Can anyone recommend a good overview book of Chinese history? India too?

[ElFenix]

wanting some good reading for christmas


edit: not really wanting a novel, wanting a history book that isn't a technical/heavy/dry read.

 

[aigomorla]

Ummm.... i always thought Journey to the west is a must read.

Its one of the great classics in chinese literature.

 

[JS80]

From who's perspective?

 

[aigomorla]

From who's perspective?

Historians?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Great_Classical_Novels

They made a video game out of three kingdoms also.

I like Journey because of the Monkey God. :X

 

[Crono]

I'm interested in this, too. Writing a novel partly based on actual history, and my knowledge of Chinese and Indian history is rather poor compared to the classical civilizations of the near east and west.

 

[Leros]

This is is the book we used in my introduction to china class. It covers pretty much everything.

http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Illu...0326888&sr=8-1

 

[Farang]

Once you learn the basics of 20th century Indian history, The Great Indian Novel is an amazing book. It would be a really great guide as you go along and learn, as it recasts Indian history into a fictional story based on Hindu mythology. While that seems a bit confusing, what it did for me was make me want to know who each fictional character was supposed to represent. Once I figured that out it became a great way to guide me along in the history of India.

For instance some characters like Ganga Datta are going to be obvious--Mahatma Ghandi. But other bit players not so much. Wikipedia has a cheat sheet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Indian_Novel. Then you read about the bit players, and see what the conflicts described in the novel are referring to in history. Most of the time its fairly accurate.

 

[ElFenix]

This is is the book we used in my introduction to china class. It covers pretty much everything.

http://www.amazon.com/Cambridge-Illu...0326888&sr=8-1

thanks, added that to my wishlist

Once you learn the basics of 20th century Indian history, The Great Indian Novel is an amazing book. It would be a really great guide as you go along and learn, as it recasts Indian history into a fictional story based on Hindu mythology. While that seems a bit confusing, what it did for me was make me want to know who each fictional character was supposed to represent. Once I figured that out it became a great way to guide me along in the history of India.

For instance some characters like Ganga Datta are going to be obvious--Mahatma Ghandi. But other bit players not so much. Wikipedia has a cheat sheet: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Indian_Novel. Then you read about the bit players, and see what the conflicts described in the novel are referring to in history. Most of the time its fairly accurate.

interesting

 

[rchiu]

Historians?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Great_Classical_Novels

They made a video game out of three kingdoms also.

I like Journey because of the Monkey God. :X

Out of the 4 classical novels, I'd say start with romance of 3 kingdoms, it's actually based on real history and events. Water Margins give a good background of Sung Dynasty with somewhat real historical people and event. Red Chamber and Journey to the West are pure fiction, although you can also get a little background on Ching and Tang dynasty respectively.

Hard to find a good overview book on Chinese history with ~4000 year worth of events and people. Like aigomorla suggested, I'd pickup one of those classical novels that's fun with quite a bit of historical and political background of china at the time. Many of Chinese novels were written as political satire so it would actually give you better understanding of the history and background than some Chinese history text book.

 

[Zebo]

The Legacy of Muslim Rule in India.
Muslim Slave System in Medieval India
By Kishori Saran Lal

 

[Sea Moose]

Step 1 : Order chinese food
Step 2 : Keep the menu
Step 3 : Eat chinsese food and read the back of the menu
Step 4 : Profit!


(The full history of china is on the back of every chinese menu, everyone knows this?)

 

[0roo0roo]

http://www.amazon.com/Mao-Story-Jung.../dp/0679422714