Asia Audiobooks | History

Even the Women Must Fight: Memories of War from North Vietnam

"A searing chronicle of wartime experiences, Even the Women Must Fight probes the cultural legacy of North Vietnam's American War. Unflinching in its portrayal of hardship, valor, and personal sacrifice, this wrenching account is nothing short of a revelation, banishing in one bold stroke the familiar image of Vietnamese women as passive onlookers, war brides, prostitutes, or helpless refugees."

Karen Gottschang Turner (Author), Stephanie Nguyen (Narrator)

Audiobook

The First Samurai: The Life and Legend of the Warrior Rebel, Taira Masakado

"Was samurai warrior Taira Masakado a quixotic megalomaniac or a hero swept up by events beyond his control? Did he really declare himself to be the ''New Emperor''? Did he suffer divine retribution for his ego and ambition? Filled with insurrections, tribal uprisings, pirate disturbances, and natural disasters, this action-packed account of Masakado's insurrection offers a captivating introduction to the samurai, their role in tenth-century society, and the world outside the capital—a must-listen for those interested in early Japan, samurai warfare, or the mystique of ancient warriors."

Karl Friday (Author), Matt Miller (Narrator)

Audiobook

This Red Line Goes Straight to Your Heart: A Memoir in Halves

"WINNER OF THE 2020 GOVERNOR GENERAL'S LITERARY AWARD FOR NONFICTION "Wondrously and elegantly written in language that astonishes and moves the reader…This is an important book: an emotional and intellectual tour de force." -Jane Urquhart An experimental memoir about Partition, immigration, and generational storytelling, This Red Line Goes Straight to Your Heart weaves together the poetry of memory with the science of embodied trauma, using the imagined voices of the past and the vital authority of the present. We begin with a man off balance: one in one thousand, the only child in town whose polio leads to partial paralysis. We meet his future wife, chanting Hai Rams for Gandhiji and choosing education over marriage. On one side of the line that divides this book, we follow them as their homeland splits in two and they are drawn together, moving to Canada and raising their children in mining towns and in crowded city apartments. And when we turn the book over, we find the daughter's tale-we see how the rupture of Partition, the asymmetry of a father's leg, the virus of a mother's rage, makes its way to the next generation. Told through the lenses of biology, physics, history and poetry, this is a memoir that defies form and convention to immerse the reader in the feeling of what remains when we've heard as much of the truth as our families will allow, and we're left to search for ourselves among the pieces they've carried with them."

Madhur Anand (Author), Asha Vijayasingham, Ellora Patnaik, Raoul Bhaneja (Narrator)

Audiobook

Superpower Interrupted: The Chinese History of the World

"This global history as the Chinese would write it gives brilliant and unconventional insights for understanding China's role in the world, especially the drive to 'Make China Great Again.' We in the West routinely ask: 'What does China want?' The answer is quite simple: the superpower status it always had, but briefly lost. In this colorful, informative story filled with fascinating characters, epic battles, influential thinkers, and decisive moments, we come to understand how the Chinese view their own history and how its narrative is distinctly different from that of Western civilization. More important, we come to see how this unique Chinese history of the world shapes China's economic policy, attitude toward the United States and the rest of the world, relations with its neighbors, positions on democracy and human rights, and notions of good government. As the Chinese see it, for as far back as anyone can remember, China had the richest economy, the strongest military, and the most advanced philosophy, culture, and technology. The collision with the West knocked China's historical narrative off course for the first time, as its 5,000-year reign as an unrivaled superpower came to an ignominious end. Ever since, the Chinese have licked their wounds and fixated on returning their country to its former greatness, restoring the Chinese version of its place in the world as they had always known it. For the Chinese, the question was never if they could reclaim their former dominant position in the world, but when."

Michael Schuman (Author), Shawn Compton (Narrator)

Audiobook

[Russian] - Монголы. Краткая история

"В период своего расцвета Монгольская империя, сформировавшаяся в XIII веке в результате завоеваний Чингисхана и его преемников, включала в себя самую большую из когда-либо существовавших единую государственную территорию, простираясь от Восточной Европы до Японского моря и от русского Новгорода до Юго-Восточной Азии. Краткое изложение истории Монгольской империи охватывает период, начиная с рождения между 1155 и 1162 годами Тэмуджина (будущего Чингисхана), основавшего впоследствии единое монгольское государство, до последней четверти XIV века, ознаменованной падением Монгольской империи и поражением в Китае монгольской империи Юань. Затронуто также самое начало XVI века, когда Исмаилом I, основателем династии Сефевидов, был захвачен Тебриз, что положило конец существованию турко-манского государства Ак-Коюнлу. Монгольская империя показана в книге как сложное, цивилизованное и стойкое государство, которое оказало длительное и многогранное влияние на окружающие земли. В изложении переплетаются различные исторические, политические и культурные нити, складывающиеся в цельную картину, призванную показать, как и почему Чингисхан и его преемники добились таких невероятных успехов. Великолепный образец жанра академической истории, книга снабжена черно-белыми иллюстрациями и ценными приложениями: картами, временной шкалой, списком персоналий, глоссарием, а библиографический список представляет собой настоящее историографическое исследование. Будет полезна студентам высших учебных заведений и их преподавателям, а также всем увлеченным историей Средней и Центральной Азии."

джордж лейн (Author), михаил росляков (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Jakarta Method: Washington's Anticommunist Crusade and the Mass Murder Program that Shaped Our W

"NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR, THE FINANCIAL TIMES, AND GQ "A radical new history of the United States abroad" (Wall Street Journal) which uncovers U.S. complicity in the mass-killings of left-wing activists in Indonesia, Latin America and around the world In 1965, the US government helped the Indonesian military kill approximately one million innocent civilians-eliminating the largest Communist Party outside China and the Soviet Union and inspiring other copycat terror programs. In this bold and comprehensive new history, Vincent Bevins draws from recently declassified documents, archival research, and eyewitness testimony to reveal a shocking legacy that spans the globe. For decades, it's been believed that the developing world passed peacefully into the US-led capitalist system. The Jakarta Method demonstrates that the brutal extermination of unarmed leftists was a fundamental part of Washington's final triumph in the Cold War."

Vincent Bevins (Author), Tim Paige (Narrator)

Audiobook

Three Tigers, One Mountain

"There is an ancient Chinese proverb that states, 'Two tigers cannot share the same mountain.' However, in East Asia, there are three tigers on that mountain: China, Japan, and Korea, and they have a long history of turmoil and tension with each other. In his latest entertaining and thought provoking narrative travelogue, Michael Booth sets out to discover how deep, really, is the enmity between these three 'tiger' nations, and what prevents them from making peace. Currently China's economic power continues to grow, Japan is becoming more militaristic, and Korea struggles to reconcile its westernized south with the dictatorial Communist north. Booth, long fascinated with the region, travels by car, ferry, train, and foot, experiencing the people and culture of these nations up close. No matter where he goes, the burden of history, and the memory of past atrocities, continues to overshadow present relationships. Ultimately, Booth seeks a way forward for these closely intertwined, neighboring nations. An enlightening, entertaining and sometimes sobering journey through China, Japan, and Korea, Three Tigers, One Mountain is an intimate and in-depth look at some of the world's most powerful and important countries."

Michael Booth (Author), Michael Booth (Narrator)

Audiobook

Chinese Communist Espionage: An Intelligence Primer

"This is the first book of its kind to employ hundreds of Chinese sources to explain the history and current state of Chinese Communist intelligence operations. It profiles the leaders, top spies, and important operations in the history of China's espionage organs, and links to an extensive online glossary of Chinese language intelligence and security terms. Peter Mattis and Matthew Brazil present an unprecedented look into the murky world of Chinese espionage both past and present, enabling a better understanding of how pervasive and important its influence is, both in China and abroad."

Matthew Brazil, Peter Mattis (Author), David De Vries (Narrator)

Audiobook

China Cuckoo: How I Lost a Fortune and Found a Life in China

"‘China Cuckoo’ is the charming true story of a witty and eccentric sinophile Englishman and his China tree-change, narrated by the author. Mark Kitto was the first westerner to return and live in Moganshan, a dilapidated, beautiful Chinese mountain village, since the original foreign residents left in 1949. In millennial Shanghai, Kitto was the creator of the ‘That's’ city magazine series, the most popular and profitable English language publications in China since the ‘North China Daily News’, the paper of record of concession-era Shanghai. The UK Financial Times described him as a ‘mini media mogul’. In 2004 he suffered the same fate as the man who built the ‘Daily News’. He lost everything to the Communist Party. Rejecting the corporate world and the glamour of Shanghai, Mark persuaded his urbane Chinese wife to make Moganshan their permanent home. With their two small children they took the bold step of moving their lives to the isolated village, taking over an old brothel to start a western style cafe. In the process the author uncovered the history of the mountain retreat; its ‘discovery’ and development by missionaries, its popularity with celebrities, drug dealers (Chinese and foreign), and its decay under the Communist regime. Funny, touching and inspiring, ‘China Cuckoo’ is a rare and intimate portrait of life in rural China through the eyes of one man who has survived house-fires, typhoons, corruption and cultural clashes. It is an illustration of past and present China’s relations with foreigners and it describes, in the words of one who has suffered and benefited from both, the risks and rewards of going ‘China Cuckoo’. Mark Kitto has also published ‘That’s China, how a British entrepreneur took on the Chinese propaganda machine’, the full story of his China publishing career, now available as an audiobook. Mark Kitto currently lives in the UK where he is an actor, narrator and editor."

Mark Kitto (Author), Mark Kitto (Narrator)

Audiobook

Crucible of Hell: Okinawa: The Last Great Battle of the Second World War

"‘Excellent’ Antony Beevor ‘Saul David is a brilliant historian … In shocking and jaw-dropping detail, he brings a battle that deserves far greater prominence and understanding vividly back to life’ James Holland From award-winning historian Saul David, an action-packed and powerful new narrative of the Battle of Okinawa – the last great clash of the Second World War, and one that had profound consequences for the modern world. For eighty-three blood-soaked days, the fighting on the island of Okinawa plumbed depths of savagery as bad as anything seen on the Eastern Front. When it was over, almost a quarter of a million people had lost their lives, making it by far the bloodiest US battle of the Pacific. In Okinawa, the death toll included thousands of civilians lost to mass suicide, convinced by Japanese propaganda that they would otherwise be raped and murdered by the enemy. On the US side, David argues that the horror of the battle ultimately determined President Truman’s choice to use atomic bombs in August 1945. It is a brutal, heart-rending story, and one David tells with masterly attention to detail: the cramped cockpit of a kamikaze plane, the claustrophobic gun turret of a warship under attack, and a half-submerged foxhole amidst the squalor and battle detritus. The narrative follows generals, presidents and emperors, as well as the humbler experiences of ordinary servicemen and families on both sides, and the Okinawan civilians who were caught so tragically between the warring parties. Using graphic eyewitness accounts and declassified documents from archives in three continents, Saul David illuminates a shocking chapter of history that is too often missing from Western-centric narratives of the Second World War."

Saul David (Author), Saul David - Introduction, William Roberts (Narrator)

Audiobook

High-Speed Empire: Chinese Expansion and the Future of Southeast Asia

"The story of the world's most audacious infrastructure project. Less than a decade ago, China did not have a single high-speed train in service. Today, it owns a network of 14,000 miles of high-speed rail, far more than the rest of the world combined. Now, China is pushing its tracks into Southeast Asia, reviving a century-old colonial fantasy of an imperial railroad stretching to Singapore; and kicking off a key piece of the One Belt One Road initiative, which has a price tag of $1 trillion and, reaches inside the borders of more than 60 countries. The Pan-Asia Railway portion of One Belt One Road could transform Southeast Asia, bringing shiny Chinese cities, entire economies, and waves of migrants where none existed before. But if it doesn't succeed, that would be a cautionary tale about whether a new superpower, with levels of global authority unimaginable just a decade ago, can pull entire regions into its orbit simply with tracks, sweat, and lots of money. Journalist Will Doig traveled to Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore to chronicle the dramatic transformations taking place -- and to find out whether ordinary people have a voice in this moment of economic, political, and cultural collision."

Will Doig (Author), Will Doig (Narrator)

Audiobook

Three Tigers, One Mountain: A Journey Through the Bitter History and Current Conflicts of China, Kor

Michael Booth (Author), Julian Elfer (Narrator)

Audiobook

Asia Audiobooks in History