Good place to start for Middle East/India/China history

[Canadian_95_RTS]

I've often considered myself a bit of a history buff (I think most players of paradox games do), and I would consider myself fairly knowledgeable about historical events. That being said, a few years ago I was asked some basic questions on the facts of the early life of Gandhi, and I was absolutely stumped. I figured this person was trying to prove a point, probably about my Eurocentric view of history. I've thought back on that a couple times, because she was right, really. I'm pretty damn ignorant about places that aren't Europe. That's changed a bit since, but I still couldn't answer the question posed.

This has got me wondering, what else don't I know about Asian history? And I don't really know where to start with that, what places would be good to learn more, just because of how fickle learning history is, how hard it is to do it right and keep it interesting. And thus, I'm asking for your help, fellow Paradoxians. I don't know things, and I'm hoping you can help me find a place where I can educate myself on the subject.

To be clear, I'm not a complete idiot. Taking the Middle East as an example, I know (generally) about stuff like the Arab conquests, the crusades, the Seljuk and Ottoman Turks, but I don't really know that much about them in detail(at least from the Islamic perspective). I could name about five Chinese dynasties, and could tell you a bit about each of the ones I know, but anything more than broad strokes and I got nothing. India for me is pretty much names on maps, little more.

Again, I hope you can help me with this. I realize this might be hard.

 

[icedt729]

I think it's a pretty normal process to get introduced to history through one region and then want to branch out later. It was the same for me before I got interested in East Asian studies and "big history."

For China, I recommend "The Open Empire: A History of China to 1600" by Valerie Hansen and "Restless Empire: China and the World Since 1750" by Odd Arne Westad for a good run-through. I don't read a lot of general history these days so my other recommendations would all be for specific time periods or topics.

If you're interested in some global histories that can help broaden your perspective, "Why the West Rules- For Now" by Ian Morris and "The Origins of Political Order" by Francis Fukuyama are really rewarding books and might disabuse you of some of the preconceptions or stereotypes that are easy to pick up when you study Western history almost exclusively.

 

[DarthJF]

Some books I'd recommend.

For India and Muslim world:

- India: A History by John Keay
- Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary
- Osman's Dream: The History of the Ottoman Empire by Caroline Finkel
- The Turks in World History by Carter V. Findley

For East Asia:

- History of Imperial China book series
I'd recommend starting with one more general history (The Open Empire recommended above should be good one) and then reading this series to get more detailed view.

- The Making of Modern Japan by Marius B. Jansen for Japanese history from 1600 to modern times.
- Korea Old and New: A History if you want to learn about Korean history as well.

 

[DarthJF]

If you're interested in some global histories that can help broaden your perspective, "Why the West Rules- For Now" by Ian Morris and "The Origins of Political Order" by Francis Fukuyama are really rewarding books and might disabuse you of some of the preconceptions or stereotypes that are easy to pick up when you study Western history almost exclusively.

I'd add The Human Web: A Bird's-Eye View of World History in this category. It's a great book with a truly global perspective on world history.

 

[KPJ]

Go to your local used book store (or university book store) and pick up a survey text-book on the regions that interest you. i.e. 'History of Middle East', 'History of Ancient China', or what-have-you. Once you've read that you can narrow down your focus on what really interests you if you want the juicier stuff.

 

[JodelDiplom]

My recommendation for China History in a shallow but comprehensively broad and entertaining overview:

Laszlo Montgomery's Chinese History podcast
http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-china-history-podcast/id489369498

He does proper pronunciation of Chinese names and places, unlike many other podcasters. Amateur historian but very well educated, well read and well traveled person.

 

[Eusebio]

A History of the Arab Peoples by Albert Hourani

 

[SeekTruthFromFx]

Jonathan Spence should be your first choice for modern Chinese history. The Search for Modern China (older, possibly cheaper edition available) is a trustworthy guide to the last couple of centuries. Designed as a college text but very readable.

Roberts' Penguin History of the World is something I have turned back to again and again, and it seems it's now been updated by Westad. You will want to play Civilization or a PDX game about every five pages though!

 

[Teep]

If you want a decent history of the rise of the Achaemenid empire through the end of the Persian wars then I would recommend Tom Holland's Persian Fire which also acts as a pretty decent way to indirectly touch on the main bits of the Histories. Though I would most certainly recommend the Histories themselves as a read Persian Fire has quite a bit of modern archaeological work that it touches on as well which Herodotus did not have access to. Holland has written some other quite good narrative histories (mostly Dynasty and Rubicon) but those only indirectly touch upon the topic of your question so I will not recommend them here.

 

[Eusebio]

If you want a decent history of the rise of the Achaemenid empire through the end of the Persian wars then I would recommend Tom Holland's Persian Fire which also acts as a pretty decent way to indirectly touch on the main bits of the Histories. Though I would most certainly recommend the Histories themselves as a read Persian Fire has quite a bit of modern archaeological work that it touches on as well which Herodotus did not have access to. Holland has written some other quite good narrative histories (mostly Dynasty and Rubicon) but those only indirectly touch upon the topic of your question so I will not recommend them here.

Tom Holland is an awful historian, actually.

 

[DarthJF]

Tom Holland is an awful historian, actually.

Yeah. Good writer, terrible historian.

 

[pirro]

If you want a decent history of the rise of the Achaemenid empire through the end of the Persian wars then I would recommend Tom Holland's Persian Fire which also acts as a pretty decent way to indirectly touch on the main bits of the Histories. Though I would most certainly recommend the Histories themselves as a read Persian Fire has quite a bit of modern archaeological work that it touches on as well which Herodotus did not have access to. Holland has written some other quite good narrative histories (mostly Dynasty and Rubicon) but those only indirectly touch upon the topic of your question so I will not recommend them here.

That book is awful. Tom Holland is not a Scholar and his use of the sources is disputable to say the least. This is, of course, ignoring his obvious greek bias

 

[pirro]

Tom Holland is an awful historian, actually.

He isn't even a Historian IIRC... but he steals our jobs with his half-arsed books

 

[DarthJF]

He isn't even a Historian IIRC... but he steals our jobs with his half-arsed books

Yeah, he's a fiction writer who studied English and Latin at university.

 

[JodelDiplom]

He isn't even a Historian IIRC... but he steals our jobs with his half-arsed books

Write better books then! Shouldn't be difficult if you historians know your history so much better than he does, right?

 

[pirro]

Write better books then! Shouldn't be difficult if you historians know your history so much better than he does, right?

Actually, you have a point. A fair amount of us can't be bothered with talking to the layman and that's something we should change asap