Book Reviews

Abstract

87 Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Vol. XXXIII, No.4, Summer 2010 Book Reviews Edited by Nadia Barsoum CHINA, NORTH AFRICA AND INDIA MAO’S CHINA & THE COLD WAR. By Chen Jian. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC 27515, 2001, 400 pp., $49.95 cloth, $19.95 paper US. Mr. Juan contributes excellent new material to support his comprehensive story of China’s Cold War. The role of Beijing, and the confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union are excellently explained from recently declassified Chinese documents. FAMILIAR STRANGERS: A HISTORY OF MUSLIMS IN NORTHWEST CHINA. By Jonathan N. Lipman. University of Washington Press, 1997, 318 pp., 24 photos, maps, $22.50 paper only. Jonothan Lipman examines the nature of ethnicity and periphery; and the role of religion and collective decisions in violent times. This book is of special interest as are the complexities of belonging to two cultures at once. An academic must for all degree levels. PROTRACTED CONTEST: SINO-INDIAN RIVALRY IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. By John W. Garver. University of Washington Press, 2001, 447 pp. $50. US. John Garver meticulously explains the actions and policy decisions of India and China since the midtwentieth century. CHINA’S LEADERS: THE NEW GENERATION. By Cheng Li. Rowman & Littlefield Publishrs, Inc. MD 2001, 285 pp. Cheng Li gives an impressive insight into the quantitative and qualitative date regarding the so-called fourth generation leaders. A fascinating and informative work. SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGE IN REVOLUNTIONARY CHINA: THE TAIHANG BASE AREA IN THE WAR OF RESISTANCE TO JAPAN, 1937-1945. By David S.G. Goodman. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., MD, 2000, 345 pp. David Goodman is outstanding in his exploration of the social and political change in the Taihang Base Area during the War of Resistance to Japan. The text is meticulously documented and presented in an informative and interesting style. 88 U.S. POLICY TOWARD CHINA: AN INTRODUCTION TO THE ROLE OF INTEREST GROUPS. By Robert G. Sutter. 1998. 170 pp. Robert Sutter examines the central role of the hotly debated issues of human rights, trade opportunities, relations with Taiwan. He contends that, “ the U.S. foreign policy must strike a balance between satisfying domestic concerns while buttressing interests abroad.” CHOOSING REVOLUTION: CHINESE WOMEN SOLDIERS ON THE LONG MARCH. By Helen Praeger Young. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 2007, 282pp. Presents the oral histories of twenty-two veterans of the Red Army’s legendary six-thousand mile “retreat to victory” before the advancing Nationalist Army. MANAGING SINO-AMERICAN CRISES: CASE STUDIES AND ANALYSIS. Edited by Michael D. Swaine and Zhang Tuosheng. Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2007, 536pp. Brings together Chinese and American officials and participants in past confrontations, as well as scholars from both countries, to explore the changing features of crisis behavior and their implications for defusing future encounters. THE HEADMAN WAS A WOMAN: THE GENDER EGALITARIAN BATEK OF MALAYSIA. By Kirk M. Endicott and Karen L. Endicott. Long Grove, IL: Waveland Press, 2008, 163pp. A comprehensive ethnography of one of the few remaining hunting and gathering peoples of Southeast Asia, this book presents the gender concepts, roles and relations of the highly egalitarian Batek of Peninsular Malaysia. ASIAN ISLAM IN THE 21ST CENTURY. Edited by John L. Esposito, John O. Voll and Osman Bakar. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2008, 306pp. Terrorism and its awful effects are highlighted in this explanation of Muslim politics as well as how Islamic extremist and movements have created Asian Muslim societies. THE CHANGIN FACE OF CHINA: FROM MAO TP MARKET. By John Gittings. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2006, 372pp. This book traces modern China from Communist revolution to economic superpower. BERNARD SHAW AND CHINA: CROSS-CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS . By Kay Li. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 2007, 285pp. HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN SOUTH ASIA 2006: POVERTY IN SOUTH ASIA: CHALLENGES AND RESPONSES. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2007, 212pp. This report stresses lessening poverty in order to maintain economic growth in the South Asian region. 89 ASSESSING THE THREAT. Edited by Michael D. Swaine, Andrew N.D. Yang, and Evan S. Mederiros with Oriana Skylar Mastro. Washington, D.C.: Carnegie Endowment...