The Digital Renaissance: Review: History of Asia: Explore The Magnificent Histories, Culture, Mythology, Folklore, Wars, Legends, Stories, Achievements & More of China, Japan & India: 3 Books in 1

Tuesday, December 13, 2022

Review: History of Asia: Explore The Magnificent Histories, Culture, Mythology, Folklore, Wars, Legends, Stories, Achievements & More of China, Japan & India: 3 Books in 1

History of Asia: Explore The Magnificent Histories, Culture, Mythology, Folklore, Wars, Legends, Stories, Achievements & More of China, Japan & India: 3 Books in 1 by History Brought Alive
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Any attempt at surveying history across such a large geographical region (even restricting it to the three largest civilizations) is by definition an ambitious undertaking. This attempt is one of the more competent attempts that I have encountered … providing enough space to cover the basic relevant facts while avoiding any significant amount of speculation on the why … in other words, this book just tell you the what and you will need to bring your own context to infer any understanding of the cultures presented (a potentially hazardous presumption when dealing with eastern cultures from a western perspective).

That said, each of the three (3) sections that tell the story of China, Japan and India were exceptionally well organized and sequentially presented from the age of myths and legends up to present day. As best as I can confirm, all of the details provided are well within the academic consensus, probable a result of the previous stated focus on “just the facts” which only increased confidence on the parts I was not able to easily confirm and added to the reputation of the publisher (now one of my favorite historical sources).

A. The History of Asia

1: A Time of Myth and Legend
2: The First Emperor
3: A Unified Civilization Fragments
4: Enter A Golden Age
5: A Dynasty Beset By Enemies
6: The Mongol Rule China
7: The Mighty Ming
8: The Magnificent Qing
9: Revolution and World War
10: The People’s Republic of China

B. The History of Japan

1: Early Japan
2: Myths
3: Nara and Heian Periods
4: Kamakura Period
5: Muromachi Period
6: Edo and Meiji Periods
7: Taisho Period Through WWII
8: Postwar Period

C. The History of India

Part 1 - Ancient India

1. Emergence of Civilizations
2. The Mauryan Glory
3. The Age of the Guptas
4. The Cultural Shift

Part II - Medieval India

5. The Mughal Sultanate
6. The East Indian Company

Part III - Modern India

7. The Fight for Freedom
8. The Casualty of Partition

I was given this free advance review copy (ARC) ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

#HistoryOfAsia #BookSirens

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My Ratings Explained ...

[ ***** ] Amazing Read - Perfect story, exciting, engrossing, well developed complex characters, solid plot with few to no holes, descriptive environments and place settings, great mystery elements, realistic dialogue, believable reactions and behaviors; a favorite that I can re-read many times.
[ **** ] Great Read - Highly entertaining and enjoyable, exciting storyline, well developed characters and settings, a few discrepancies but nothing that can’t be overlooked. Some aspect of the story was new/refreshing to me and/or intriguing. Recommended for everyone.
[ *** ] Good Read - Solid story with a 'good' ending, or has some other redeeming feature. Limited character development and/or over reliance on tropes. Noticeable discrepancies in world building and/or dialog/behavior that were distracting. I connected enough with the characters/world to read the entire series. Most of the books I read for fun are here. Recommended for fans of the genre.
[ ** ] Okay Read - Suitable for a brief, afternoon escape … flat or shallow characters with little to no development. Over the top character dialog and/or behavior. Poor world building with significant issues and/or mistakes indicating poor research. Excessive use of trivial detail, info dumps and/or pontification. Any issues with the story/characters are offset by some other aspect that I enjoyed. Not very memorable. May only appeal to a niche group of readers. Recommended for some (YMMV).
[ * ] Bad Read - Awkward and/or confusing writing style. Poor world building and/or unbelievable (or unlikeable) characters. Victimization, gaslighting, blatant abuse, unnecessary violence, child endangerment, or any other highly objectionable behaviors by Main characters. I didn't connect with the story at all; significant aspects of this story irritated me enough that I struggled to finished it. Series was abandoned. Not recommended.