Welcome to Asia Bookroom

Asia Bookroom is a leading Asian bookselling specialist. We have a large stock of books old and new on China, Japan, India, Korea, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma/Myanmar, Laos, Sri Lanka/Ceylon, Malaysia, Singapore, Timor Leste, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Himalayan region including Tibet and Central Asia. We stock books old and new on all of these areas - and many Asian themes and topics - for example cookery and food, religion and philosophy, Asian art and many more. Browse our site and subscribe to our mailing list for updates of new books as they arrive.

Asia Bookroom is delighted to offer a special price on the recently published 'Berkshire Encyclopedia of China' edited by Cheng Linsung. It is a momumental set - 5 volumes running to 2500 pages.

The retail price of this set is $1100 but for a limited time only we are delighted to make a special offer of $850 per set. This special price is only available until the pre publication stock of this encyclopedia in Australia runs out.

As well as this great price every individual purchase of the print edition is also entitled to a free one-year licence for the online edition. A comparable discount on the online edition institutional licence for libraries is also available, please inquire about this if you are buying for a library.

Berkshire Encyclopedia of China
CHENG LINSUNG. (EDITED BY).
AU$850.00 (WAS AU$1,100.00)
5 volumes. Maps, colour photographic illustrations, timelines, primary source sidebars, quotes. Over 2500 pages. Price also includes one year subscription to the on-line edition for single users and a comparable discount for the on-line edition for libraries. he Berkshire Encyclopedia of China offers authoritative articles from well-known scholars in China as well as in the West, and it has been compiled with strict rules about balance and objectivity by a publisher committed to providing truly global perspectives that will empower 21st-century students, global citizens, and leaders in business and government. To understand China?s spectacular growth over the past two decades and the importance it attaches to the 2008 Olympic Games, it is essential to understand and appreciate the history and culture of one of the world?s great civilizations. But the Berkshire Encyclopedia of China does much more than cover the history of China. The richly illustrated pages and lively design draw readers into wide-ranging and authoritative articles on subjects both familiar and unfamiliar. The encyclopedia provides essential knowledge about belief systems, business, communications, demographics, education, law and politics, minority groups, natural resources, regional and international relations, and social welfare in today?s China. Within these categories, there are broad thematic essays, which serve as anchors or touchstones for the work as a whole, as well as short entries about the people, events, concepts, and material goods that are essential to understanding China. There are articles on important organizations and companies, as well as on sports, festivals, and other aspects of popular culture. And the encyclopedia brings up right up to the present, with information on blogging and Internet use, human rights, and overseas returnees (the 'sea turtles'), and even looks to the future with articles on renewable energy and the 2010 World?s Fair in Shanghai. The encyclopedia is interdisciplinary in its coverage and organization. Contributing authors includes political scientists, sociologists, economists, anthropologists, geographers, historians, scientists, artists, and educators, many of whom are Chinese scholars based in China. (When referring to this item please quote stockid 128813) ... more
Stock ID: 128813

New books are always arriving at Asia Bookroom - below is a very small sample! Subscribe to our e-lists to hear of all new books as they arrive.

The Blue Wolf. A Novel of the Life of Chinggis Khan.
YASUSHI, INOUE.
AU$55.95 (WAS AU$65.00)
Map, xii + 281pp, dustjacket. One of the world's most ruthless warriors, Chinggis Khan conquered nearly all of Asia in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, transforming the scattered and impoverished Mongols into an exceptionally proud and powerful nation. In this riveting and thoroughly researched portrait, Japan's celebrated epic novelist drives at the root of the khan's great desires and insatiable appetite for supremacy. Beginning with his birth in 1162, The Blue Wolf follows the crucial alliances that led to Chinggis Khan's great campaigns in North China, Bukhara, and Samarkand, as well as the state of Khorazm. The khan was obsessed with his ancestry, not knowing whether he was the descendent of the blue wolf (mythical progenitor of the Mongols and the noble Borjigin line) or merely the bastard son of a Merkid tribesman. For Inoue Yasushi, Chinggis's ancestral anxiety lies at the center of his relentless push for empire. He struggled with his paternity as intensely as he fought his battles, and his victories stood as proof that the brave warrior was a true Mongol. The question of paternity also formed the largest wedge between Chinggis and his eldest son, Jochi, a boy born in captivity and of similarly questionable heritage. (When referring to this item please quote stockid 127828) ... more
Stock ID: 127828

The Cambridge Companion to Modern Japanese Culture.
SUGIMOTO, YOSHIO. (EDITED BY).
AU$49.95
Tables, graphs, black and white illustrations, 413pp, paperback. This Companion provides a comprehensive overview of the influences that have shaped modern-day Japan. Spanning one and a half centuries from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 to the beginning of the twenty-first century, this volume covers topics such as technology, food, nationalism and the rise of anime and manga in the visual arts. The 19 papers by leading scholars together with an introduction by the editor entitled "'Japanese Culture' An Overview" combine to make this an authoritative introduction to this subject. Papers include: Concepts of Japan, Japanese Culture and the Japanese - Harumi Befu; Japan's emic conceptions - Takami Kuwayana; Language - Hugh Clarke, Family Culture - Anne E Imamura; School Culture - Kaori H Okano; Work Culture - Ross Mouer; Technological Culture - Morris Low; Religious Culture - Stephen Covell; Popular Leisure - Sepp Linhart; Housing Culture - Ann Waswo; Sports Culture - Miho Koishihara; Food Culture - Naomichi Ishige; Exporting Japan's Culture: From Management style to manga - Ross Mouer and Craig Norris; Political Culture - Takashi Inoguchi; Buraku culture - Hideo Aoki; Literary Culture - Toshiko Ellis; Music Culture - Junko Kitagawa; Globalisation and cultural nationalism - Takashi Inoguchi; Manga, anime and visual arts culture - Craig Norris; Anyone with an interest in what makes modern Japan tick can ill afford to be without this book. (When referring to this item please quote stockid 128403) ... more
Stock ID: 128403

Cherry Blossoms of Kyoto. A Seasonal Portfolio.
HIDEHIKO MIZUNO, KAYU MIZUNO, AND YASUTAKA OGAWA (PHOTOGRAPHERS).
AU$24.95
Maps, full page colour photographic illustrations, 103pp, paperback. This title captures the essence of Japan's ancient symbol of mortality amidst Kyoto's beauty. Cherry trees, symbol of the Japanese spring, flower in a riotous blaze of glory from late March through early April, suffusing the surrounding landscape with springtime colour. The peak cherry-viewing season, however, is extremely short, blossoms scattering without trace in little over a week. Despite the fleeting nature of the spectacle, cherry blossoms have occupied a special place in the hearts of the Japanese since earliest times. Doing its utmost to dazzle during its short life before gracefully bowing out, cherry blossoms are seen as an ideal model for life and death, and a symbol embodying both the glorious and ephemeral natures of human existence. As such, over the centuries they have provided inspiration for poets, painters, and many other artists. Identifying in nature a sublime spirituality transcending external beauty, and elevating that spirituality to an art form lies at the core of Japanese culture. For over a millennium, the city of Kyoto has made this aesthetic sensibility its own., In these pages, readers will find a rare fusion of centuries-old culture, and natural splendour unchanged since ancient times. This is a superbly illustrated book showing the beauty of cherry blossoms in Kyoto. It features forty-eight classic cherry blossom-viewing locations captured by three photographers born and raised in Kyoto. There is a bilingual map section that provides address information and contact details for each location: practical and portable. (When referring to this item please quote stockid 128586) ... more
Stock ID: 128586

Shooting Balibo. Blood and Memory in East Timor.
MANIATY, TONY.
AU$32.95
311pp, paperback. In 1975, journalist Tony Maniaty flew to the Portuguese colony of East Timor looking for a war to film. He found it at a dusty outpost called Balibo. Maniaty and his ABC News crew were shelled and five other television newsmen who followed were murdered by Indonesian troops. Maniaty reported the Balibo Five story, faced death threats and fled before the Indonesian forces invaded. In Shooting Balibo, he teams up with the cast and crew of the feature film Balibo, retraces his days of danger, and dines with Jose Ramos-Horta as the independence fighter-turned-President recovers from an assassination attempt. But Maniaty's real purpose is to visit Balibo for the first time since 1975. When he steps into the burned-out house where his colleagues were slaughtered thirty-three years ago, past and present collide before his eyes. (When referring to this item please quote stockid 128859) ... more
Stock ID: 128859

The Toss of a Lemon.
VISWANATHAN, PADMA.
AU$34.95
619pp, paperback. Inspired by her family history, Padma Viswanathan brings us deep inside the private lives of a Brahmin family as the subcontinent moves through sixty years of intense social and political change. At the novel's heart is Sivakami, a captivating girl-child married at ten to an astrologer and village healer who is drawn to her despite his horoscope, which foretells an early death depending on how the stars align when their children are born. The Toss of a Lemon is heartbreaking and exhilarating, profoundly exotic and yet utterly recognizable in evoking the tensions that change brings to every family's doorstep. It is also the debut of a major new voice in world fiction. (When referring to this item please quote stockid 128194) ... more
Stock ID: 128194

The Story of India with Michael Wood.
WOOD, MICHAEL.
AU$33.95
DVD, 383 mins, region code 4 (Australia, New Zealand, Central America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Oceania and South America). Acclaimed writer and historian, Michael Wood explores the world's oldest and most influential civilisation in this captivating six part adventure. Join him as he explores six astonishing places, including Patna, once said to be the greatest city on earth; Madurai, a town that has existed continuously since the first millennium BC; and sites at the heart of India's historic spice trade. (When referring to this item please quote stockid 128175) ... more
Stock ID: 128175