Study Asia

I picked up a book on Southeast Asia, an area which I hadn't honestly cared much about, and began to read. While I thought that it was going to be a typical guide for tourists, it instead started with a lesson in history, explaining the development of the area from barely agrarian tribes to growing cities in, what to someone of European ancestry would be called, the middle ages, to the interaction with the Europeans set on colonialism, and ending with the the conclusion of World War Two.

By some unexpected happenstance, the author was a gifted storyteller and made the book so engaging that I hardly noticed as the day passed by. It was only the protestation of my coffee-filled bladder that eventually tore me away.

After taking care of business, I returned and looked at the other books on the shelf. I actually grinned when I noticed that the book on China was written by the same author and picked it up. Skimming through the first three pages, it seemed that the author had taken a similarly engaging approach in this book and I decided that I’d return and read this book next.