India Literary Relation in the Twentieth Century” by Adhira Mangalagiri
New Non-Fiction Books
New Book Announcement: “Everyday Modernism: Architecture and Society in Singapore” by Jiat-Hwee Chang and Justin Zhuang
19 December 202219 December 2022
Everyday Modernism is the first comprehensive documentation of Singapore’s modern built environment. Through a lens of social and architectural histories, the book uncovers the many untold stories of the Southeast Asian city-state’s modernization, from the rise of heroic skyscrapers to the spread of utilitarian typologies like the multi-storey car park. It investigates how modernism, through…
Read More New Book Announcement: “Everyday Modernism: Architecture and Society in Singapore” by Jiat-Hwee Chang and Justin Zhuang
New Young Readers Books
New Book Announcement: “No Quiet Water” by Shirley Miller Kamada
15 December 202214 December 2022
No Quiet Water follows 10-year-old Fumio and his family as they are forced to leave their home, farm, and their dog Flyer, while they are escorted into an internment camp. Within the harsh conditions of the camps, Fumio learns what it means to endure while discovering a new world of possibility and belonging. When waiting…
Read More New Book Announcement: “No Quiet Water” by Shirley Miller Kamada
New Non-Fiction Books
New Book Announcement: “Have You Eaten Yet: Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World” by Cheuk Kwan
12 December 202212 December 2022
An eye-opening and soul-nourishing journey through Chinese food around the world. From Cape Town, South Africa, to small-town Saskatchewan, family-run Chinese restaurants are global icons of immigration, community and delicious food. The cultural outposts of far-flung settlers, bringers of dim sum, Peking duck and creative culinary hybrids, Chinese restaurants are a microcosm of greater social…
Read More New Book Announcement: “Have You Eaten Yet: Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World” by Cheuk Kwan
New Non-Fiction Books
New Book Annoucement: “Material Contradictions in Mao’s China”, edited by Jennifer Altehenger and Denise Y Ho
8 December 2022
The growth of markets and consumerism in China’s post-Mao era of political and economic reform is a story familiar to many. By contrast, the Mao period (1949-1976)—rightly framed as a time of scarcity—initially appears to have had little material culture to speak of. Yet people attributed great meaning to materials and objects often precisely because…
Read More New Book Annoucement: “Material Contradictions in Mao’s China”, edited by Jennifer Altehenger and Denise Y Ho

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