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Daunt Books Children's Short Story Competition 2013

Asia

• Subcontinent
• East Asia
• Southeast Asia

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  In Spite of the Gods by Edward Luce

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  A lively, informed yet approachable portrait of contemporary India by Financial Times journalist Edward Luce.

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  No Full Stops in India by Mark Tully

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  A collection of 10 essays from the charming Mark Tully which explore modern India.

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  News from Tartary

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  In 1935 Peter Fleming, exploring brother of Ian Fleming, set off on a 3,500 mile, seven month journey from Peking to Kashmir through the unexplored anarchy that was Central Asia. Evocative, adventurous tales with previously unseen photographs of the journey. A travel writing classic.

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  Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

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  A world-wide phenomenon, this philosophical memoir describes the life of Gregory David Roberts: armed robber, heroin addict, escaped convict, founder of a free health clinic in a Mumbai slum and Bollywood actor. This is an absorbing, colourful and lyrical journey through a fascinating life.

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  Mao: The Unknown Story by Jung Chang

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  Mesmerising and enormously powerful, this is Jung Chang and Jon Halliday's intricately researched, uniquely revealing biography of Chairman Mao and his tyrannical dictatorship.

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  An Introduction to Buddhism by Peter Harvey

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  Originally intended as a text book for students, this is a comprehensive and academic volume which covers all the major concepts and world-wide developments.

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  The Argumentative Indian by Amartya Sen

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  A fascinating selection of essays by the Nobel prize-winning economist Amartya Sen on understanding India through its argumentative tradition. Sen covers Indian history from the Vedic era to the present day and writes on art, colonialism, nationalism and Gandhi.

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  When China Rules the World by Martin Jacques

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  A sensitive and well-researched exploration of the rise of China, its history, its culture, and a believable argument prophesising that China will certainly become the dominant world power.

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  Factory Girls by Leslie Chang

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  A collection of moving, tragic and inspiring stories about the girls behind the 'Made in China' label. Leslie Chang speaks to these girls about their emigration from rural villages, their families and their desperately long hours and often horrifying working conditions.

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  Tiger Head Snake Tails by Jonathan Fenby

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  Jonathan Fenby, a master of contextualising the history and meteoric rise of China, returns with a full modern history, explaining how the world's economic engine got to where it is today, and how it can protect itself, and indeed it's neighbours and trading partners, from the challenges of the 21st century.

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  Phnom Penh: A Cultural & Literary History by Milton Osborne

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  The history of the Cambodian capital since 1866: home of French colonisers, Cambodian Kings and the Khmer Rouge.

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  China: A History by John Keay

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  Ambitious, well-written, occasionally humorous account of the complex, turbulent years of Chinese history between 200BC and the start of the 20th century.

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  Romancing Vietnam by Justin Wintle

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  Justin Wintle was the first to travel the length of Vietnam after it opened its doors to the West in 1989. Fascinating interviews alongside evocative descriptions of the landscape and people in post-war Vietnam.

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  The Last Valley by Martin Windrow

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  A detailed account of the French defeat by the Vietnamese guerilla army at Dien Bien Phu in 1953. A serious yet interesting military history which describes a turning point in modern warfare.

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  Falling Leaves Return to their Roots by Adeline Yen Mah

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  A childhood memoir of growing up as the 'Fifth Younger Daughter' in civil war ravaged China. Set against an evocative, historical backdrop, Mah describes a heart-breaking familial dynamic where she must battle rejection and physical and mental abuse. A wonderful, moving book that tells of tragedy, hardship and a small burning flame of hope.

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  Maximum City by Suketu Mehta

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  This is one of those rare but wonderful things: a piece of non-fiction written as well, and as poetically, as a novel. Suketu Mehta's part history, part travelogue is a definitive and highly absorbing book for anyone wishing to learn about the city or heading there.

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  For Tibet, with Love: A Beginner's Guide to Changing the World by Isabel Losada

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  An immensely inspiring exploration of the eternal question, ‘What can one person do to make a difference?’ From visits to Nepal and Tibet, to meetings with the Chinese ambassador and Tibetan awareness-raising groups, author Isabel Losada demonstrates the power of positive action by single-handedly hatching a PR coup involving Nelson's Column, a 15 metre banner and a base-jumping parachutist that captured headlines worldwide. Contains an interesting interview with the Dalai Lama.

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  Dispatches by Michael Herr

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  Michael Herr's brutal, surreal collection of both factual and fictional snapshots from the frontline of the Vietnam War, described by John Le Carre as "the best book I have ever read on men and war in our time."

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  Quest for Kim by Peter Hopkirk

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  Peter Hopkirk retraces the footsteps of Rudyard Kipling's everlasting character Kim, exploring how much of Kipling's colonial India is still in existence. An educational, intoxicating journey.

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  India: A History by John Keay

  Price: £12.99    Add to Basket

  An academic yet readable overview of the history of the country from The Harrapan World of 3000 BC to post-partition India. A rare look at India's past beyond the colonial intervention, this compact paperback also includes illustrations and photographs.

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  The Great Partition by Yasmin Khan

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  One of the most bloody moments in colonial history, Khan explores the true motivations behind the partition, its tragic consequences and its dangerous legacy. A cultural and political history, combined with moving personal testomies.

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  The Indian Mutiny by Saul David

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  A shameful part of British colonial history, Saul David explores the anti-colonial uprisings in India in 1857 and Britain's bloody and violent retribution. Impeccably researched yet refreshing, exuberant and highly readable.

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  River Town by Peter Hessler

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  In 1996, Peter Hessler spent two years teaching in a rural town by the Yangtze River. Here, with humble, elegant and insightful prose he captures the occasionally inscrutable spirit of both the country and its people.

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  The Dynasties of China by Bamber Gascoigne

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  A succinct appraisal of 3,500 years of Chinese history by exploring the eight major dynasties and their influence on culture, ideas and language, their wars and the final decline of Imperial China.

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  The Opium War by Julia Lovell

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  A lively new history of the conflict between England and China which began in 1839, it explores how the Opium wars still cast their long shadow over Chinese nationalism.