Following the convening of Hong Kong International Poetry Nights 2011, The World of Words is a collection of selected works by some of the most internationally acclaimed poets today. The poem of "Shor
To Reach the Source: The Stepwells of India is a photography book about a unique and magnificent architectural form that remains unknown to most people outside (and even within) India. More than just a shaft dug into the earth to fetch water, these are entire buildings that descend several stories below ground; they are spaces to be entered and occupied, serving functional, social, and ritual purposes. Often, they are as monumental and ornate as a church, and this is intentional. They are a source of water, a gathering space, and a temple all at once, but instead of rising into the sky, they descend below the surface. They create a spatial experience unlike any other, in which one is below ground but remains connected to the sun and sky. Today they lie largely abandoned and overlooked, in various states of preservation or, more often, disrepair. The photographs seek to recreate the striking ambiance that they elicit. The brief text that follows the images (interspersed with a few archi
"[A] landmark book...[a] bold reframing of the history of the British Empire."--Caroline Elkins, Foreign Affairs An award-winning historian places the corporation--more than the Crown--at the heart of British colonialism, arguing that companies built and governed global empire, raising questions about public and private power that were just as troubling four hundred years ago as they are today. Across four centuries, from Ireland to India, the Americas to Africa and Australia, British colonialism was above all the business of corporations. Corporations conceived, promoted, financed, and governed overseas expansion, making claims over territory and peoples while ensuring that British and colonial society were invested, quite literally, in their ventures. Colonial companies were also relentlessly controversial, frequently in debt, and prone to failure. The corporation was well-suited to overseas expansion not because it was an inevitable juggernaut but because, like empire itself, it was
From "Advani, Lal Krishna," the prominent right-wing Hindu parliamentary politician, to "yoga," the physical and spiritual practice said to originate in India, this two-volume encyclopedia, edited by
Events in the Indian sub-continent during the 1970s, where, in the summer of 1975, the ruling party engineered a ‘constitutional’ coup by declaring a national emergency, re-emphasised the need for a f
Twenty years ago India was still generally thought of as an archetypal developing country, home to the largest number of poor people of any country in the world, and beset by problems of low economic
Twenty years ago India was still generally thought of as an archetypal developing country, home to the largest number of poor people of any country in the world, and beset by problems of low economic
There are two Indias: the caste and class elite who hold all power and make up 10 to 15 percent of the population, and everyone else. Averting the Apocalypse is about everyone else. Arthur Bonner, a f
In the 13th Century, Marco Polo described India as “a land of wonders,” and his observation is no less true today. India is the world’s largest democracy, a nuclear power, and a ris
India explores the lives of everyday people in extraordinary settings through the lens of Steve McCurry, one of the most admired photographers working today. This new portfolio of emotive and beautifu
The 1980s economic boom in East Asia drew the world’s attention towards Taiwan. India-Taiwan economic relations have been growing and the setting up of economic and cultural centres has promoted peopl
