Asian history

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  • Michael Palin in the Philippines

    £20.00

    Michael Palin’s latest adventure sees him exploring one of the most fascinatingly complex and contradictory countries on earth: the Philippines. It’s a popular tourist destination, but also a place of extreme poverty for many. It’s a nation where religious beliefs are strongly held and divorce is illegal, but where political unrest and violence regularly mar everyday life. And, of course, it’s a country still dominated by the legacy of the Marcos family, not least the infamous husband and wife team of Ferdinand and Imelda, whose 21-year rule was dominated by scandal and allegations of corruption. In the course of Michael’s epic journey he gets to see the Philippines archipelago in all its beauty, variety and many paradoxes. He meets some of the warmest and friendliest people he has ever encountered. And at the very end, he finds himself as close to the Marcos family as it’s possible to get – in a meeting that he never thought possible.

  • Yakuza

    £25.00

    The definitive, utterly engrossing history of Japanese organized crime, from the samurai era to the present

  • The Last Emperor of China

    £25.00

    A major new account of China’s Last Emperor – the spellbinding story now told in full for the first time

  • Mao

    £11.99

    Based on new archival information and startling revelations from his inner circle Clements offer a clear and accessible portrait of a leader whose persistent influence reminds us why Mao’s story remains essential to understanding the global power dynamics of today.

  • Shattered Lands

    £10.99

    ** THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER **

    ORWELL PRIZE FOR POLITICAL WRITING FINALIST 2026

    A Best Book of the Year in the Financial Times, The Week, Spectator, BBC History Magazine, NPR, History Today, Waterstones and Daunts

    ‘A sparkling debut by an outstanding young historian’ PETER FRANKOPAN

  • Ghost Nation

    £12.99

    Veteran journalist Chris Horton delivers a gripping, urgent and approachable account of Taiwan’s rich history and precarious present. Based on a decade of on-the-ground reporting, he reveals how this vibrant democracy and tech colossus emerged against all odds.

  • Breakneck

    £12.99

    America used to pride itself on ambition. Today, it looks stuck. Meanwhile, China has been busy building the future. Over the past six years, technology analyst Dan Wang lived through China’s astonishing, messy progress and the dissolution of its relationship to the West. In ‘Breakneck’, Wang offers a new framework for understanding China – which helps us to see global geopolitics more clearly too.

  • Conquering the North

    £12.99

    A panoramic history of the roots of China and Mongolia’s historic rivalry… and why it matters now.

  • Red Dawn Over China

    £25.00

    From renowned, prize-winning historian Frank Dikötter – ‘the historian of China’ (Spectator) – a commanding new history of China’s path to Communism, brought to the people at the barrel of a gun

  • Samurai

    £45.00

    The word ‘samurai’ stands for ideals of courage, honour, self-sacrifice and loyalty. Yet much of the common understanding is imaginative fiction. This book explores the concept from medieval reality, through early modern changes, to today’s hugely varied popular culture, challenging preconceptions and exploding myths.

  • Breakneck

    £25.00

    America used to pride itself on ambition. Today, it looks stuck. Meanwhile, China has been busy building the future. Over the past six years, technology analyst Dan Wang lived through China’s astonishing, messy progress and the dissolution of its relationship to the West. In ‘Breakneck’, Wang offers a new framework for understanding China – which helps us to see global geopolitics more clearly too.

  • The Anarchy: The Relentless Rise of the East India Company

    £14.99

    Here, historian William Dalrymple tells the timely and cautionary tale of the rise of the East India Company and one of the most supreme acts of corporate violence in world history.