From one of the world's leading historians—a comprehensive narrative of the 3,000 years that have formed Asia's people, culture, and global destiny Tracingits origins in Mesopotamia to its modern role on the global geopolitical stage, historian Arthur Cotterell offers a compelling, lively, and readable account of one of the most culturally diverse, and often misunderstood, parts of theworld. Beginning with the emergence of the world's earliest civilization in 3000 BC, Asia: A Concise History provides a fascinating look at the global convulsions—like the rise and fall of Assyria and Persia, the medieval states thatflourished after the advent of Islam, and the modern transformations triggered by the lightning conquests of imperial Japan—that have shaped the continent.Covers the great events and figures of Asian history, along with a look at the monumental remains that bear witness to those times: the ziggurats of Iraq, the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, the temple of Angkor Wat Includes fascinating slices of history, including funeral arrangements for Qin Shi Huangdi in 210 BC; an extract from Lord Macartney's journal of his 1793 diplomatic mission to the Qing emperor Qian Long; and Toyotomi Hideyoshi's edict of 1587 banning firearms in Japan Features boxed inserts of special interest—like a Babylonian recipe for lamb stew circa 1500 BC Contains over 100 illustrations, maps, and photos Other books by Cotterell: The Minoan World, The First Emperor of China, The Encyclopedia of Mythology, and Chariot Destined to become a reference staple for history buffs and students of Asian history, Asia: A Concise History offers readers a breathtaking narrative and wealth of detail that make the formative periods, key events, and personalities from this once remote part of the world come alive. INDICE: Asia: A Concise History has three main sections besides an overarching introduction which indicates the scope of the history as well as the key themes of each section: the worlds earliest civilizations; the cultural diversity of the medieval states; and the rapid development of the recent past. The first main section, entitled Ancient Asia, starts with a discussion of the worlds first civilizations in Mesopotamia. After briefly considering the Neolithic transformation of mobile hunter-gatherers into village societies and farmers, the narrative focus is the beginnings of city-based life from 3000 BC onwards. These initial urban-dwellers, the Sumerians, arrived from the East and cultivated the rich, alluvial plain laid down by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Even though another civilization in the fertile Nile valley was starting to develop at the same time, it was the Sumerian legacy which would shape much of the worlds outlook, and not just Asia. The story of the Flood is perhaps Sumers best known myth, although in the original version the cause of the disaster was the din of mankind, preventing the gods from getting a decent nights sleep. The evolution of the Sumerian cities into the larger state systems created by Akkad, Babylon and Assyria brings Asian history down to 612 BC, when Nineveh was destroyed. This formative period saw the publication of the first lawcodes (Hammurapi about 1790 BC ), the growth of literature (the Gilgamesh epic), the construction of great temples (the ziggurats), and the coalescence ofdeities into supreme gods (Marduk of Babylon). This citys hanging gardens were so famous because they represented a previously unimagined urban sophistication. Much of what is often considered unique to Europe through the experience of the ancient Greeks actually had its origins in Mesopotamia. After the incorporation of West Asia and indeed Egypt in the Persian empire, the first major confrontation between European and Asian power took place. In response, the Macedonians advanced as far as India in 326 BC, and even after Alexanders death held on to large areas for a couple of centuries. The rollback of European dominion, and especially the struggle between a revived Persia and Rome effectively ended the ancient phase in Western Asia. There were of course other ancient civilizations of note: to mention but a few, Illium (the Trojan War), Hatti(the earliest Indo-European speakers), Lydia (coinage), Israel (religion), Phoenicia ( the alphabet), and Mitanni (mobile warfare). Elsewhere in India and China, the other cradles of Asian civilization, there arose two quite distinct traditions. The Indus civilization (after 2900 BC) had trading links with Mesopotamia, but India was only drawn westwards through the Aryan invasion around 1500 BC. As Purandara, the fort-destroyer, warlike Indra, king of the Indo-Aryan gods, set back civilization there for more than half a millennium, although cities had recovered suffic
- ISBN: 978-0-470-82504-4
- Editorial: John Wiley & Sons
- Encuadernacion: Rústica
- Páginas: 450
- Fecha Publicación: 25/02/2011
- Nº Volúmenes: 1
- Idioma: Inglés