A History of Asia (6th Edition)
by Rhoads Murphey
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Book Summary Information
Author: Rhoads MurpheyEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-11-13
ISBN: 0205649165
Number of pages: 552
Publisher: Longman
Book Reviews of A History of Asia (6th Edition)
Book Review: Technically barren of any merit - Author's words in question
Summary: 1 Stars
This book is tripe.
I was assigned this book in my university class as part of my degree.
This book is impossible to muddle through.
The structure it takes, while following a time line, is not thorough in examining the time periods before it jumps locales and times.
It is inaccurate in that in one page it mentions one 'fact' geographically about a certain area and several pages later, in a following chapter, mentions a different 'fact' that contradicts it's previous claim.
This makes it hard to come up with any clear idea about anything because it constantly states one thing and then refutes it by saying the complete opposite about the same place and time.
It leaves out huge portions of information concerning places and things, only to stumble past them and ignore what it said or lacked in saying previously.
It also stipulates things in 'theory'. Theory should not be part of history books, unless it is stated as such. The author, whom I believe to be demented, merely says "I think this must be true" and fails to give a good reason how or why his statements have any merit whatsoever.
Also, Mr. Murpheys, nor his credited aides of which there are at least a dozen, must never have attended a technical writers class nor must any of them have any grasp on contemporary grammatical usage. The text is entirely composed of run on sentences. By the time the 5th or 6th semi-colon is applied to any of his sentences the meaning is entirely obscured as to make them incomprehensible. All meaning is lost because the semi-colons make it impossible to determine what they are referring to in the previous text. It seems, due to his fervor, he simply tacked everything into one sentence to make it as 'packed with meaning as possible'. This is of course must be to deter the reader from seeing that he has no idea what he is talking about.
We are advised as students to "read, read and re-read" our text in order to grasp their meaning. Reading any of the pages contained in this book more than 3 times simply makes the reader aware of how inane the whole act is. This book makes a futile attempt at education. I am surprised it is allotted as educational text. I think the lack of a plethora of Asian history books is probably the cause.
Mr. Murpheys proceeds to put down all culture as long as it is not Asian. Muslims and Westerners alike are both looked at with contempt. Though he himself is a Westerner. He also pats himself on the back rather prodigiously for having undertaken the writing of this volume. Considering it something of a Master Work. It is garbage plain and simple. And the people who read and passed this book back to him with honors and praise must have been so deeply entrenched in his posterior or so longing of his good graces that they forewent looking at the book as a whole or even as a piecemeal attempt at marketing and publishing tripe. That his wife, mentors and aides all assisted him in publishing this work appalls and amazes me.
If you are merely a hobbyist student of history or something seeking personal enrichment, look elsewhere. If you are a student forced to read this for credit and a grade, you have my sympathy.
Summary of A History of Asia (6th Edition)
A History of Asia is the only text to cover the area known as "monsoon Asia"--India, China, Southeast Asia, Korea, and Japan--from the earliest of times to the present.
Written by leading scholar Rhoads Murphey, the book's extensive analysis integrates the complex and diverse political, social, intellectual, and economic histories of this area with an engaging and lively style of writing. Popular because of its scope and coverage, as well as its illustrations, maps, and many boxed primary sources, the new edition of A History of Asia continues as a leader in the field of Asian history.
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