Early China and Warring States period
There are three excellent books. In chronology of publication, Early China: A Social and Cultural History by Li Feng (2013) covers the period from the…
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The Malayan Communist Party
Who is The Plen, who met Lee Kuan Yew in secret negotiations? The MCP has long faded from the public’s interest. For those still keen…
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Of Horses and Men
The year of the Fire Horse, in the Chinese zodiac, begins tomorrow on Feb 17, 2026, with big celebrations in Malaysia, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan,…
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Tao Te Ching—Part 2
John Minford used the received text for his translation, which dates to the Han dynasty. There are 2 earlier versions of the text. They are—…
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Disinheritance
“I have lived,” Jhabvala said, “like a cuckoo forever insinuating myself into others’ nests.” The cuckoo is a parasitic bird that deposits its eggs in…
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Departure(s)
Departure(s), a fiction based on life, is arguably Julian Barnes’s swan song. Now age 80, Barnes is again meditating on old age and death. He…
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Passing Glimpses and Questions on China
Ooi Kee Beng calls his short essays or opinion pieces creative nonfiction. This book, Passing Glimpses of the Present (2026), is a collection of his…
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Law, Religion, and Power
The main theme of The Fall of the Priests and the Rise of the Lawyers by Philip R. Wood (2016) is that religious authority had…
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The Right to Differ
Before the 2-volume biography of Lim Kit Siang by Kee Thuan Chye, there were two biographical sketches of the opposition leader based on questions and…
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Native Americans and Abraham Lincoln
Abe, in history, has been elevated to a god status by many historians. Any human failures of his are embedded in the text and not…
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