A Short History of Asia: Stone Age to 2000 AD [Hardcover]

Colin Mason (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 7, 2000 | ISBN-10: 0312230591 | ISBN-13: 978-0312230593

Designed to be readable above all else to those without prior knowledge of the subject, A Short History of Asia presents a gripping and comprehensive account of civilizations that had credit banking, mass production industries, and whole libraries of printed books while Europe was still primitive. It stresses in particular the pre-colonial period, and takes a critical look at imperialism. Its chapters on the modern states are enlivened by the personal experience of the author, who has lived and worked in almost all of them. The book identifies Asian traditions which influence the modern states profoundly.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Colin Mason is a former foreign correspondent, broadcaster, diplomat and parliamentarian, who lived and worked in Asia during the early, formative years of the modern states.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 326 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan (July 7, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312230591
• ISBN-13: 978-0312230593
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,765,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An easy, informative read, March 20, 2001

By 

J. Penn (Baku, Azerbaijan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Short History of Asia: Stone Age to 2000 AD (Paperback)

I picked up this book whilst searching for texts for an Asian Studies course I plan to teach this fall. Nolan's treatment is quite sensitive to Asian perspectives, and careful to highlight and correct traditionally held but erroneous beliefs: Gutenberg invented moveable type printing (Koreans did 400 years prior); zero was invented by Arabic mathematicians (they got the idea from Indians). The writing is concise and comprehensive without being exhaustive - I'd almost call it a page-turner. What it lacks in pictures, maps, or graphs it makes up for in tight yet readable text. Of special note are the latter chapters dealing with modern Asia - incredibly understandable and helpful. The only offense I take is the (typical) brief treatment of smaller nations (e.g. Korea, the Philippines), and the space given Japan, China, and India. In fairness, though, Mason DOES go into more detail on the smaller countries than most comparable books, and in 300 pages, to expect more is probably unrealistic. All of you who wish you'd paid more attention during the lectures on Vietnam and China's Cultural Revolution, anyone wanting to know why Southeast Asia is as it is, anyone simply fascinated by the East must read this book.

4.0 out of 5 stars Revised my worldview extensively!, February 14, 2011

By 

SemioticLabyrinth - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Short History of Asia: Stone Age to 2000 AD (Kindle Edition)

This introduction to Asian history made me realize I knew almost nothing about what is, both in terms of geography and population, the majority of our planet. Living in Indonesia, I can say that Mason's observations are profound and accurate.

The author divides the material into three parts, pre-colonial, colonial, and modern. He cycles through each region in each of these sections.

Mason strives for objectivity throughout, and attains it to a commendable degree. He both praises and condemns communists, Christian missionaries, westerners, Buddhists, and dictators carefully.

This edition was published just before 9/11, but his treatment from prehistory to 2000 gives such a good overview that this seems almost a minor detail 11 years later. Hopefully the publishers will release the 2nd ed. (published 2005) for kindle.

I would give the text 5 stars, but I must give 4 for this Kindle edition. One of the links in the TOC was broken, and I found a dozen or so typos as I read. There were a few minor words that were hyphenated for an unnecessary break, and a few funny space, but I would say that such textual errors were less than 2% of the book. Definitely worth the cost!

7 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great book by a smart guy . . ., January 31, 2001

By 

James Bradley (On the planet) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: A Short History of Asia: Stone Age to 2000 AD (Paperback)

The first book anyone should read about Asia

James Bradley Author FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS [e-mail]