Southeast Asia category: 1948 books

No one sees the world quite like John Gimlette. As The New York Times once noted, “he writes with enormous wit, indignation, and a heightened sense of the absurd.” Writing for both the adventurer and the armchair traveler, he has an eye for unusually telling detail, a sense of wonder, and compelling...

In 2012, Barack Obama became the first U.S. president ever to visit Myanmar, formerly known as Burma. This official state visit marked a new period in the long and sinuous diplomatic relationship between the United States and Burma/Myanmar, which Kenton Clymer examines in A Delicate Relationship....

"Pulsating with energy and steeped in dreams." Vietnam stands at a crossroads. Located in the geographical center of Southeast Asia, Vietnam is a complex mixture of the ancient and the modern. A Soviet-style legacy contrasts with an emerging Western-style market economy. Vietnam is...

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Burma was among the most prosperous territories in the East. Yet since gaining independence in 1948, its economy has struggled. Burma's developmental failure has often been attributed to gross mismanagement of the economy by the military who took power in...

Thailand is one of the world’s most popular travel destinations for many very good reasons: friendly people, warm climate, sandy beaches, clear sea, stunning landscape, fascinating culture, spicy food, colorful nightlife. The list goes on. Alone amongst Southeast Asian nations, Thailand escaped...

Laos is the smallest state in terms of population, the weakest militarily, and the least developed economically in mainland Southeast Asia. Yet a glance at the map shows how strategically it is positioned, between Thailand and Vietnam and between Cambodia and China. As in the past Laos was a crossroads...

The pilgrimage to Mecca, or Hajj, has been a yearly phenomenon of great importance in Muslim lands for well over one thousand years. Each year, millions of pilgrims from throughout the Dar al-Islam, or Islamic world, stretching from Morocco east to Indonesia, make the trip to Mecca as one of the five...

A dazzling memoir from a talented Malaysian writer about family and home, and a searing portrait of the country of her birth. In this riveting memoir Beth persuades her ageing parents on a road trip around their former home, Malaysia. She intends to retrace their honeymoon of 45 years before,...

A concise, information-packed background of the history and culture of Vietnam, including the country's relations with the United States. Comprehensive and authoritative, this book accurately describes this fascinating country. The author begins with a description of the geographical features...

In the Royal Palace of Bangkok is one of the most revered Buddhist images in the entire world. This book is the folklore and actual history of this image. From the time it was sculptured in 43BCE, the amazing journeys through Asia and the strange incidents around this image. From India to the fabled...

Renowned for its natural wealth since ancient times, the southern Thai island of Phuket has acquired a new kind of international celebrity in more recent days as a place of rest and relaxation for over a million foreign visitors a year. Situated off the western coast of the Malay Peninsula, Phuket...

Burma is one of the largest countries in Southeast Asia and was once one of its richest. Under successive military regimes, however, the country eventually ended up as one of the poorest countries in Asia, a byword for repression and ethnic violence. Richard Cockett spent years in the region as a correspondent...

This fundamental study provides the first comprehensive history in any language of the lands between the Red and Pearl Rivers in southern China and the people who resided there over a span of a thousand years. Bringing to life the mysterious early people known as Li and Lao who inhabited the area,...

Islamic, authoritarian, democratic, developing, disintegrating, Indonesia is an enigma to outside observers who have never seemed sure just what it is. The largest country in its region, Indonesia holds the key to Southeast Asia's future, while recent developments (demands for greater regional...