Empires of the East   |   READING AND TRAVEL GUIDE

Here's a page from Longitude, the specialty bookseller for travelers. To order online, and to see the latest, most comprehensive selection of books and maps, go to http://reading.longitudebooks.com/U5802. You may also call 800-342-2164 to order or request a catalog.


Essential Books These 5 items are available for $92, including
U.S. shipping, a 15% discount (Item no. EXASA100)		  
In Praise of Shadows  •  Junichiro Tanizaki
ART & ARCHITECTURE •  2010 •  PAPER  • 73 PAGES
This essay by the great Japanese novelist, first published in 1933, offers tremendous insight into Japanese aesthetics. It's an earthy meditation on traditional Japanese art, architecture and design. Most illuminating. (JPN19, $16.00)		   In Praise of Shadows
Culture Smart! Japan  •  Paul Norbury
GUIDEBOOK •  2011 •  PAPER  • 168 PAGES
A concise, no-nonsense guide to local customs, etiquette and culture with a short overview of the land and people along with practical travel advice. (JPN269, $9.95)		   Culture Smart! Japan
Hong Kong  •  Jan Morris
CULTURAL PORTRAIT •  1997 •  PAPER  • 384 PAGES • FAVORITE
It's always a pleasure to find a destination that Jan Morris has written about. In this book, she covers the whole city in typical fashion -- enumerating the many personal pleasures she found there, as well as deftly describing the most important aspects of Hong Kong's history and culture. Reissued with a new final chapter on the city's return to China. (HKG02, $17.00)		   Hong Kong
The Inland Sea  •  Donald Richie
TRAVEL NARRATIVE •  2002 •  PAPER  • 255 PAGES • FAVORITE
Richie's book, on its surface a travel account, is a beautiful reflection on all things Japanese by one of the country's most acute observers. Anyone with an interest in Japan would enjoy this book, those on a voyage through the inland sea even more so. Written after many decades in Japan, The Inland Sea is among the best of the master's many books. Arturo Silva, who edited the Donald Richie Reader, calls it his masterpiece (and a work of fiction). (JPN13, $16.95)		   The Inland Sea
Birds of East Asia: China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Russia  •  Mark Brazil
FIELD GUIDE •  2009 •  PAPER  • 520 PAGES
Featuring 234 superb color plates, Brazil's comprehensive guide includes Japan, Taiwan and the islands along with the adjacent areas of Asia from Kamchatka to Korea. (JPN332, $39.95)		   Birds of East Asia: China, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and Russia



Also Recommended

Hong Kong Map  •  Nelles    •  A detailed, colorful folded map of Hong Kong, scale 1:22,500. (HKG15, $13.95)
 		  
Japan Map  •  Periplus Maps    •  This convenient map covers the island nation at a scale of 1:2,000,000, with insets of the major cities. (JPN06, $8.95)
 		  
Kyoto Map  •  Periplus Maps    •  This convenient map includes detailed information on Old Kyoto. It shows different sections of Kyoto and surrounding areas at a variety of scales, ranging from 1:12,000 to 1:500,000. (JPN27, $8.95)
 		  
Taiwan and Taipei Map  •  ITMB    •  A full color travelers map with the city of Taipei on one side and all of Taiwan on the other at a scale of 1:386,000. (TWN03, $12.95)
 		  
Culture Smart! Hong Kong  •  Clare Vickers   • GUIDEBOOK  •  A concise, well-illustrated and practical guide to local customs, etiquette and culture. (HKG24, $9.95)
 		  
Exploring Kyoto  •  Judith Clancy   • GUIDEBOOK  •  Featuring 30 well-crafted walking tours of neighborhoods, gardens and sanctuaries. (JPN26, $16.95)
 		  
A Traveller's History of Japan  •  Richard Tames   • HISTORY  •  A lively and concise narrative history of Japan and its transformation from Shinto, Shogun and Samurai traditions to 20th-century powerhouse. (JPN09, $14.95)
 		  
Embracing Defeat, Japan in the Wake of WWII  •  John W. Dower   • HISTORY  •  A social and political history of the postwar years in Japan. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, it's an eye-opening account by a leading scholar of Japanese-American relations at MIT. (JPN54, $19.95)
 		  
Hiroshima  •  John Hersey   • HISTORY  •  Never sensational, this 1946 classic by the Pulitzer Prize-winning Hersey puts a human face on the unthinkable. Hersey explores the tragedy through interviews with residents, scientists and politicians. (JPN20, $7.95)
 		  
Japan Rising, The Resurgence of Japanese Power and Purpose  •  Kenneth B. Pyle   • CULTURAL PORTRAIT  •  Pyle (The Making of Modern Japan) effectively traces the rocky history of Japan as an economic and military power in this portrait of the island nation. (JPN296, $29.95)
 		  
Kyoto, A Cultural History  •  John Dougill   • HISTORY  •  A rich portrait and guide to the gardens, monasteries, art, history and culture of Kyoto, once Japan's capital, founded 1,200-years ago. (JPN178, $19.99)
 		  
Oracle Bones  •  Peter Hessler   • HISTORY  •  In this fine portrait of tumult and tradition, Hessler (River Town) finds clues to modern China's realities in the personal stories of peasants, scholars, day laborers and activists. (CHN316, $15.99)
 		  
Japanese Gardens  •  Gunter Nitschke   • ART & ARCHITECTURE • COMING IN  •  In keeping with the aesthetics of a Japanese garden, Gunter Nitschke has produced a simple but elegant tribute with this collection of photographs. (JPN270, $14.99)
 		  
The Art and Culture of Japan  •  Nelly Delay   • ART & ARCHITECTURE  •  Lavishly illustrated, this handy pocket encyclopedia introduces the art, architecture and culture of Japan. With 165 archival and modern illustrations and a section of original documents. (JPN51, $12.95)
 		  
Golden Boy, Memories of a Hong Kong Childhood  •  Martin Booth   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  Booth writes with warmth of his youthful rambles in this sharp-eyed, affectionate memoir of coming of age in colonial Hong Kong. The book is a portrait of place, of a lost time, and most especially of his friends and family. (HKG23, $17.00)
 		  
The Battle for Okinawa  •  Yahara, Hirochimi   • BIOGRAPHY/MEMOIR  •  First published in Japan in 1973, this enthralling personal account of the last great battle of WWII is from the viewpoint of the the senior staff officer of the Japanese 32nd Army. (JPN222, $19.95)
 		  
Untangling My Chopsticks, A Culinary Sojourn in Kyoto  •  Victoria Abbott Riccardi   • TRAVEL NARRATIVE  •  In this beguiling memoir, Riccardi writes with verve of cultural encounters, bewilderment and discovery in Kyoto. If you've ever parted the drapes of a Japanese restaurant to face a room full of people and blank stares, you'll really appreciate the book. With 25 recipes for traditional and less traditional Japanese dishes. (JPN135, $19.00)
 		  
Japan, A Traveler's Literary Companion  •  Jeffrey Angles   • ANTHOLOGY  •  This geographically-organized anthology introduces both Japan and its best contemporary writers. (JPN187, $14.95)
 		  
Mrs. Pollifax and the Hong Kong Buddha  •  Dorothy Gilman   • MYSTERY  •  Grandma Pollifax, the CIA agent, is at it again, hot on the trail of jewel thieves, drug dealers and murderers in the city of Hong Kong. Part of the popular series, this mystery is great fun. (HKG17, $6.99)
 		  
Orphan of Asia  •  Zhuoliu Wu   • LITERATURE  •  Wu's autobiographical tale shows a young man coming of age in Taiwan, torn between the worlds of Japan, Taiwan and mainland China. (TWN07, $22.95)
 		  
Three-Legged Horse  •  Cheng Ch'Ing-Wen   • LITERATURE  •  These twelve tales vividly evoke traditional and modern Taiwan. The first English translations of work by Cheng, well-known in Taiwan. (TWN05, $26.00)
 		  
Wild Asia, Spirit of a Continent  •  Mark Brazil  •  Art Wolfe   • NATURAL HISTORY  •  Organized by bioregion, this lavishly illustrated survey covers plants, animals, habitats and landscapes from the Himalayas to India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and the Russian Far East. (ASA33, $49.95)
 		  
 
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