Countering notions that Hmong history begins and ends with the "Secret War" in Laos of the 1960s and 1970s, Dreams of the Hmong Kingdom reveals how the Hmong experience of modernity is grounded in their sense of their own ancient past, when this now-stateless people had their own king and kingdom, and illuminates their political choices over the course of a century in a highly contested region of Asia.
In China, Vietnam, and Laos, the Hmong continuously negotiated with these states and with the French to maintain political autonomy in a world of shifting boundaries, emerging...

Policymakers and scholars have come to realize that getting food, water, and services to the millions who live in the world's few dozen megacities is one of the twenty-first century's most formidable challenges. As these populations continue to grow, apocalyptic scenarios-sprawling slums plagued by hunger, disease, and social disarray-become increasingly plausible. In Feeding Manila in Peace and War, 1850-1945, Daniel F. Doeppers traces nearly a century in the life of Manila, one of the world's largest cities, to show how it grew and what sustained it.
Doeppers follows key...

Hamka s Great Story presents Indonesia through the eyes of an impassioned, popular thinker who believed that Indonesians and Muslims everywhere should embrace the thrilling promises of modern life, and navigate its dangers, with Islam as their compass.
Hamka (Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah) was born when Indonesia was still a Dutch colony and came of age as the nation itself was emerging through tumultuous periods of Japanese occupation, revolution, and early independence. He became a prominent author and controversial public figure. In his lifetime of prodigious writing, Hamka...

Following a 1932 coup d'etat in Thailand that ended absolute monarchy and established a constitution, the Thai state that emerged has suppressed political dissent through detention, torture, forced reeducation, disappearances, assassinations, and massacres. In Plain Sight shows how these abuses, both hidden and occurring in public view, have become institutionalized.

In the 2000s, as the World Bank was reeling from revelations of past hydropower failures, it nonetheless promoted the enormous Nam Theun 2 project. For the first time, this book shows in detail why, despite assertions of success from the World Bank and other agencies, the dam's true story has been one of substantial loss for affected villagers and the regional environment.