Asia Audiobooks | History

Night in the American Village: Women in the Shadow of the US Military Bases in Okinawa

"A beautifully written examination of the complex relationship between the women living near the US bases in Okinawa and the servicemen who are stationed there At the southern end of the Japanese archipelago lies Okinawa, host to a vast complex of US military bases. A legacy of World War II, these bases have been a fraught issue in Japan for decades—with tensions exacerbated by the often volatile relationship between islanders and the military, especially after the brutal rape of a twelve-year-old girl by three servicemen in the 1990s. But the situation is more complex than it seems. In Night in the American Village, journalist Akemi Johnson takes readers deep into the “border towns” surrounding the bases—a world where cultural and political fault lines compel individuals, both Japanese and American, to continually renegotiate their own identities. Focusing on the women there, she follows the complex fallout of the murder of an Okinawan woman by an ex–US serviceman in 2016 and speaks to protesters, to women who date and marry American men and groups that help them when problems arise, and to Okinawans whose family members survived World War II. Thought-provoking and timely, Night in the American Village is a vivid look at the enduring wounds of US–Japanese history and the cultural and sexual politics of the American military empire."

Akemi Johnson (Author), Nancy Wu (Narrator)

Audiobook

[German] - Japan, für dich ein Spaziergang!: Mit diesem Hörbuch wird deine Japanreise ein entspannte

"Du denkst in Japan machst du alles falsch und trittst in jedes Fettnäpfchen? Mit diesem Hörbuch lösen sich deine Unsicherheiten und Sorgen in Luft auf, denn du bekommst ein konkretes Drehbuch für Japan, inklusive Japanisch. Deine Reisevorfreude vervielfacht sich und du bekommst ganz viel Lust darauf noch mehr Japanisch zu lernen. Wie? Online mit dem Gratis Japanischkurs der Autorin. ronjasakata.com"

Ronja Sakata (Author), Ronja Sakata (Narrator)

Audiobook

[German] - Japan, für dich ein Spaziergang!: Mit diesem Hörbuch wird deine Japanreise ein entspannte

Ronja Sakata (Author), Ronja Sakata (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Fall of Saigon: The History of the Battle for South Vietnam's Capital and the End of the Vietnam

"The Vietnam War could have been called a comedy of errors if the consequences weren’t so deadly and tragic. In 1951, while war was raging in Korea, the United States began signing defense pacts with nations in the Pacific, intending to create alliances that would contain the spread of Communism. As the Korean War was winding down, America joined the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, pledging to defend several nations in the region from Communist aggression. One of those nations was South Vietnam. Ripe for the plucking by North Vietnam, the country of South Vietnam found itself in an unenviable position in 1974. American forces rapidly withdrew, leaving only a few advisers and other personnel in place of the large forces deployed in the Southeast Asian theater until recently. President Gerald Ford and his staff, completely outmatched at the negotiations during the American retreat, parleyed from a position of weakness. The North Vietnamese gave essentially no useful concessions since they had no reason to, and they secured an American withdrawal without needing to remove their own advance units from South Vietnamese territory in return. This lopsided agreement found a sort of echo in the military sphere. While the Americans left the South Vietnamese many artillery pieces, trucks, vehicles, helicopters, boats, and even tanks, the supply of fuel, ammunition, and spare parts withered away. With practically no money available, South Vietnam could not even partially offset the loss of American support through purchases of materiel from abroad. North Vietnam, by contrast, enjoyed the still robust support of both the USSR and China. A steady stream of tanks, prime movers, trucks, combat aircraft, anti-aircraft artillery, Sa.m. launchers, artillery, and all types of ordnance and ammunition arrived to support the communists."

Charles River Editors (Author), David Bernard (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Battle of Shanghai: The History and Legacy of the Battle that Started the Second Sino-Japanese W

"On October 29, 1937, a large crowd of people gathered on the bank of the Wusong River in Shanghai to watch a spectacle, a life and death struggle unfolding directly in front of them across the river. The crowd was a curious blend of Chinese, European, and American civilians and journalists. Their focus was on the Sihang Warehouse across the river, but it wasn’t the warehouse itself that fascinated the onlookers. Instead, it was the men inside the warehouse, the men of the 524th Regiment, the 88th Division of the Chinese Nationalist Army. The soldiers were elite, and they were widely considered the best of the Nationalist Army. They proudly called themselves “the Generalissimo’s Own,” after Jiang Jieshi, the generalissimo of the Nationalist government and leader of China. The Chinese soldiers were prepared to fight and die to the last man, and they were making their last stand there. The Battle of Shanghai was a brutal testament to a new era of modern warfare which, according to many historians, signified the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and hence World War II. Despite the stand, China was a nation broken into petty warlord fiefdoms and wracked by civil war between Nationalist and Communist forces. This civil war became inextricably intertwined with the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, and the sheer scale of the horrors of the conflict remain hard to believe today, even as action in that theater is often overlooked because of events in Europe. Indeed, the Japanese launched a brutal campaign across the fragmented realms that made up China, committing atrocities just as horrendous as their Axis ally in Europe."

Charles River Editors (Author), Jim Johnston (Narrator)

Audiobook

Hiroshima

"Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and bestselling author John Hersey's seminal work of narrative nonfiction which has defined the way we think about nuclear warfare. "One of the great classics of the war' (The New Republic) that tells what happened in Hiroshima during World War II through the memories of the survivors of the first atomic bomb ever dropped on a city. 'The perspective [Hiroshima] offers from the bomb's actual victims is the mandatory counterpart to any Oppenheimer viewing.' -GQ Magazine "Nothing can be said about this book that can equal what the book has to say. It speaks for itself, and in an unforgettable way, for humanity." -The New York Times Hiroshima is the story of six human beings who lived through the greatest single manmade disaster in history. John Hersey tells what these six -- a clerk, a widowed seamstress, a physician, a Methodist minister, a young surgeon, and a German Catholic priest -- were doing at 8:15 a.m. on August 6, 1945, when Hiroshima was destroyed by the first atomic bomb ever dropped on a city. Then he follows the course of their lives hour by hour, day by day. The New Yorker of August 31, 1946, devoted all its space to this story. The immediate repercussions were vast: newspapers here and abroad reprinted it; during evening half-hours it was read over the network of the American Broadcasting Company; leading editorials were devoted to it in uncounted newspapers. Almost four decades after the original publication of this celebrated book John Hersey went back to Hiroshima in search of the people whose stories he had told. His account of what he discovered about them -- the variety of ways in which they responded to the past and went on with their lives -- is now the eloquent and moving final chapter of Hiroshima."

John Hersey (Author), George Guidall (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture

"In The Japanese Mind, Roger Davies offers Westerners an invaluable key to the unique aspects of Japanese culture. Listeners of this book will gain a clear understanding of what makes the Japanese, and their society, tick. Among the topics explored: aimai (ambiguity), amae (dependence upon others' benevolence), amakudari (the nation's descent from heaven), chinmoku (silence in communication), gambari (perseverance), giri (social obligation), haragei (literally, 'belly art'; implicit, unspoken communication), kenkyo (the appearance of modesty), sempai-kohai (seniority), wabi-sabi (simplicity and elegance), and zoto (gift giving), as well as discussions of child-rearing, personal space, and the roles of women in Japanese society. All in all, this book is an easy-to-use introduction to the distinguishing characteristics of Japanese society; an invaluable resource for anyone—business people, travelers, or students—perfect for course adoption, but also for anyone interested in Japanese culture."

Osamu Ikeno, Roger J. Davies (Author), Eric Jason Martin (Narrator)

Audiobook

Mythology: Ancient, Intriguing Stories from Korea, Japan, and Polynesia

"This book contains 3 mythology titles: Korean Mythology - This book is dedicated to exploring the gods and goddesses that the Koreans of old worshiped, and within it, you will find more information about: - Strange creatures from Korean mythology - The Korean mythology of Tangu and Ahri - Gods and goddesses, and their background stories, from Korean mythology - Supernatural powers, relationships, and dramatic legends - Persisting values from Korean mythology that are present today Japanese Mythology - This book is dedicated to exploring the gods and goddesses that the Japanese worshiped, and within the pages you will find subtopics like: - Ancient, exciting stories and mysterious myths and intriguing legends from Japan - Gods and goddesses that were common in Japan thousands of years ago - Historical anecdotes and fun, related background facts - The intense meaning and purpose of swords in Japanese culture - The controversial legend of Issun Boshi - Real folklore monuments and locations you can visit that date back to times of mythological beliefs Polynesian Mythology - This book is dedicated to exploring the gods and goddesses that the Polynesian people worshiped, and within the pages you will find more information about: - Background facts about the Polynesian culture, such as family, social stratification, education, fishing, gardening, religion, art, and traditions - The intriguing legend and background story of Maui, the trickster - Polynesian names from mythology and their meanings - Rangi and Papa and the creation myth from the Polynesian islands - What Polynesians believed about ghosts and spirits - A brief overview of some of the main spirits and deities Polynesians believed in"

Bernard Hayes (Author), Gareth Johnson (Narrator)

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Mythology: Set of the Most Exciting Indian, Polynesian, Korean, and Egyptian Myths

Bernard Hayes (Author), Gareth Johnson, Zachary Dylan Brown (Narrator)

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The Uighurs: The History and Legacy of the Turkic Muslim Minority Group in Asia

"For the most part, the Uighurs are based in East Turkestan, more commonly referred to as the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China. This prodigious plot of land boasts a total land area of over 1.665 million km², or 640,000 mi², and is, as China puts it, the largest administrative division in the country. The pro-independence inhabitants of East Turkestan, on the other hand, have been fighting for decades to regain sole control of their motherland – as of now, to no avail. The Uighurs' active pursuit for independence is not an isolated phenomenon. It is reminiscent of the ongoing friction between Taiwan and China, as well as Hong Kong and China, the independence-seekers of the former states struggling to sever its ties with the Red Dragon. That being said, unlike Taiwan, which is managed by an entirely separate constitutional democratic government, and Hong Kong, classified as a special administrative region run by a Chief Executive and Executive Council with its own judicial system, Xinjiang, though technically autonomous, is still very much under the Chinese yoke. Even more alarming, insiders say its people are imperiled, and this once thriving culture itself is no longer inching, but hurtling towards extinction. An untold number of Uighurs have, and continue to vanish without a trace. The Chinese government claims that the 13,000 or so imprisoned (and executed) since 2014 were radical separatists and “murderous devils” with poisonous vendettas. A fraction of the Uighurs have been connected to violent acts of terrorism, but the often flimsy and incomplete evidence presented to defense teams certainly warrants some pause for thought. On top of the countless others supposedly snatched off the streets for speaking their minds, fostering their customs, or simply being kin to Uighurs who fled and turned refugee, over a million have been bussed to so-called “re-education camps.”"

Charles River Editors (Author), Colin Fluxman (Narrator)

Audiobook

The Lost River

"The Indian subcontinent was the scene of dramatic upheavals a few thousand years ago. The Northwest region entered an arid phase, and erosion coupled with tectonic events played havoc with river courses. One of them disappeared. Celebrated as -Sarasvati' in the Rig Veda and the Mahabharata, this river was rediscovered in the early nineteenth century through topographic explorations by British officials. Recently, geological and climatological studies have probed its evolution and disappearance, while satellite imagery has traced the river's buried courses and isotope analyses have dated ancient waters still stored under the Thar Desert. In the same Northwest, the subcontinent's first urban society'the Indus civilization'flourished and declined. But it was not watered by the Indus alone: since Aurel Stein's expedition in the 1940s, hundreds of Harappan sites have been identified in the now dry Sarasvati's basin. The rich Harappan legacy in technologies, arts and culture sowed the seeds of Indian civilization as we know it now. Drawing from recent research in a wide range of disciplines, this book discusses differing viewpoints and proposes a harmonious synthesis'a fascinating tale of exploration that brings to life the vital role the -lost river of the Indian desert' played before its waters gurgled to a stop."

Michel Danino (Author), Vishal Menon (Narrator)

Audiobook

Chinese Economy

"China has shown an incredible pattern of swift development while moving from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. In the present day, China is a country whose majority of population comes under upper middle-class income category. China is a socialist market economy. The socialist market economy is an economic model, which has been put in place by People's Republic of China. This model, introduced under Deng Xiaoping, is established on a main state-run sector inside an open market economy. From the time when market reforms were introduced in 1978, China has shown quick economic and social development. GDP rate is about 10% a year, one of the fastest rates in history of economies, raising over 800 million people out of poverty line."

Introbooks Team (Author), Andrea Giordani (Narrator)

Audiobook

Asia Audiobooks in History