A History of Asia

by Rhoads Murphey, Kristin Stapleton

Written by a leading scholar, A History of Asia is the only text to cover the area known as Monsoon Asia — India, China, Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan — from the earliest of times to the present. Its extensive analysis integrates the complex and diverse political, social, intellectual, and economic histories of this area with an engaging and lively style. Popular because of its scope and coverage, the fifth edition of A History of Asia contains new, boxed features that emphasize cross-cultural comparisons and expanded treatment of Southeast Asia. Additionally, a timeline and discussion questions have been added to each chapter, thereby making the book even more student friendly.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Reference, Asia, Japan, China, Textbooks

544 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1992

Reviews

[Sasha (bahareads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

*I did not read the whole book
A History of Asia was as the text for my modern China and Japan class. I used A History of Asia as a reference for my papers. The depth of information that Murphey, and the other authors who make additions, does into regarding Asia is excellent. A History of Asia is not light reading; it is a textbook and a great introduction for such a complex history. I liked the way A History of Asia is divided; it is great for finding information and reading about parts of history that you are interested in. It could seem a little overwhelming at first, but once you start reading it, it's not that hard to get into. Details, significant influences for the different regions and the effects the regions play on each other is wonderfully done in A History of Asia. I enjoyed the text so much I bought a personal copy for myself.

[Mike Emett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading for my Far East history class

[Apollōn · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is, sadly, riddled with factual errors and outdated claims. Among the most glaring is the erroneous statement that, "of all world civilizations, India’s is the oldest still in continuous existence." Why the authors felt the need to make such a statement is beyond me, but they are mistaken all the same.

What we today refer to as the Indian civilisation arose in the 1st millennium BC. There is an intermission of well over a millennium between the collapse of the Indus Valley civilisation, and the rise of the later Indian civilisation. It was not until well into the 1st millennium BC that cities started re-appearing in India, and writing only appeared in about the 3rd century BC. To speak of continuous existence in face of such glaring discontinuity, especially in face of Chine's history of earlier origins and greater cultural, political and linguistic unity, could perhaps be understood if this were a school book aimed at Indian children, where nationalistic sentiments have their place, but to find in in a volume written by scholars is most disappointing.

The errors don't stop here. The authors claim Korean and Japanese to be Altaic languages, without prefacing this statement with "possibly", or even "probably", despite the fact that there is no consensus on this topic.

I could go on, but I believe this says enough. Someone interested in learning more about the history of Asia would be better served by turning to specialised volumes dealing with each country - or specific region - in turn.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Its a textbook, but I found it drawn out and boring, as a historian that is not a good thing. I found myself looking up words multiple times to understand what the author was trying to say, not to mention discussing questions sometimes had nothing to do with the chapter you were reading. Overall it was ok but wished there was a different textbook for my graduate course.

[V. (book hangover or book slump?)]

Uni readings 🤙🏻

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was really good in giving the reader a notion of the history of Asia, but although Murphey does a splendid job of discussion the intricate history of this most-populous of continents, the amount of information is such that the reader will almost certainly feel overwhelmed. Murphey clearly writes for an uninformed audience and thus manages to divide this great continent into several sub regions that will make keeping track of them easier. He then embarks to give a detailed and well-written account of the major influences that affected those regions and their effect on each other. I would recommend this book as a great introduction to this complex history but with the caveat that to really understand it one must then read a whole book devoted to the history of each of the regions delineated.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book for those of us who are trying to learn about Asian history with one source. I would say that it goes into a medium depth level on the majority of monsoon Asian countries. It does not touch on Siberia or Australia, however it does cover the rest of the Asian countries in enough detail. Overall, I had a great time reading this book and am very please it is now part of my reference collection for future discussions and lookups.

[Katrina · Rating 3 out of 5]

We ought to know the story of how we came to live we do now.