A review by edders
From the Ruins of Empire: The Intellectuals Who Remade Asia by Pankaj Mishra
4.0
The West versus the rest. 'The West', defined by those within and outside, is always set in terms of what it is against, of what it is not, what it defends against. In this very modern history of colonial Asia - and this is East Asia as much as central Asia, even dipping into Africa - Pankaj Mishra jumps from country to country summing up change and development to the present day.
Key intellectual players - which I guarantee few if any from 'the West' have ever heard of - are tracked for their own remarkable migration and dissemination of ideas. Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī, and Liang Qichao become our leaders on an intellectual journey from the inculcation of Western values and nation-state politics through brutal revolution and change to where we are today.
Mishra's eclectic and broad based history is very convincing. He makes his points well and gives what feels like a more rounded and true interpretation of events such as the Japanese defeat of the Russian navy in 1905 and Woodrow Wilson's preaching of national self-determination crumbling in the face of the empires that survived the First World War. Seeing how far back the resistance to and opposition against Western colonial and imperial efforts stretch back into time is humbling.
Key intellectual players - which I guarantee few if any from 'the West' have ever heard of - are tracked for their own remarkable migration and dissemination of ideas. Jamāl al-Dīn al-Afghānī, and Liang Qichao become our leaders on an intellectual journey from the inculcation of Western values and nation-state politics through brutal revolution and change to where we are today.
Mishra's eclectic and broad based history is very convincing. He makes his points well and gives what feels like a more rounded and true interpretation of events such as the Japanese defeat of the Russian navy in 1905 and Woodrow Wilson's preaching of national self-determination crumbling in the face of the empires that survived the First World War. Seeing how far back the resistance to and opposition against Western colonial and imperial efforts stretch back into time is humbling.