Asian Studies

A richly diverse collection of classical Indian terms for expressing the many moods and subtleties of emotional experience

The surprising story of how Greek classics are being pressed into use in contemporary China to support the regime’s political agenda

How social networks shaped the imperial Chinese state

A rich, discovery-filled history that tells how a forgotten empire transformed the ancient world

Why some of Asia’s authoritarian regimes have democratized as they have grown richer—and why others haven’t

An inside view of Chinese academia and what it reveals about China’s political system

An exciting and richly detailed new history of the Silk Road that tells how it became more important as a route for diplomacy than for trade

How poor migrants shape city politics during urbanization

An iconoclastic history of the first two decades after independence in India

How decolonization and the cold war influenced literature from Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean

Muslim intellectuals who sought to establish the boundaries of modern Muslim identity

A sweeping account of how the sea routes of Asia have transformed a vast expanse of the globe over the past five hundred years, powerfully shaping the modern world

A delightful collection of modern Chinese tales

A sweeping look at Chinese art across the millennia that upends traditional perspectives and offers new pathways for art history

A richly illustrated history of textiles in the Mughal Empire

A multifaceted history of Ho Chi Minh’s climactic victory over French colonial might that foreshadowed America’s experience in Vietnam

The definitive English translation of the classic Sanskrit epic poem—now available in a one-volume paperback

A fascinating history of China’s relations with the West—told through the lives of two eighteenth-century translators

How English has become a language of the people in India—one that enables the state but also empowers protests against it

How privileged adolescents in China acquire status and why this helps them succeed

A groundbreaking account of translation and identity in the Chinese literary tradition before 1850—with important ramifications for today

A major history of Central Asia and how it has been shaped by modern world events

How the Chinese Communist Party maintains its power by both repressing and responding to its people

A riveting account of how a popularly elected leader has steered the world's largest democracy toward authoritarianism and intolerance

A cultural history of the concept of pharmacy, both the material nature of drugs and the trade in medicine, in early modern China

How China is using the US-led war on terror to erase the cultural identity of its Muslim minority in the Xinjiang region

An essential companion to a timeless spiritual classic

A history of how Chinese officials used statistics to define a new society in the early years of the People’s Republic of China