If medieval China, that vast commercial empire glimpsed by Marco Polo, had gunpowder, paper, a huge army, the compass and other technological wonders, then why didn't the Industrial Revolution occur there instead of Western Europe? Why did the Chinese remain technically backwards for centuries and fall prey to the West's political dominance? These questions are addressed in thi...(展开全部)

At the start of the third Christian millennium we are aware of massive political, economic and ideological changes which condition the chances of liberty, wealth and equality. Yet it is surprisingly difficult for us to understand these forces, for we cannot see what surrounds us so closely. This book analyzes our condition by looking at the work of two great thinkers, one of wh...(展开全部)

What is lost in translation may be a war, a world, a way of life. A unique look into the nineteenth-century clash of empires from both sides of the earthshaking encounter, this book reveals the connections between international law, modern warfare, and comparative grammar--and their influence on the shaping of the modern world in Eastern and Western terms. The Clash of Empires ...(展开全部)

The East in the West reassesses Western views of Asia. Traditionally many European historians and theorists have seen the societies of the East as 'static' or 'backward'. Jack Goody challenges these assumptions, beginning with the notion of a special Western rationality which enabled 'us' and not 'them' to modernise. He then turns to book-keeping, which several social and econo...(展开全部)

The Great Divergence brings new insight to one of the classic questions of history: Why did sustained industrial growth begin in Northwest Europe, despite surprising similarities between advanced areas of Europe and East Asia? As Ken Pomeranz shows, as recently as 1750, parallels between these two parts of the world were very high in life expectancy, consumption, product and fa...(展开全部)

维克多•塞巴斯蒂安 记者。 著有： 《十二天：1956年革命》（TWELVE DAYS: REVOLUTION 1956 ），Weidenfeld, 2006 《1989年革命》（REVOLUTION 1989: FALL OF THE SOVIET EMPIRE），W&N, 2009

维克多•塞巴斯蒂安 记者。 著有： 《十二天：1956年革命》（TWELVE DAYS: REVOLUTION 1956 ），Weidenfeld, 2006 《1989年革命》（REVOLUTION 1989: FALL OF THE SOVIET EMPIRE），W&N, 2009

The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in twenty-?ve years than the Romans did in four hundred. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization. Vastly more progressive than his European or Asian counterparts, Genghis Khan abolished torture...(展开全部)

Making Religion, Making the State combines cutting-edge perspectives on religion with rich empirical data to offer a challenging new argument about the politics of religion in modern China. The volume goes beyond extant portrayals of the opposition of state and religion to emphasize their mutual constitution. With chapters written by experts on Buddhism, Protestantism, Catholic...(展开全部)

A biography of the Chinese leader, Deng Xiaoping, which examines his life in the context of the events of Chinese history: the ascent of communism, the Long March, the Japanese invasion, the Great Leap Forward, the Cultural Revolution and...