A History of East Asia: From the Origins of Civilization to the Twenty-First Century

Charles Holcombe begins by asking the question 'what is East Asia?' In the modern age, many of the features that made the region - now defined as including China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam - distinct have been submerged by the effects of revolution, politics or globalization. Yet, as an ancient civilization, the region had both an historical and cultural coherence. This shared past is at the heart of this ambitious book, which traces the story of East Asia from the dawn of history to the twenty-first century. The second edition has been imaginatively revised and expanded to place emphasis on cross-cultural interactions and connections, both within East Asia and beyond, with new material on Vietnam and modern pop culture. The second edition also features a Chinese character list, additional maps and new illustrations.

• Sources of East Asian Tradition, Vol. 1: Premodern Asia (Introduction to Asian Civilizations)
• Sources of East Asian Tradition, Vol. 2: The Modern Period (Introduction to Asian Civilizations)
• Lost Names: Scenes from a Korean Boyhood
• Everything Under the Heavens: How the Past Helps Shape China's Push for Global Power
• The Story of Hong Gildong (Penguin Classics)
• Bridge to the Sun: A Memoir of Love and War
• Voices of East Asia: Essential Readings from Antiquity to the Present
• Encounter: A Novel of Nineteenth-Century Korea (Voices from Asia, No. 5)
• Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan's Disaster Zone
• Who Ate Up All the Shinga?: An Autobiographical Novel (Weatherhead Books on Asia)