The best 24 Asian History books

1
Hiroshima

Hiroshima

John Hersey
The Stories of Six Survivors of the Atomic Bomb
4.6 (201 ratings)

What's Hiroshima about?

Hiroshima (1946 and 1985) is journalist John Hersey’s classic account of six survivors of the 1945 atom bomb attack on Japan. Amid the wreckage, these six lived to offer their accounts of the devastating experience.

Who should read Hiroshima?

  • History devotees
  • Character-driven non-fiction (or fiction) enthusiasts
  • Budding journalists

2
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

Jack Weatherford
The fascinating story behind the Mongol Empire
4.3 (224 ratings)

What's Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World about?

These blinks will make you re-examine what you thought you knew about the Mongols of the twelfth century. They’ll show you why it’s unfair to imagine them as uncivilized barbarians. Indeed, the Mongol army under Genghis Khan and his descendants brought trade, civilization and order – the Mongol Empire contributed to the making of the modern world.

Who should read Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World?

  • Historians interested in the construction of historical narratives
  • Global citizens interested in the roots of the modern world
  • Students of political science

3
The Silk Roads

The Silk Roads

Peter Frankopan
A New History of the World
4.6 (176 ratings)

What's The Silk Roads about?

The Silk Roads (2015) is a comprehensive history of the world, written with an eye to the networks of trade that shaped it. The networks of trade first established in ancient Persia and later linked with Chinese trade routes created a great network between the East and the West. But these Silk Roads are not relics of the past. They have morphed and changed, and their impact can be felt today, right down to America’s fateful engagement in the region where it all began.

Who should read The Silk Roads?

  • Economists looking for historical parallels
  • Intrigued followers of world events who want to learn about trade
  • Historians of all stripes

4
Killing the Rising Sun

Killing the Rising Sun

Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
How America Vanquished World War II Japan
4.3 (73 ratings)

What's Killing the Rising Sun about?

Killing the Rising Sun (2016) tells the story of the Pacific War, which took place between 1941 and 1945, and its main belligerents, the United States and Japan. From the attack on Pearl Harbor to bloody invasions of Japan to the development of the world’s first atomic bomb, the book portrays the brutality of World War II from a US perspective, and describes how the war was eventually won.

Who should read Killing the Rising Sun?

  • Fans of world history and politics
  • Military enthusiasts
  • Anyone obsessed with or fascinated by the story of World War II

5
A River in Darkness

A River in Darkness

Masaji Ishikawa
One Man’s Escape from North Korea
4.5 (37 ratings)

What's A River in Darkness about?

A River in Darkness (2000) is the harrowing true story of one man’s life in and eventual escape from the brutal dictatorship of North Korea. Born in Japan, Masaji Ishikawa was one of hundreds of thousands of Koreans who moved to the country between the 1950s and 1980s. His memoir chronicles the life of drudgery, terror and endless hardship that awaited them.

Who should read A River in Darkness?

  • Human rights advocates
  • History buffs fascinated by the Cold War
  • Anyone who loves true life stories

6
India After Gandhi

India After Gandhi

Ramachandra Guha
The History of the World’s Largest Democracy
4.5 (114 ratings)

What's India After Gandhi about?

India after Gandhi (2007) chronicles the story of post-independence India. For centuries, the country was ruled by colonial overlords, but that changed in 1947. After a long struggle for independence, Indians gained self-rule. Since then, the journey hasn’t been easy, but India remains a persevering and determined democracy – and the largest the world has ever seen.

Who should read India After Gandhi?

  • Students of history interested in the region of south Asia
  • Indians looking to learn more about their contemporary history
  • Political junkies looking to clue into a new region

7
Billion Dollar Whale

Billion Dollar Whale

Tom Wright and Bradley Hope
The Man Who Fooled Wall Street, Hollywood, and the World
4.5 (151 ratings)

What's Billion Dollar Whale about?

Billion Dollar Whale (2018) is the definitive account of how a quick-witted and calculating Malaysian social climber called Jho Low defrauded a national investment fund and pulled off one of the twenty-first century’s most audacious heists. The fruit of years of painstaking research by two of America’s top investigative journalists, it sheds light on the shadowy workings of a globe-spanning network of swindlers, crooks and hustlers.

Who should read Billion Dollar Whale?

  • True-life story fanatics who love a rip-roaring yarn
  • Would-be detectives with a feel for finance 
  • Number-crunchers, bankers and accountants 

8
The Anarchy

The Anarchy

William Dalrymple
The East India Company, Corporate Violence, and the Pillage of an Empire
4.5 (119 ratings)

What's The Anarchy about?

The Anarchy (2019) details how the East India Company, an English joint-stock corporation, came to rule the British economy – and the fates of 200 million South Asians. From its founding in 1599 by privateers and pirates to its time as master of the largest standing army in South Asia, the Company fanned the flames of anarchy, then used the resulting chaos as an opportunity to loot an empire.  

Who should read The Anarchy?

  • History hounds so appalled by colonialism that they can’t look away
  • Those interested in how corporations came to rule our lives
  • Travel junkies looking to contextualize their time in India

9
Nine Lives

Nine Lives

William Dalrymple
In Search of the Sacred in Modern India
4.1 (68 ratings)

What's Nine Lives about?

Nine Lives (2009) is a study of spirituality and religion in contemporary India. Drawing on William Dalrymple’s in-depth interviews with religious practitioners, these blinks will whisk us from Tibet to Karnataka to Kerala and West Bengal as we explore four remarkable – and remarkably pious – lives. Along the way, we’ll unpack the social and historical context in which these believers’ faiths emerged and continue to be practiced.

Who should read Nine Lives?

  • Globetrotters fascinated by the world’s diversity 
  • Atheists interested in what motivates the faithful
  • History buffs

10
China In Ten Words

China In Ten Words

Yu Hua
The ten key concepts underlying China’s transformation
4.0 (89 ratings)

What's China In Ten Words about?

China in Ten Words (2012) explores the way modern China talks about itself and probes what that tells us about its past, present and likely future. Honing in on ten common concepts, author Yu Huan tells the story of a nation that has seemingly changed beyond recognition, yet in many ways remains closer to its revolutionary origins than one might believe.

Who should read China In Ten Words?

  • Students of the history of Communist China
  • Linguists curious about how language shapes cultural concepts
  • Those who are fascinated by the modern “Chinese Miracle”

11
Hue 1968

Hue 1968

Mark Bowden
A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam
4.4 (47 ratings)

What's Hue 1968 about?

The Vietnam War is remembered as one of the longest and bloodiest conflicts of the twentieth century. At the end of 1967, the US government was assuring the public the war was almost won; by February 1968, that was no longer the case. In Hue 1968 (2017) Mark Bowden examines the battle in the city of Hue which changed the way the American public viewed the war.

Who should read Hue 1968?

  • Anyone interested in modern American history
  • Students of politics or international relations
  • Soldiers and veterans

12
Fukushima

Fukushima

David Lochbaum
The Story of a Nuclear Disaster
4.0 (50 ratings)

What's Fukushima about?

Fukushima (2014) tells the story of how one of the biggest tsunamis in Japan’s history combined with government neglect, corporate interest and propaganda to create the most serious nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. The book was written by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit that brings together science and political advocacy.

Who should read Fukushima?

  • Anyone who believes nuclear energy is “safe”
  • People who want to know more about the Fukushima disaster

13
Nothing to Envy

Nothing to Envy

Barbara Demick
Real Lives in North Korea
4.3 (36 ratings)

What's Nothing to Envy about?

Nothing to Envy (2010) presents fascinating first-hand anecdotes from North Korean defectors, giving intimate insights into the lives of North Koreans under the rule of Kim Il-sung, Kim Jong-il and Kim Jong-un. The thousands of refugees who arrive in South Korea each year bring with them stories of famine, repression and an isolated nation that has fallen out of touch with the developed world.

Who should read Nothing to Envy?

  • Anyone interested in North Korea
  • Anyone who wants to know what it’s like to live under a communist dictatorship
  • Those curious about the lives of defectors and refugees

14
Maoism

Maoism

Julia Lovell
A Global History
4.3 (78 ratings)

What's Maoism about?

Maoism (2019) is a deep dive into Maoist ideology, tracing the origins of the movement in the caves of northwest China to the jungles of India, the high Andean sierra, and the California city parks where The Black Panthers did their military drills. Maoism is a movement that’s hardly limited to China or even Asia.

Who should read Maoism?

  • Anyone looking to bone up on Chinese history
  • Followers of leftist politics
  • Those interested in transnational historical arcs

15
Bedtime Biography: An Autobiography

Bedtime Biography: An Autobiography

M.K. Gandhi
The Story of My Experiments With Truth
4.4 (230 ratings)

What's Bedtime Biography: An Autobiography about?

Narrated by Marston York

An Autobiography
(First published in two volumes; Volume 1, 1927, and Volume 2, 1929) is the autobiography of one of the world’s most famous political icons – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The book traverses his rebellious childhood, his early activism in South Africa and his work for the Indian Independence Movement up until 1920, and gives insight into Gandhi’s personal philosophy and his lifelong quest for Truth.

Who should read Bedtime Biography: An Autobiography?

  • Anyone interested in Gandhi’s life and personal philosophy
  • Students of history and political science
  • People cultivating leadership skills

16
How Asia Works

How Asia Works

Joe Studwell
Success and Failure in the World’s Most Dynamic Region
4.0 (49 ratings)

What's How Asia Works about?

How Asia Works examines the economic development of nine Asian countries and, in the process, sketches a blueprint for other developing nations seeking to achieve sustainable economic growth. Joe Studwell explains why some Asian economies have boomed while others have fallen behind, revealing what history has proved works – and what doesn’t.

Who should read How Asia Works?

  • Anyone interested in developing economies and international economics
  • Asian history enthusiasts

17
Becoming Kim Jong Un

Becoming Kim Jong Un

Jung H. Pak
A Former CIA Officer's Insights into North Korea's Enigmatic Young Dictator
4.2 (57 ratings)

What's Becoming Kim Jong Un about?

Becoming Kim Jong Un (2020) tells the story of the North Korean dictator from his childhood as the son and grandson of two infamous Korean leaders through to his momentous summit with American president Donald Trump. Setting aside the insults and jokes about Kim that the media and internet often perpetuate, it takes a serious look at Kim’s enigmatic persona and behavior and diagnoses the grave threat that he and his nation⁠ pose to the world.

Who should read Becoming Kim Jong Un?

  • People fascinated by international politics and global issues
  • History lovers
  • Anyone with an interest in modern Asia

18
Myanmar's Enemy Within

Myanmar's Enemy Within

Francis Wade
Buddhist Violence and the Making of a Muslim “Other”
4.5 (67 ratings)

What's Myanmar's Enemy Within about?

Myanmar’s Enemy Within (2017) examines a shocking outburst of violence against an ethnic minority – the Rohingya Muslims in western Myanmar. Beginning with an account of the events of 2012 and 2013, these blinks work their way back to explain the historical context of anti-Muslim resentment in the country. Along the way, they explore the legacies of British colonialism, the rise of nationalism, and the country’s troubled transition to democracy.

Who should read Myanmar's Enemy Within?

  • History buffs 
  • News addicts who want to dig deeper 
  • Anyone interested in contemporary Asian politics

19
Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers

Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers

Yan Xuetong
How leadership determines the fate of nations
3.8 (55 ratings)

What's Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers about?

Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers (2019) considers the way that leadership determines the fate of nations. Yan Xuetong reflects on the rise of China and the USA’s diminishing stature while speculating on how the international order might look like in a few decades.

Who should read Leadership and the Rise of Great Powers?

  • Anyone interested in Sino-American relations
  • Geopolitics buffs
  • Those working in international relations

20
The Great Race

The Great Race

Levi Tillemann
The Global Quest for the Car of the Future
3.6 (14 ratings)

What's The Great Race about?

The Great Race (2016) is a comprehensive history of the competition to produce electric vehicles. These blinks detail the various roadblocks that emerged in the effort to build electric vehicles, and how different countries and companies sought – and sometimes managed – to overcome them.

Who should read The Great Race?

  • Car enthusiasts
  • Engineering students
  • People curious about the history and development of electric vehicles

21
Behind the Beautiful Forevers

Behind the Beautiful Forevers

Katherine Boo
Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Slum
4.1 (21 ratings)

What's Behind the Beautiful Forevers about?

Behind the Beautiful Forevers describes life in the Annawadi slum in India, close to Mumbai’s international airport. These blinks tell the story of families who live in squalid conditions but still dream of a better life, even though the odds are overwhelmingly against them.

Who should read Behind the Beautiful Forevers?

  • Anyone who wants to know about life in the slums of Mumbai
  • Anyone who liked the movie Slumdog Millionaire
  • Anyone who wants to understand the damage caused by corruption

22
From the Ruins of Empire

From the Ruins of Empire

Pankaj Mishra
The Revolt Against the West and the Remaking of Asia
3.8 (29 ratings)

What's From the Ruins of Empire about?

In From the Ruins of Empire, author Pankaj Mishra examines the past 200 years from the perspective of Eastern cultures and how they responded to Western dominance. The book charts in detail the colonial histories of Persia, India, China and Japan in the nineteenth century to the rise of nation-states in the twentieth century. Select stories of cultural figures help to humanize the often violent clashes of cultures, showing the powerful influence of individuals in the course of history.

Who should read From the Ruins of Empire?

  • Anyone interested in the relations between Eastern and Western countries
  • Anyone interested in the history of global economic development
  • Anyone interested in the influence of artists and thinkers in history

23
Minor Feelings

Minor Feelings

Cathy Park Hong
A Reckoning on Race and the Asian Condition
3.8 (49 ratings)

What's Minor Feelings about?

Minor Feelings (2020) is poet Cathy Park Hong’s searing account of life as an Asian American. Drawing on her own experiences alongside penetrating insights, it paints a picture of the purgatorial status that Asian Americans still face.

Who should read Minor Feelings?

  • Those looking to explore what it means to be Asian in the United States today
  • Memoir lovers
  • People who want to expand their understanding of racial issues

24
Without You There Is No Us

Without You There Is No Us

Suki Kim
My Time With the Sons of North Korea’s Elite
4.5 (11 ratings)

What's Without You There Is No Us about?

North Korea is a closed society into which very few people are able to peek. This book is the story of an American journalist who got into the country by posing as an English teacher. She recounts her astonishing experiences and paints a very human picture of the country that so few are privileged to see. The phrase “Without You There Is No Us” comes from a chilling patriotic hymn sung twice a day, every day by the author’s students, expressing their devotion to their Great Leader,  Kim Jong-il.

Who should read Without You There Is No Us?

  • Anyone intrigued by this enigmatic country
  • Anyone interested in a first-hand account by a person who actually lived in North Korea
  • Anyone who wants to learn more about North Korea’s cruel and unusual treatment of its citizens

Related Topics