There are quite a number of books that cover Western Asia (usually written as part of a 'history of the middle east') from a left wing perspective, but I feel that attention hasn't been afforded to other parts of Asia - particularly the South, East and Southeast regions. Perhaps I am mistaken. What books would you recommend in these subjects?
I have read A People's History of the World by Chris Harman which have dealt with these regions, as one would expect from a book attempting to cover all of the world. But that was a long time ago, and I don't remember much of any details from it.
It depends on what you mean
It depends on what you mean by left wing, the CPC and Communist party of Vietnam have published loads of histories of their nations and the region, even the Khmer Rouge published a surprising amount on the old Khmer Empire.
I don't know if you'd call it leftist per se, but Red Brotherhood is a history of South East Asia focusing mainly on their communist party movements and their nationalistic rivals and conflicts with each other.
There was also that book about the Uplands of Asia the Art of not being Governed.
Heard good things about
Heard good things about "Mao's China and After" by Maurice Meisner
Not read it myself so can't
Not read it myself so can't say how good it is, but Benedict Anderson generally seems pretty sound, and his Under Three Flags is described as "a compelling exploration of late-nineteenth-century politics and culture against a background of militant anarchism in Europe and the Americas, Jose Marti's armed uprising in Cuba and anti-imperialist protests in China and Japan. Anderson charts the complex intellectual interactions of two great Filipino writers – the political novelist Jose Rizal and the pioneering folklorist Isabelo de los Reyes – with avant-garde European literature and politics, connecting nationalist movements of the era."
I was going to add that I'd be interested if anyone can specifically recommend histories of the Korean anarchist movement and the Shinmin commune, but after a brief bit of looking I've found "Asia's Unknown Uprisings Volume 1: South Korean Social Movements in the 20th Century" by George K, which sounds like it's probably what I'm looking for (dunno if I'll ever get around to reading it though) - "Asia's Unknown Uprisings Volume 2: People Power in the Philippines, Burma, Tibet, China, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Thailand, and Indonesia, 1947—2009" may also be of interest to you?
Japanese Workers and the
Japanese Workers and the Struggle for Power, 1945-47, by Joe Moore, is excellent.
There's also John Crump on the anarchist movement in Japan.
Also Ngo Van Xuyet's writings on the Saigon Commune.
Anyone have any thoughts on
Anyone have any thoughts on Bruce Cumings' work on Korea?
Also, just realising this is
Also, just realising this is pretty East Asian-focused - as far as India goes, the Angry Workers of the World wrote this about 1968 in India, and there's this on workers' history in Faridabad. Could ask the AWW or Gurgaon Workers News for more reading recommendations if you're curious?
For reading recommendations on China, Chuang have got you covered with a great big list here.
R Totale wrote: I was going
R Totale
Have you read Anarchism in Korea by Dongyoun Hwang? I haven't read it myself, so I can't say whether it is good or not.
In the crossfire: adventures
In the crossfire: adventures of a Vietnamese revolutionary by Ngo Van Xuyet is really good.
Agent of the International
Agent of the International
I have not.
checking the pdfs i have
checking the pdfs i have downloaded but not read
The Birth of Chinese Feminism Essential Texts in Transnational Theory has section on He-Yin Zhen Chinese anarchist 7 essays about
there are 2 essays and biography on Itō Noe in book I don't have name of but I think it's The Bluestockings of Japan: New Woman Essays and Fiction from Seitô, 1911-16
looking for the name of the book I found 2 university thesis
Rebel Girls:
Radical Feminism and Self-Narrative in Early 20th-Century Japan and China (chapter 2)
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1093&context=senproj_s2019
ITO NOE: LIVING IN FREEDOM A CRITIQUE OF PERSONAL GROWTH IN JAPANESE
SOCIETY
these and 3 essay translations
https://beyondthepalebookclub.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/14742.pdf
an account of her death
https://libcom.org/history/how-strangle-anarchists
Anarchism and Chinese political culture by Peter Zarrow
Anarchism and Syndicalism in the Colonial and Postcolonial World, 1870–1940 has some chapters on asia as does Robert Grahams anthology
https://libcom.org/files/Anarchism1870_1940.pdf
https://libcom.org/library/anarchism-documentary-history-libertarian-ideas-volume-1-2/