Asia Inside Out

“Historians have long been discussing the limitations of Eurocentric, nationalistic, or civilizational approaches to the past and complex present of Asian societies. Asia Inside Out: Changing Times illustrates the achievements of this scholarship of the past decades, with essays demonstrating how we can understand the cosmopolitan experiences of inter-Asian connections in the early modern and modern periods. This book should be essential reading on global Asia.”—Cemil Aydin, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

“A wonderfully rich, provocative, and timely collection. By illuminating moments of transformation not typically identified as historical turning points, these essays highlight alternative temporalities of Asian social, cultural, and political life. But they don’t stop there. Each essay also unsettles the spatial boundaries of Asia by showcasing consequential transnational networks and interactions. As a whole, this book offers an important takeaway for all area specialists: if you connect the dots of lesser known, border crossing phenomena, your region may be revealed in wholly new outlines.”—Ajantha Subramanian, Harvard University