Booklist
This volume offers chronologies for the countries of Asia from the Paleolithic era through 1998. In his introduction, the editor explains that "ours is the historian's, not the geographer's, Asia." Content is divided into four major parts: "East Asia," "South Asia," "Southeast Asia," and "Central Asia." The Middle East and Asiatic Russia are excluded.Chapters for each of the 26 individual countries that are treated range from four or five pages (Bhutan, Maldives) to more than 100 pages. Chronologies for most countries are subdivided by time periods representing major developments in their history. In the chapter on Hong Kong, for example, the divisions are "Prehistoric Hong Kong," "Chinese Colonization: A.D. 907-1841," "British Rule: A.D. 1841-1997," and "Chinese Restoration: 1997-1998." Chapters on China, India, and Japan are organized into three separate chronologies: "Political History," "Arts, Culture, Thought and Religion," and "Science-Technology, Economics, and Everyday Life."Each section of a chronology begins with an overview of the time period that is covered, followed by fairly detailed entries. The volume concludes with three appendixes. The first appendix lists national or independence days, and the remaining two are additional chronologies--one surveying scientific and technological achievements in Asia, the other correlating developments in Asia with events in the rest of the world. The index is extensive and detailed.Although academic libraries may seem to be the natural home for this comprehensive chronology, it would be a good choice for reference collections in large public libraries as well. REVWR
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Book Description
A Choice Magazine Outstanding Academic Title of the Year Containing more information on Asian culture than any other English-language reference work, Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture is the first of its kind: a set of more than thirty chronologies for all the countries of Asia -East, South, Southeast, and Central -from the Paleolithic era through 1998. Each entry is clearly dated and, unlike most chronologies found in standard history texts, the entries are complete and detailed enough to provide virtually a sequential history of the vast and rich span of Asian cultures. The contributing writers and editors have ensured the book´s usefulness to general readers by identifying individuals and groups, locating places and regions, explaining events and movements, and defining unfamiliar words and concepts. The thirty-two chronologies on individual countries, in conjunction with a detailed index, allow readers to find specific information quickly and efficiently, whether they seek the date for the invention of the iron plow or gunpowder, the fall of the Han Dynasty in China, or Ho Chi Minh´s declarations of Vietnamese independence. This invaluable reference culminates with three appendices: "National/Independence Days," "Scientific-Technological Achievements in Asia," and "Asia: A Chronological Overview," which provides an accessible summary of key events and developments in various fields of activity throughout the continent. The Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture features: · three discrete chronologies on (1) Politics/History, (2) Art/Culture/Religion, and (3) Science/Economics/Everyday Life for each of Asia´s three major cultures -China, India, and Japan -as well as a combined chronology for each of the other nations; · detailed entries of thousands of historical events as well as important milestones in religion, philosophy, literature, and the arts; · entries on technological developments and natural events (famines, floods, etc.) affecting the lives of ordinary people; and · authoritative and accessibly written entries by a team of Asian scholars from Columbia, Harvard, and other major research universities. Beyond its detailed accounting of Asia´s political history, Columbia Chronologies of Asian History and Culture also gives full recognition to religious, intellectual, artistic, and general cultural achievements, as well as to scientific, technological, industrial, agricultural, and economic developments. Concise yet complete, it will stand as an indispensable reference work in the field of Asian studies.
