Ancient Asia

The Masks of God is a four-volume study of world religion and myth that stands as one of Joseph Campbell’s masterworks. In this second volume of The Masks of God - Campbell’s major work of comparative mythology - the preeminent mythologist looks at Asian mythology as it developed over the course of five thousand years into the distinctive religions of Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, China, and Japan.

Are you interested in the history of one of the most isolated kingdoms on Earth? Then this audiobook is for you! When most people hear the phrase “ancient Hawaii”, it brings up a certain air of mystery and intrigue. Some might think of tattooed tribesmen sailing across the vast emptiness of the Pacific Ocean under the moonlight, dancing around campfires to connect with their gods, or living on the sides of volcanos. But is this an accurate depiction? Or is there more to the early people of Hawaii?

One of Library Journal’s 10 Best Books of 2015 Following his acclaimed Atlantic and The Men Who United the States, New York Times bestselling author Simon Winchester offers an enthralling biography of the Pacific Ocean and its role in the modern world, exploring our relationship with this...

In just over a hundred years - from the death of Muhammad in 632 to the beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750 - the followers of the Prophet swept across the whole of the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain. Their armies threatened states as far flung as the Franks in Western Europe and the Tang Empire in China. The conquered territory was larger than the Roman Empire at its greatest expansion, and it was claimed for the Arabs in roughly half the time.

Africa is the continent where the first humans were born. They explored the vast land and produced the first tools. And although we migrated from that continent, we never completely abandoned it. From the beginning of time, humans lived and worked in Africa, leaving evidence of their existence in the sands of the Sahara Desert and the valleys of the great rivers, such as the Nile and the Niger. Some of the earliest great civilizations were born there, and they give us an insight into the smaller kingdoms of ancient Africa.

In this unique book offering personal, spiritual, and historical reflections—some never shared before—His Holiness the Dalai Lama tells the full story of his struggle with China to save Tibet and its people for nearly seventy-five years. The Dalai Lama has had to contend with the People’s...

As soon as man discovered writing, he began engaging in historiography (historical writing and philosophy), but paleoanthropology only really began in the late 1800s. As archaeologists began finding bones in European caves of a human race that was very different than any race in the modern world, the study of paleoanthropology was born. The race of those early humans who were found in the European caves were later termed Neanderthals, and for quite some time, they were believed to have been the race from which many modern humans were directly descended.

CHINA, 484 A.D. A Warrior in Disguise All her life, Mulan has trained for one purpose: to win the duel that every generation in her family must fight. If she prevails, she can reunite a pair of priceless heirloom swords separated decades earlier, and avenge her father, who was paralyzed in his...

One of the most profound studies of warfare ever written, The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China presents us with an Eastern tradition of strategic thought that emphasizes outwitting one's opponent through speed, stealth, flexibility, and a minimum of force - an approach very different from that stressed in the West, where the advantages of brute strength have overshadowed more subtle methods.

From pasta to paper, the inventions of the Ancient Chinese remain part of everyday life in our modern world. Learn how items like wheelbarrows, the first toothbrushes, and early earthquake detectors have evolved into devices we know today and discover just how big of an impact the Ancient Chinese have had on your life.

In sumptuous and illuminating detail, Simon Winchester, the bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman (""Elegant and scrupulous""—New York Times Book Review) and Krakatoa (""A mesmerizing page-turner""—Time) brings to life the extraordinary story of Joseph Needham, the brilliant...

A practical guide to the ancient Japanese art of manifesting and pre-celebration, full of wise guidance on how to slow down, tune into the rhythms of the universe, and fulfill your destiny. During a particularly tough season of life, a Buddhist monk told Azumi Uchitani that the most beautiful...

Let’s step into the realm of ancient India where history whispers through the stones and carvings of majestic monuments. In the "Bharat Ke Aitihasic Smarak”, a captivating audio series, we delve deep into the enigmatic world of ancient Indian civilizations and the architectural marvels they have left behind. From the ethereal Taj Mahal, to the awe-inspiring Ajanta Ellora Caves, these architectural wonders have stood the test of time and have been inspiring the visitors for centuries.

A groundbreaking and superlatively accurate new translation of Laozi’s The Dao De Jing, from the bestselling translator of The Art of War, promising to be the first English edition based on direct translation from the oldest known copies of the ancient Chinese text. One of the most significant...

The Punjab is defined by the floodplains of the five rivers that give the area its name, and as a result, it is one of the most fertile regions of South Asia. However, since the 1947 partition of India, the “Land of Five Rivers” is something of a misnomer, as the partition not only divided India but also the Punjab. The eastern part of Punjab remained a province of India while the western section was ceded to the newly created Pakistan.

All in all, Japan seems to be a country of paradoxes and oppositions, of yin and yang. Yet it doesn’t seem to suffer from it; instead, it is thriving, growing, and developing, and it has been doing so for a long time. From those contradictions, a sense of unity and pride arose, guiding Japanese history and civilizational development through the ages, leaving an unquestionable mark on the world heritage and mankind. But this is only the surface of an astonishing culture that deserves a deeper look.

The Great Wall of China is perhaps the wonder of the world that has most captured the human imagination, and as the quotes about it indicate, the wall has acquired special significance even outside of China. The places and ways in which it has taken hold vary greatly, but one thing is certain: The Great Wall of China is as amazing as it is mysterious, and it's as mundane as it is magical.

From the first agricultural settlement more than 7,000 years ago to the Indian campaign of Alexander the Great and the vast Maurya Empire, ancient India tells a story interweaved with captivating legends and cultural legacy.

Building a new nation is not a simple task, and it's made even harder with every nation on the planet wanting the Solarian Union's advanced technology, no matter the cost. But when terrorists unleash a devastating, genetically engineered plague into the world, that advanced technology is the only thing standing between humanity and the annihilation of our species. Michael and those following him have done what they set out to do—they have colonized space. But they cannot cut all the ties to their ancestral home, and the sufferings of its peoples.

The Scythians were nomadic horsemen who ranged wide across the grasslands of the Asian steppe from the Altai mountains in the east to the Great Hungarian Plain in the first millennium BC. Their steppe homeland bordered on a number of sedentary states to the south and there were, inevitably, numerous interactions between the nomads and their neighbours. The Scythians fought the Persians on a number of occasions, in one battle killing their king and on another occasion driving the invading army of Darius the Great from the steppe.