Nine short stories reveal the vast distance and intimacy that exist between East and West, as well as the complex misunderstandings that both bind and separate them.

"1453 is brought to life by the stories of its two ambitious battling leaders-Mehmed II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and Constantine XI, the 57th emperor of Byzantium. It is a vivid, intense tale of courage and cruelty, of technological ingenuity, of endurance and luck."--Back cover.

Before he became a counterculture hero, Alan Watts was known as an incisive scholar of Eastern and Western psychology and philosophy. In this 1961 classic, Watts demonstrates his deep understanding of both Western psychotherapy and the Eastern spiritual philosophies of Buddhism, Taoism, Vedanta, and Yoga. He examined the problem of humans in a seemingly hostile universe in ways that questioned the social norms and illusions that bind and constrict...

"Phil Wang was born in Stoke-on-Trent, raised in Malaysia, and then came of age in Bath - 'a spa town for people who find Cheltenham too ethnic'. In this brilliantly funny and incisive comic memoir he looks at what it means to be torn between two continents, bringing his trademark cynicism and wit to topics ranging from family, food and comedy to race, empire and colonialism."--Provided by publisher

"The foundations of modern knowledge--philosophy, math, astronomy, geography--were laid by the Greeks, whose ideas were written on scrolls and stored in libraries across the Mediterranean and beyond. But as the vast Roman Empire disintegrated, so did appreciation of these precious texts. Christianity cast a shadow over so-called pagan thought, books were burned, and the library of Alexandria, the greatest repository of classical knowledge, was destroyed....

"Easternization is the defining trend of our age--the growing wealth of Asian nations is transforming the international balance of power. This shift to the East is shaping the lives of people all over the world, the fate of nations, and the great questions of war and peace. A troubled but rising China is now challenging America's supremacy, and the ambitions of other Asian powers--including Japan, North Korea, India, and Pakistan--have the potential...

How did China emerge from isolation and poverty under Mao Zedong to become the economic powerhouse shaping the 21st century? Soon after Mao died in 1976, China's leaders invited many of the leading foreign economists to come to China and sought their input on economic policy. This book demonstrates the constantly negotiated receptivity of Chinese policymakers who reached out to foreign economists and interpreted their ideas as they sought to incorporate...