Amazon.com
Into Thin Air is a riveting first-hand account of a catastrophic expedition up Mount Everest. In March 1996, Outside magazine sent veteran journalist and seasoned climber Jon Krakauer on an expedition led by celebrated Everest guide Rob Hall. Despite the expertise of Hall and the other leaders, by the end of summit day eight people were dead. Krakauer's book is at once the story of the ill-fated adventure and an analysis of the factors leading up to its tragic end. Written within months of the events it chronicles, Into Thin Air clearly evokes the majestic Everest landscape. As the journey up the mountain progresses, Krakauer puts it in context by recalling the triumphs and perils of other Everest trips throughout history. The author's own anguish over what happened on the mountain is palpable as he leads readers to ponder timeless questions.
Book Description
A bank of clouds was assembling on the not-so-distant horizon, but journalist-mountaineer Jon Krakauer, standing on the summit of Mt. Everest, saw nothing that "suggested that a murderous storm was bearing down." He was wrong. The storm, which claimed five lives and left countless more--including Krakauer's--in guilt-ridden disarray, would also provide the impetus for
Into Thin Air, Krakauer's epic account of the May 1996 disaster.
By writing
Into Thin Air, Krakauer may have hoped to exorcise some of his own demons and lay to rest some of the painful questions that still surround the event. He takes great pains to provide a balanced picture of the people and events he witnessed and gives due credit to the tireless and dedicated Sherpas. He also avoids blasting easy targets such as Sandy Pittman, the wealthy socialite who brought an espresso maker along on the expedition. Krakauer's highly personal inquiry into the catastrophe provides a great deal of insight into what went wrong. But for Krakauer himself, further interviews and investigations only lead him to the conclusion that his perceived failures were directly responsible for a fellow climber's death. Clearly, Krakauer remains haunted by the disaster, and although he relates a number of incidents in which he acted selflessly and even heroically, he seems unable to view those instances objectively. In the end, despite his evenhanded and even generous assessment of others' actions, he reserves a full measure of vitriol for himself.
This updated trade paperback edition of
Into Thin Air includes an extensive new postscript that sheds fascinating light on the acrimonious debate that flared between Krakauer and Everest guide Anatoli Boukreev in the wake of the tragedy. "I have no doubt that Boukreev's intentions were good on summit day," writes Krakauer in the postscript, dated August 1999. "What disturbs me, though, was Boukreev's refusal to acknowledge the possibility that he made even a single poor decision. Never did he indicate that perhaps it wasn't the best choice to climb without gas or go down ahead of his clients." As usual, Krakauer supports his points with dogged research and a good dose of humility. But rather than continue the heated discourse that has raged since
Into Thin Air's denouncement of guide Boukreev, Krakauer's tone is conciliatory; he points most of his criticism at G. Weston De Walt, who coauthored
The Climb, Boukreev's version of events. And in a touching conclusion, Krakauer recounts his last conversation with the late Boukreev, in which the two weathered climbers agreed to disagree about certain points. Krakauer had great hopes to patch things up with Boukreev, but the Russian later died in an avalanche on another Himalayan peak, Annapurna I.
In 1999, Krakauer received an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters--a prestigious prize intended "to honor writers of exceptional accomplishment." According to the Academy's citation, "Krakauer combines the tenacity and courage of the finest tradition of investigative journalism with the stylish subtlety and profound insight of the born writer. His account of an ascent of Mount Everest has led to a general reevaluation of climbing and of the commercialization of what was once a romantic, solitary sport; while his account of the life and death of Christopher McCandless, who died of starvation after challenging the Alaskan wilderness, delves even more deeply and disturbingly into the fascination of nature and the devastating effects of its lure on a young and curious mind."
Download Description
When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mount Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin the perilous descent from 29,028 feet (roughly the cruising altitude of an Airbus jetliner), twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly to the top, unaware that the sky had begun to roil with clouds.
Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed Outside journalist and author of the bestselling Into the Wild. Taking the reader step-by-step from Katmandu to the mountain's deadly pinnacle, Krakauer has us shaking on the edge of our seat. Beyond the terrors of this account, however, he also peers deeply into the myth of the world's tallest mountain. What is it about Everest that has compelled so many people -- including himself -- to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense?
Written with emotional clarity and supported by unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement.
Customer Reviews:
Strange, sad and wonderful.......2007-10-16
Wow. What a book. Into Thin Air is the story of the ill-fated 1996 Mount Everest climbing season, as told by Krakauer, a journalist for Outside magazine, and a seasoned, albeit non-Himalayan, climber. Krakauer lived to summit Everest and return; nine of his fellow climbers did not return. Why did disaster strike with such ferocity? There are a number of perspectives to take. The wisdom of professional climbers taking paying customers up a mountain they otherwise would never come near has to be questioned. One client was literally dragged up the mountain (short-roped) on summit day by a sherpa who was supposed to be setting ropes further up the mountain. Many other smaller non-fatal errors accumulated to create huge problems later in the day. The best decisions on summit day seemed to be made by the non-professional climbers, which made me wonder about the cumulative effects of oxygen deprivation. Over 25,000 feet, the 'death zone', humans lose thousands of brain cells each minute due to lack of oxygen. Maybe the professional guides had been up to the summit one or two times too many. The biggest factor however, appears to have been the mountain itself, and the killer weather which is associated with it. In the end, reading this book teaches you that even with all of the high tech equipment and training, nobody climbs Everest unless the mountain decides to allow it.
Krakauer writes in a clear, entertaining, and comprehensive style. The book never dragged. The author includes enough history -of the mountain, of climbing, and of the personalities on the mountain in 1996- to put 1996's events in a meaningful context. He made me care about these eccentric, some would say self-destructive, people. There is so much in this book. There are heroes, villains, saints, a tiny bit of sex, heartbreak (one client decided to turn around short of the summit and head back to safety only to be talked back into trying for the summit by his team leader, resulting in both of their deaths), horror (good people are shown suffering unbearably, only to die in the end), suspense - and all of it really happened. Some of the events documented are so strange, bizarre and unlikely, that a fiction writer would probably choose to tone them down to make them more believable.
Krakauer is quite deliberate about qualifying his account of the 1996 disaster. As humans we are limited in how much we can take in and process of large, complex events. We forget too quickly, we are selective in what we see and hear - we only experience a fraction of what really is. And yet our minds seem hard-wired to make sense of events which probably do not make sense. Into Thin Air is only a guess as to what really happened on that strange mountain in 1996, even though it was written by a professional journalist who was in the thick of the action. If Krakauer could re-live it all 100 times, each time profiting from previous experience and each time looking at a different angle, perhaps it would all become more understandable. Krakauer of course wouldn't do this. He never wants to go back to Mount Everest.
Reading this book is like having someone dump a handful of cold powdery snow down the back of your shirt. It's a wake-up call of sorts, illustrating what a strange, wonderful, mysterious and terrifying place we live in, and how tentative and fragile is mankind's place and hold over this planet. This is a great book.
Chilling account of an incredible and sad story.......2007-10-15
A friend of mine suggested this book and I am so glad she did, it was so mind-blogging and inspiring and a fantastic pleasure to read. Even if you're not into hiking and have not even the slightest desire to climb the world's tallest mountains, I think you will enjoy reading this true story about persistence and tragedy within the most unbelievable circumstances.
Into Thin Air is about a group of thrill-seekers who hire a guide to hike Mt. Everest in 1996. From page one to the last page, the reader is welcomed along the journey as the author describes every moment of his journey. With vivid detail and heartbreaking truth, the reader feels like he is right there experiencing all that climbing Mt. Everest has to offer, the good and the bad. He describes the people in his group and reports the moment to moment occurrences that lead up to the horrible loss of life. The reader is brought up and down Mt. Everest with a sense of respect and admiration for all who attempted this incredible undertaking. For those that survived and made it home safely, a deep sense of both sorrow and esteem.
It was only after I read this book did I learn about the controversy about this author and I have to say, I think he wrote an incredibly honest and detailed account of what happened from his point of view. I really enjoyed reading this book and I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading biographical stories. This was well written from start to finish.
Don't plan anything else.......2007-10-15
You probably won't be able to put down this book until you have finished it, so it's best not to start unless you know you have the time. In typical Krakauer fashion, the author takes you on a wild, emotional, heart-pounding true adventure. For anyone who loves mountains, the outdoors, climbing, or adventure. If you can't climb mountains yourself, this is the next best thing.
Good Writing, Excellent Read.......2007-10-04
The story must be familiar even to those not into mountaineering. This is probably the most well-written account of the events which led up to the catastrophe on Mt Everest on May 1996. Clients from 2 commercial groups were trapped in a storm after making the summit. Jon Krakauer gives a detailed, fast-paced account of the dramatic events that followed. It is definitely in the area of narration skills where Krakauer's book stands above all the other books written by other people on the mountain.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and won't hesitate to give it 5 stars, but I do have a serious problem with the author's attitude. With the benefit of hindsight, he could, of course point out every single mistake that the others made which cost them theirs and other people's lives.
He also can't seem to be able to stop boasting about everything that he did right. I think one of the reasons why he's alive is because he only took care of himself. He would have us think that he was more prudent that Rob Hall and Scott Fischer.
Like one reviewer said, I too would never go climbing with this guy. If I ever got into trouble, he's not only going to abandon me but would actually tell the world about what I did wrong.
The Crystal Horizon: Everest-The First Solo Ascent
Above All Else - The Everest Dream
Surviving the Extremes: A Doctor's Journey to the Limits of Human Endurance
All Fourteen 8,000ers
No Shortcuts to the Top: Climbing the World's 14 Highest Peaks
The Trekking Peaks of Nepal
Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue: Reading Glaciers, Team Travel, Crevasse Rescue Techniques, Routefinding, Expedition Skills 2nd Edition
Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills
Tenzing Norgay and the Sherpas of Everest
Medicine: For Mountaineering & Other Wilderness Activities 5th Edition
Exercise Physiology: Energy, Nutrition, and Human Performance (Exercise Physiology ( MC Ardle))
A Great Writer -- Just Don't Ever Go Climbing with Him.......2007-09-21
Krakauer is a superb writer, as evidenced by this compelling read. As a climber, my take-home lesson from this book is that I would never set foot on a mountain with a person as smarmy, self-serving, selfish and self-absorbed as Mr. Krakauer. In my opinion, major portions of this book are nothing more than an after-the-fact and rather flimsy justification for Krakauer's abject moral failure on Everest as a person and as a mountaineer. Krakauer made sure he looked after No. 1 -- himself. He could have helped others who later died and chose not to. He should not have compounded his moral failure on the mountain with the sin of proferring a self-serving account of why he is not such a bad fellow after all. When in the mountains, Krakauer and his ilk are the type to stay away from, and certainly never the type to trust with your life.
Customer Reviews:
Utterly Engrossing Analytical Work.......2005-06-19
Perhaps the most memorable lesson I learned from this page-turner is that Everest is not a place for mortals, and that anyone who's gone up to the summit and back is mostly just lucky.
Within, there's also a cold hard lesson of how planning and training are essential to overcoming any daunting challenge, but when mother nature's at her most forbidding, colder and harder lessons may need to be taught.
Krakauer's excellent research and attention to detail give his account its credibility, but it's also written beautifully. Threads of humanity, heroism, sacrifice, grace and virtue run through the book without making it melodramatic.
It's never preachy, but the whole text is a good example of how truths are revealed by getting all the facts in one place and the narrative in order.
I am not really interested in mountain climbing, and anything else I've read about Everest is not memorable; but Krakauer made the subject absolutely fascinating to me.
Highly recommended for anyone who loves a good adventure story. Would probably appeal to people who have an appetite for true mysteries and even forensic nonfiction.
Average customer rating:
|
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
Manufacturer: RH Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Adventurers & Explorers
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Essays & Travelogues
| Reference & Tips
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
Air Travel
| Specialty Travel
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Adventure
| Specialty Travel
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mountaineering
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
Mountain Climbing
| Mountaineering
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
Biographies & Memoirs
| Books on CD
| Audiobooks
| Formats
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Into the Wild
-
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
-
The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable
ASIN: 0739343793
Release Date: 2007-08-07 |
Book Description
When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. As he turned to begin his long, dangerous descent from 29,028 feet, twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly toward the top. No one had noticed that the sky had begun to fill with clouds. Six hours later and 3,000 feet lower, in 70-knot winds and blinding snow, Krakauer collapsed in his tent, freezing, hallucinating from exhaustion and hypoxia, but safe. The following morning, he learned that six of his fellow climbers hadn't made it back to their camp and were desperately struggling for their lives. When the storm finally passed, five of them would be dead, and the sixth so horribly frostbitten that his right hand would have to be amputated.
Into Thin Air is the definitive account of the deadliest season in the history of Everest by the acclaimed journalist and author of the bestseller
Into the Wild. On assignment for
Outside Magazine to report on the growing commercialization of the mountain, Krakauer, an accomplished climber, went to the Himalayas as a client of Rob Hall, the most respected high-altitude guide in the world. A rangy, thirty-five-year-old New Zealander, Hall had summited Everest four times between 1990 and 1995 and had led thirty-nine climbers to the top. Ascending the mountain in close proximity to Hall's team was a guided expedition led by Scott Fischer, a forty-year-old American with legendary strength and drive who had climbed the peak without supplemental oxygen in 1994. But neither Hall nor Fischer survived the rogue storm that struck in May 1996.
Krakauer examines what it is about Everest that has compelled so many people -- including himself -- to throw caution to the wind, ignore the concerns of loved ones, and willingly subject themselves to such risk, hardship, and expense. Written with emotional clarity and supported by his unimpeachable reporting, Krakauer's eyewitness account of what happened on the roof of the world is a singular achievement.
Into the Wild is available on audio, read by actor Campbell Scott.
Product Description
2 JOHN KRAKAUER Books - 1) - Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster / 2) - Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith - (Unboxed Set), in either Hard or Softcover, (See Seller Condition Comments), Shipped in one package to save on shipping costs.
Average customer rating:
|
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
Jon Krakauer
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biographies
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Mountaineering
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
Mountain Climbing
| Mountaineering
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0613663616 |
Average customer rating:
|
Into Thin Air: Dummy Signed Edition: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
Jon Krakauer
Manufacturer: Villard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
History
| Subjects
| Books
| Africa
| Americas
| Ancient
| Arctic & Antarctica
| Asia
| Audiobooks
| Australia & Oceania
| Books on CD
| Books on Cassette
| Europe
| Gay & Lesbian
| Historical Study
| Large Print
| Middle East
| Military
| Military Science
| Russia
| United States
| World
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Memoirs
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Essays & Travelogues
| Reference & Tips
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
Air Travel
| Specialty Travel
| Travel
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0676543146
Release Date: 1997-12-08 |
Book Description
John Hobson challenges the ethnocentric bias of mainstream accounts of the "Rise of the West" that assume that Europeans have pioneered their own development, and that the East has been a passive by-stander. Describing the rise of what he calls the "Oriental West", Hobson argues that Europe first assimilated many Eastern inventions, and then appropriated Eastern resources through imperialism. Hobson's book thus propels the hitherto marginalized Eastern peoples to the forefront of the story of progressive world history.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent book.......2007-06-13
Accusations of "sino-centrism" or "one-sidedness" reveal simply that the accuser has not actually read the book (which one would hope to be a necessary pre-cursor to such evaluations). In fact, Hobson specifically argues not only against sino-centrism, but also offers philosophical and empirical arguments against ALL such "centrisms" where history is concerned. In this way, he distinguishes himself as a theoretical and empirical historian of the highest order.
Furthermore, Hobson--all of us--are under no obligation to be "balanced"--only to be honest and to present the evidence--which he has most eloquently done.
I highly recommend this book; it would be especially appropriate for a graduate-level seminar, as it is both rigorously researched and highly accessible.
Did the Chinese Invent Everything?.......2006-10-10
A great title for a book on a great subject, but simply horrible execution. Cambridge University Press must have forgotten to put this book through the normal refereeing and editing process, and thus it reads like a second-rate dissertation written by an angry Ph.D. student who constantly appeals to the oracular statements of his fellow-travelers rather than presents his own convincing arguments. Simply stated, Hobson's thesis is that nothing good or original ever came from the West; all that is positive and original came from the East. He rests his case on his presentation of an encyclopedia of "preemptions' (Doesn't he must mean "antecedents"?). The heat of his diatribe obscures the depth and true complexity of the (non)?-problem he allegedly studies: "The Rise of the West." By the way, his answer to this issue is as follows: It did not rise (At least until 1800 or so). To Hobson's credit, he constantly emphasizes the growth of a World System, yet overstatement mars his argument. Hobson persistently juxtaposes the most derogatory and pejorative picture of Western society against an uncritical and idealized version of Eastern society. Hobson lacks all subtly and therefore is not to be believed. History is not so simple.
As all historians know, true originality in culture, in ideas, or in technology is rare indeed. Thus agriculture was independently invented only handful of times, written language even fewer times, and almost all technologies have antecedents. However, this fact does not diminish the accomplishments of any society that takes a procedure or thing from elsewhere and "runs with it." This ability to borrow or to be stimulated and to utilize something from elsewhere is surely not a sign of weakness or decadence but of strength. Finding the antecedents to things or ideas is not proof that these were "stolen"--not grounds for the kinds of admonishment regularly meted out by Hobson. Moreover, inter-societal or inter-cultural transmission is much more complicated than Hobson would ever admit and must even allow for independent invention in the face of common circumstances.
Illustrations of Hobson's misunderstandings and mistaken approach can be found on nearly every page of the book. It is true that Su Sung's water driven clock of 1086 in China was a marvelous invention, but precisely where did it lead? Was it replicated widely in market and church towers as the European mechanical clock was a few centuries later? Did it create a new sense of time necessary for new governing ideologies. And is the "good circumstantial evidence" (p. 131) about the influence of the Chinese on the European clock grounds for any historical argument at all? What about gunpowder and the cannon? It is not true as Hobson writes that "Eurocentric scholars often attribute the discovery of gunpowder to the European scientist Roger Bacon in 1267." (p. 186). Actually, they simply state that Bacon was the first one to mention this explosive mixture in Latin manuscripts. Everyone knows that gunpowder was first employed by the Chinese. As for the cannon, its early design and the terminology that described it is really too confusing to determine where the first true cannon was invented (When does some tube-like thing filled with explosive mixture become a cannon? Anyway, wasn't it developed rather than "invented"?). The first drawing in Europe of a cannon dates from 1326. It rapidly evolved into a weapon that revolutionized warfare and gave Europe the means to dominate the seas and coasts of the world.
Furthermore, Hobson writes over and over about the superiority of Chinese junks over contemporary European vessels. Junks were magnificent ships and much much larger than European caravels, but maybe bigger is not always better. After all, the tiny caravel did its job quite well. For Hobson Henry the Navigator "had begun to fumble" (p. 138) his was down the coast of Africa while people from the East heroically explored the world. Hobson never abstains from using pejorative language when referring to Westerners while he always stand in awe of the feats of other cultures.. Chinese agriculture was much more productive than Western agriculture according to Hobson. Well guess what: hydraulically controlled paddy agriculture does yield more per acre than natural-rainfall wheat agriculture, but yield per acre is only one measure of agriculture productivity. The more relevant point is that European agriculture and distribution networks began to liberate the continent from famine mortality at a time when killing starvation still swept periodically through the great kingdom of China. Hobson writes that the Egyptian physician Ibn al-Nafis "fully pre-empted the much heralded work of the Englishman, William Harvey, by no less than three and a half centuries" (p. 179). My little encyclopedia says that Ibn-al-Nafis argued for the pulmonary circulation. Harvey is known not for his discovery of the pulmonary circulation, which had already been proved by Renaldus Columbus at Padua in the sixteenth century, but for the systemic circulation, which he rigorously demonstrated with brilliant and repeatable experiments. Hobson writes that the fourteenth century astronomer Ibn al-Shatir "developed a series of mathematical models which were almost exactly the same as those developed about 150 years later by Copernicus in his heliocentric theory." (p. 180) It is certain that Islamic astronomy was well developed in the Middle Ages and at a time when Western astronomy was scarcely able to replicate the mathematical precision of the ancient Ptolemy, it is noteworthy that an Islamic scholar succeeded in "saving the phenomena" so accurately and with so much simple elegance. But Copernicus's achievement with it heliocentrism ultimately led to a paradigm shift. This is what is important. And Ibn al-Shatir was a geocentrist.
The most disturbing aspect of Hobson's book is not in the multitude of mistakes that he makes and his disregard for conventional historical methodologies but simply his ill humor and name calling. Great historians like Lynn White who pioneered the field of medieval technology a half century ago are dismissed out of hand. Other historians, like David Landes, are characterized not as "the distinguished historian of technology" (which he is) but as "the avowed Eurocentric scholar" (p. 130). (Hobson's book is in part a response to Landes's The Wealth and Poverty of Nations). For Hobson, there is a litmus test to which all scholars must be subjected: Eurocentric or non-Eurocentric?. No matter the quality of the historian's work, the elegance of the presentation, the force of the conclusions. If a historian is not politically correct in this matter, he/she is to be dismissed out of hand and even excoriated. Thank god that Hobson's book is unlikely to exercise much influence on historical discourse. The real story of the East's influence on the West must continue to be told by other scholars of a more level-headed temperament employing more acceptable methodologies.
Excellent polemic.......2006-01-12
Looking through the reviews above I can imagine the bewilderment of the potential reader. Some of the reviewers hated it, some loved it. So is this book any good? I would answer 'yes': but the book has to be seen for what it is. It is NOT a 'fair' and 'balanced' academic treatise. It is, as someone pointed out, a polemic. What they failed to point out is that it is an excellent polemic, that has to be seen in context. The context is the literally thousands of books that have been published which unthinkingly take a 'Eurocentric' view of world history, asking loaded questions that are carefully chosen to permit only the 'right' answers to be given (E.g. Why did democracy arise only in the West? Why did science arise only in the West? Why is the West so much more 'advanced' than the Muslim world/Africa/South America etc. etc. etc.). Of course no one accuses them of being polemics: if you take the orthodox view, that's simply 'common sense'.
It should also point out that like most polemics (and unlike most academic texts) this book is well written and a pleasure to read. Certainly if one was carrying out an academic study on this subject I would read other books on the subject from more 'orthodox' historians to get the other side of the coin. In other words, not every word of Hobson's book might be the Gospel Truth. He ignores ambiguity and nuance: if something can be related back to China or the Muslim World it is. But on the other hand, it states an important position, which from now on economic and cultural historians are going to have to take note of.
Has Cambridge University Press thrown in the towel?.......2005-12-24
Readers should be forewarned that this is a polemical tract rather than a work of evidentiary historical scholarship. The idea that Chinese science was "ahead" of the West (however we define the West) is not new at all; it was a central theme of Joseph Needham's work half a century ago, some of which has stood the test of time and much of which hasn't. At least Needham and his collaborators were able to draw original Chinese sources into their studies (and the later works of his collaborators in "Science and Civilization in China" are mostly excellent). Hobson's work is laden with casual and unsubstantiated assertions, overuse of silly and undefined terms like "economic miracle," and unduly credulous readings of previous scholars who had their own axes to grind. As for individual critiques of his specific assertions about such issues as iron production, currency flows, etc, I'll leave that to the reviewers in the standard professional journals, if they bother to review this book (Although I'm sure it will be warmly received in some fields, like cultural studies, where the citation of prominent European intellectual theorists is more important than having reliable Chinese sources). In sum, this is a contribution to the growing ranks of Sino-triumphalist works by western writers guided more by recent politics and economic trends than historical evidence. A common feature of this group, apparently, is to think that because some of their predecessors have made ridiculous Eurocentric claims minimizing China's significance in their own works, that means it's somehow advisable to make equally absurd and unbalanced Sinocentric claims now - in fact, because the transparency of this approach is so obvious, it ends up preaching to the converted. My plea to others working in the same field: learn to read Chinese and look at some actual texts to check whether they support your arguments. For readers in search of more legitimate works in English about Chinese science, I heartily recommend "On Their Own Terms" by Benjamin Elman, published by Harvard University Press, which seems to be taking up the mantle so unfortunately cast off by Cambridge University Press.
**Shrugs**.......2005-11-02
I think that Hobson's book is good in a way that it provides a counter-argument to Eurocentricism such as found in David Landes' the Wealth and Poverty of Nations. Beyond that, however, I find that Hobson is lacking in any real substance and rather chooses to bash Eurocentrist's arguments rather than making any of his own. He resorts to many of the same pitfalls that he sees in Eurocentric authors by presenting the East as the sole site of pre-1800 civilization. I understand that he is trying to undermine Eurocentric arguments, but by being so obviously one-sided he is defeating his own cause.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Pacific Affairs, published by University of British Columbia on March 22, 2005. The length of the article is 668 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation.(Book Review)
Author: Erica Brindley
Publication:
Pacific Affairs (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2005
Publisher: University of British Columbia
Volume: 78
Issue: 1
Page: 119(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Historian, published by Thomson Gale on March 22, 2006. The length of the article is 549 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: The Eastern Origins of Western Civilisation.(Book review)
Author: Catherine Pagani
Publication:
The Historian (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 68
Issue: 1
Page: 199(2)
Article Type: Book review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Books:
- It Doesn't Take a Hero : The Autobiography of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf
- Jonathan Edwards, Religious Tradition, and American Culture
- Living Within Limits: ECOLOGY, ECONOMICS, AND POPULATION TABOOS
- Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela
- More Than Money: True Stories of People Who Learned Life's Ultimate Lesson
- National Geographic Almanac of American History (National Geographic)
- National Geographic Atlas Of World History (Atlas)
- Notes from the Hyena's Belly: An Ethiopian Boyhood
- On The Black Liberation Army
- Open Me Carefully: Emily Dickinson's Intimate Letters to Susan Huntington Dickinson
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Rose is Rose in Loving Color: A Collection of Sunday Rose is Rose Comics
- Great Dane: A Comprehensive Guide to Owning and Caring for Your Dog
- Billy Boy: A Novel
- Eisenhower
- Directing the Documentary, Fourth Edition
- History: Fiction or Science
- Ever Since Adam and Eve: The Evolution of Human Sexuality
- History: Fiction or Science
- Career Patterns: A Kaleidoscope of Possibilities, Second Edition
- Business Letters the Easy Way