In my Choice review of Empires at War, Francis Pike offers a concise geopolitical analysis of Asia since WW II subsequently followed by the political and economic emergence of the continent. In meticulous fashion, the author spans the entire continent, focusing on the century-long nation building of each state from the Far East to the South Asian subcontinent. The chronology begins during the Cold War era of political bargaining and struggle between the US and the Soviet Union, and Asia emerges from the ashes of a century-long struggle for land and power that was in many ways a continuation of the struggle with European colonial powers. Contrary to the dominant Western-centric viewpoint that Asian nations were powerless colonial regions carved up after centuries of warfare, historian and journalist Pike argues that modern Asia's development was, for the most part, independent of the struggle between the two superpowers. Chronicling the major characters during this period, such as Mao, Gandhi, Kim Il Sung, and Sukarno and their roles in leading their nations to independence, the author reveals that Asia very much determined its own path into the present day. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above.
