The book I choose for this second Shelfie exercise is entitled, Empires at War: 1911-1923, and it examines the conflict of  WWI through the lens of empire as opposed the lens of nation-states.  The book expands the generally accepted timeline of WWI (1914-1918) to focus on 1911-1923 and the catalysts and repercussions of this global war. The book begins with an introduction that explains the scope work, and then is broken into chapters written by different contributors which discuss the Ottoman, Italian, Russian, German, Austria-Hungarian, French, Japanese, Chinese, United States, and other empires.  The chapter on the Russian Empire is written by Lafayette College’s very own Joshua Sanborn.  In addition to the text, the book includes a nice array of maps that helps conceptualize the global extent of WWI.

I found this book by using the keyword phrase, “colonial powers in WWI” in a library catalogue search.  The book is located in the Upper Level of Skillman library in a section that seemed to be entirely devoted to books on WWI.  I was drawn to this book because of its subject matter, and its relation to the topics we have discussed in class.  I like the structure of the work and believe it could be a useful supplement to class in the future.

Gerwarth, Robert, and Erez Manela, eds. Empires at War: 1911-1923. New York: Oxford UP, 2014. Print.

Arthur Bonner’s work “Democracy in India: A Hollow  Shell” focuses on society in India and how and in what ways the people have changed under various political and social climates. This book is historic in the fact that it covers important topics with factual bases to construct a telling of how modern India came to be. The source is academic in nature in that it analyzes and synthesizes various works, essays, writings, and other media. The author weaves various facts and writings from Indian people and outsiders about the Indian people into a single narrative. Also to note, the book is 255 pages and is spaced into 11 chapters divided generally by time period/social movement.

More specifically, the book begins with an in-depth summary of Indian caste society formed in antiquity and its various forms over the centuries. Then it discusses how these concepts interacted with British imperialism and political struggle. Furthermore it discusses how imperialism changed the national mood and self-image and how this self-image is potentially greatly distorted from the reality of the nation. Essentially, Bonner uses historical sources to support the claim that the marks of the caste system and imperialism had a strong effect on India and such events have maintained control over Indian culture since.

Not only is the book interesting and informative about India in its own right, but his book is very relevant to our class in both region and time period. A central portion of the book considers British imperialism on the nation both politically and socially. One of the main foci of our discussion on imperialism was on India, and thus the book is quite relevant.

To now talk a little about the research process, I used the library catalog under the search “India”. From there I found a variety of books in a single section, went to that section, and decided to choose this book. The title caught me because I knew democracy “arrived” in India promptly after WWII and the struggle for democracy occurred during the exact period we are currently discussing.  Also, the adjacent books, though all about India, did not as closely correspond to our current point in history or the topic. Other books talked about the caste system in India as well as Indian-Pakistani relations and post-national political issues involving India.

Anyway, in conclusion Bonner’s work “Democracy in India” is both informative historical work and pertinent to the class.

Bonner, Arthur. Democracy in India: A Hollow Shell. Washington, D.C.: American UP, 1994. Print.

Andereggen, Anton. France’s Relationship with Subsaharan Africa. Westport: Praeger, 1994. Print.

To find this book, I looked up “colonialism” and “Africa” and was originally looking for a different book. However, while I was looking for the other book, I came across this one, which seemed to offer a better insight into things that we have discussed in class. The book was in a section that was entirely about Africa. There were a lot of books on the South African apartheid, which I know we will be discussing in class in the next few weeks. Other books were about the Rwandan genocide, and the history of West Africa. Moreover, all of the books touched on some part of history in Africa. They were all found in the DT 400s section of the upper level of Skillman.  I decided on this one, however, because it combined colonialism, which we have spent so much time on with Africa, but discussed it in a context that was more modern than what we have learned in class so far.

The book caught by eye because it specifically discusses the connection between a colonial power and its influence on the region in which it colonized. I also liked it, as I said before, because it was a more modern take on the subject and the lasting impact on the colonial powers.

The chapters in the book are:

1. History of French West Africa Until World War II; 2. History of French Equatorial Africa Until World War II; 3. World War II and Reorganization; 4. Loi-cadre Reforms and Charles de Gaulle’s Return; 5. Decolonization; 6. Independence; 7. General de Gaulle and His Successors; 8. Cultural Considerations; 9. Economic Ties; 10. Historical Perspectives on How the French View the Africans

The book discusses how the French wanted to acquire part of Africa in order to restore its pride that was lost during the Franco-Prussian war. Acquiring the overseas empire was beneficial to the French because of the goods they could gain. Ultimately, when they colonized and created the empire, the most important things in the mind of the French were politics, financial gains and national ambitions. Although France still holds a significant amount of power in the region (through economic, political, cultural and social ties), the book discusses the changes that were made to the empire as a result of big wars and events that occurred in the world and how that impact the French’s control over sub-saharan Africa.

Vũ, Trọng Phụng, and Shaun Kingsley. Malarney. Lục Xì: Prostitution and Venereal Disease in Colonial Hanoi. Honolulu: U of Hawaiʻi, 2011. Print.

A subject I was really interested in was the bringing of venereal disease to Hawaii by early settlers and the devastating effects that had on the native population. So when I searched through the library’s catalog, I looked under “Hawaii”, “disease”, and “venereal”. Surprise, I came book about an island whose history is similar to that of Hawaii’s. Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam, by the 1930’s, had been in the control of the French for over fifty years. This book focuses on the massive commercial sex industry initiated by French arrival. It also highlights the health effects that arise as a result of this industry, such as spikes in the amount of people with a venereal disease and the psychological effects the industry had on the women involved. Books near this one on the shelf included ones on the Sexual Revolution, and other books surrounding topics such as sex, disease, freedom, and colonization.

Karabell, Zachary. Parting the Desert: the creation of the Suez Canal. New York: Random House, Inc., 2003. Print.

I found this book by searching the term “Suez Canal”. In class, our discussion of the Suez Canal was brief and in the context of British conquest so I was interested in the Canal itself. I thought it was interesting that the book was in a section that was more about engineering and the actual creation of dams and canals that anything about the Suez Canal; titles surrounding my chosen book were Water and the American Government, Delaware and Lehigh Canals, and Drainage and Water Table Control. This book piqued my interest because it had the most colorful cover and it had a picture of Ferdinand de Lesseps, on the binding. The book is about the events leading up to the building of the Suez Canal and it’s cultural significance. It talks about how the canal was the convergence of two cultures, French and Egyptian, and even discusses the Egyptian hopes for the canal to lead to a national renaissance and restore power in the Mediterranean and how the French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps found support and funding to start and complete the project, while neutralizing the Ottoman sultan. The book is broken up into 20 chapters, a few of which are “The French Fall in Love”, “Egypt and Rome”, and “The Desert is Parted”.  In the middle of the book are images of the relevant leaders of France and Egypt as well as some of the canal being built and being used. Overall, the argument of the book is that something once beautiful, the product of brilliance, can become a symbol of greed and even a scar, rebuking the initial goal of the creator.

Maritime Taiwan, Historical Encounters with the East and the West

Shih-Shan, Henry Tsai. Maritime Taiwan Historical Encounters with the East and the West. Armonk: East Gate, 2009. Print.

The title of my book is Maritime Taiwan: Historical Encounters with the East and West by Shih-Shan Henry Tsai. I found this book by searching the term “colonization during World War II”. Recently we have talked a lot about colonization in class specifically during the periods of World War I and II. I thought it would be a good idea to check out what countries were colonized and why; moreover, this book grabbed my attention by discussing colonization within Taiwan and gives a little history of Taiwan as well.

The book covers the dealing of Taiwan and its meeting between the Eastern nations (China, Japan) and Western nations as well (Netherlands, Spain, and the US). The book begins with begins with the Dutch and Spanish taking control and ends with a growing American influence; furthermore, in between are details of the Japanese roots. While most of these encounters are from the West, the East has a very significant part. Japan was the first to start the actual colonization of Taiwan. The Spanish and the Dutch were simply traders within Taiwan but had made no actual attempt to colonize the country. Taiwan also plays a key factor in World War II for Japan because of the value Japan got out the Taiwan. While the U.S. came in later, Japan received the most use. In addition, the book also features graphics from the time period that shows things like World War II Prisoners of War (POW) and list of U.S. imports from Taiwan. Around the book are other titles detailing Taiwan’s colonization and impacts of the outside world on Taiwan. Overall, the book seems like a good read for anyone interested in studying Taiwanese history.

The Battle for China: Essays on the Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945. Stanford

Peattie, Mark R., Edward J. Drea, and Van De Ven Hans J. The Battle for China: Essays on the Military History of the Sino-Japanese War of 1937-1945. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 2011. Print.

I found this book by searching “First Sino-Japanese War”. The reason I chose this particular book is because of the variety of sources it contains, as well as the amount of detail it conveys on the subject. Now, the book itself didn’t catch my eye. The book looks pretty bland, with just being a gray hardcover with no paperback attached. However, on the Library one search tool the book was far more ascetically pleasing. On the top, the cover has Chinese soldiers entrenched and arming against an impending attack, while on the bottom you see a column of Japanese soldiers marching and being lead by what appears to be at captain. Now the reason I believe this book is relevant to our class is because we have just recently discussed how Japan was a new rising empire in the late 19th century and we are currently about to be discussing the events that led to and what took place during World War II.  This books is an extremely detailed analysis of military, political, social history of the Sino-Japanese war. It examines the causes of the war as well as major campaigns, strategies, and outcomes that affected the war. This book does not have a specific argument, its purpose is to give a detailed account of the war, so detailed that it gives insight on the logistics of nearly every battle, i.e weapons, equipment, and the amount of men on each side. The book also includes maps, journals, and photographs from both sides of the fighting that I feel add the the incredible amount of insight it gives on the war.

I went to the library and used the search engine through the upper level computer (right near the top of the stairs) in order to find books about African history. I ended up choosing a book titled History of Africa by Kevin Shillington because of the brightly colored cover and use of pictures. The book covers many topics including Ancient Egypt, the Iron Age, Bantu migrations, the end of the slave trade in the nineteenth century, the creation of states such as Sierra Leone and Senegal, the Maji Maji Rebellion, and the Second World War in Africa.  The book also contains maps showing the spread of iron forging, land occupied by different states, and mass migrations like the Bantus. A History of Africa includes a lot of cultural aspects of African history, including the growth of Christianity and Islam in certain regions. Lastly, the book also discusses complex topics such as the economic impact of colonial rule. For example, in Kenya there was a system called “Kipande” where Kenyans were removed from most of the fertile land only to be allowed back if they worked as tenants.

Most of the books near History of Africa were modern African history. One book is very tiny and was titled A Brief History of Africa, which can be great as a quick and informative read about a large and very diverse continent with a long history.

Shillington, Kevin. History of Africa. New York: St. Martin’s, 1989. Print.

From Patriarchy to Empowerment

To find this book, I searched Women’s Rights and Africa. I was interested in learning about Women’s Rights in other parts of the world as we have touched upon Women’s suffrage in England and America. I thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast the timing and its impact in other nations and British colonies. On the shelves surrounding the book where other books relating to women and women’s rights. One interesting book title was Women in Asia and another was Women in Middle Eastern History. The book caught my eye because of the picture on the cover. It’s women wearing 90s style clothing and holding signs in arabic. When flipping through the book I found a couple chapters to be very interesting including Women in Political Parties in Turkey; Feminist Organizing in Tunisia; Women, Communications, and Democratization in Morocco, and Women’s Empowerment in India. The book also has tables and charts including one that measured women’s civil, political, socioeconomic, and cultural participation and rights and another that I found interesting was one attitudes on girls’ education by educated girls’ and parents’. The book is divided three parts focusing on Political Processes and Women’s Participation, Economic, Social, and Cultural Participation, and Violence, Peace, and Women’s Human Rights. Each section has chapters written by different experts focusing on the overarching topic in a specific nation. When flipping through the book, I found it very interesting to read about how the struggle for Women’s Rights in Tunisia stems from their time under French colonial rule. I think this book would be a great source to read to compliment what we have read about Women’s suffrage in the UK and the U.S.

Moghadam, Valentine M. “From Patriarchy to Empowerment: Women’s Participation, Movements, and Rights in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia.” Syracus, NY. Syracuse UP, 2007. Print.

Germany 1918-1945 – From days of Hope to Years of Horror

Newton, Douglas J. Germany 1918-1945: From Days of Hope to Years of Horror. Melbourne: Collins Dove, 1990. Print.

I found the book just by walking through the shelves upstairs in the Library. I didn’t use the library catalog, as I was just searching for anything I thought would apply to our current unit of study. The aspect of the book that caught my eye was the big ‘Germany’ on the cover as well as the fact that the dates covered in the book are the same dates covered in our current unit. 1918-1945. As Germany was also the leading reason of international discourse during this the time, I believed getting a book that centered around Germany, would be beneficial due to the fact that we could better understand Germany’s Repertoires of Power, their intersections with other governments at the time, their uses of intermediaries, and the imperial imaginaries that lead Germany to becoming the Third Reich. The book discusses the days of hope in the Weimar years, includes a picture essay regarding the invasion of the Ruhr. The book goes in depth about the experience of Nazism, including the economics, the imposition of dictatorship, and the social life in the Third Reich. Finally the book ends with another picture essay about The Hitler Youth and Posters and Artwork of the Crisis years. In this section Douglas Newton discusses German communication of the era, Nazi foreign policy, the premature war (Prague Crisis), the escalation of Horror, as well as the New Order. This book is particularly effective because it goes in depth about Germany life at the time using primary and secondary sources, as well as discussing all nations that had interactions with Germany at the time. The book discusses propaganda, military strategy, social living, and the many political imaginaries of the time.

China in Revolution: The Road to 1911

Liu, Heung Shing. China In Revolution : The Road To 1911. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press: in collaboration with Journalism and Media Studies Centre, The University of Hong Kong, 2011. Print.

I found this book by using the search terms “opium wars” and “China”. I was interested in learning more about the Opium Wars, specifically from the viewpoint of the Chinese. In class we had talked about the wars and their impact on both China and Britain, but I wanted to read more about its effects on the Chinese people and government. While looking through the shelves with books about the Opium Wars, I found a very large book titled China in Revolution: The Road to 1911. Some interesting titles next to this book were The Boxer Rebellion, Modern China, and The Inner Opium War. This book initially caught my eye because of its size, then when flipping through the pages the photos and maps seemed interesting. I also found a detailed timeline in the back of the book that used both images and short blurbs to take you through China’s history from 1860 to 1928. When looking at the table of contents and images, the books appeared to be about the Chinese revolution and its greater meaning to and impacts on China. The table of context includes things like; From Manchu rule to a century of revolution, The second opium war, and The boxer rebellion. The first half of book takes you through a historical timeline through text, and then the second half portrays the same timeline using pictures. The focus of this book is on the 1911 revolution and how it ended a millennia of imperial rule. In 1911, the weakening Qing dynasty was over thrown and a democratic republic was established for the first time. After the revolution, China experienced a series of revolutions and governmental changes that shaped their future. The pictures in the book gave you more insight on how times were for the people in China. Portrayed through the photos was violence (beheading), conditions, culture, customs, shifts in power overtime, and more. The book’s main argument is how the revolution shaped China and its government, and the many responses that came from the event. It tells the reader a lot about the changes China went through during the overhaul of its traditional government, and major events that occurred during that time.

Waley, Arthur. The Opium War through Chinese Eyes. Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1958. Print.

The book I chose for this shelfie is The Opium War Through Chinese Eyes, written by Arthur Waley. I found this book using the search term “opium war” in the library catalog, although I was looking for more information through a different perspective. In class we discussed what the Opium War meant for global trade, but history is often written from the perspective of the “winner.” For this reason, I chose to look for a book that would give more insight into the Chinese experience of the Opium War. The title of this book stood out to me as an opportunity to do just that. Waley begins with an edited version of Comissioner Lin’s diary from 1839-41. In the diary, Lin discusses opium within the context of his multiple occupations and interests. Waley continues the book by talking about the events during war-time from the perspective of Chinese men. He also provides many interesting insights into Chinese-British relationships. I found this book in a shelf full of books on the Opium War; looking through these books may also provide more perspectives on the war that is not achievable from just the Empires textbook.

The book I chose is called Nels Anderson’s World War I Diary and is a first-hand account of the war. I found it by searching “world war I” but that was too broad so I added “primary source” and this book caught my eye. I flipped through the first couple pages and the forward drew me in by saying that Nels Anderson, whose journals are in this book, wrote over four-hundred hand written pages recording his life during the war.

Nels Anderson was an American soldier who was twenty-eight years old when he arrived in France in 1918 to partake in the “war to end all wars.” He writes about how being a soldier was different than what he had imagined. In his words, “I used to think it took courage to be a soldier but I have decided that I have more call for patience.” He then writes about how “trenching” (ditch digging) took up a large amount of the time he spent abroad and the long process trenching was. He doesn’t make it sound pleasant at all. Most of the diary isn’t recording fighting because that was so infrequent, its recording the daily life of soldiers  for most of the time they spent “at war.”

It is so interesting to read this and think about how the nature of war today has changed. Now a war that severely impacts hundreds of thousands occurs on the digital battlefield for example.

Anderson, Nels, and Allan Kent. Powell. Nels Anderson’s World War I Diary. Salt Lake City: U of Utah, 2013. Print.

Africa as a Living Laboratory

For this shelfie assignment I set out to find a book having to do with colonization. The first item I searched was “colonization”, however, the results I yielded were too broad. To make my search terms more specific, I added “eighteenth century”. Again, I did not find any books that I fancied, and instead of searching “eighteenth century colonization” I searched “colonization + Africa”. I decided on Africa because we spent an extensive amount of time covering the scramble for Africa in addition to reading Abina and the Important Men. The first three results yielded after using these search terms were basic histories recounting the scramble for Africa, but the fourth was unique. The book I found is called Africa as a Living Laboratory: Empire, Development, and the Problem of Scientific Knowledge 1870-1950 written by Helen Tilley. Flanking this book on the shelf were several other works investigating science’s role in history, but none dealt with the colonization of Africa. In her study, Tilley explores the tricky relationship between imperialism and the role of scientific proficiency. When flipping through the book, I found that Tilley uses an abundance of maps, tables, and charts to advance her investigation and make it more accessible to the average reader. In all, I think this would be a great resource to use when researching colonization for it is unique in that it combines the role of science with imperialism as well as challenges the existing belief of the role of science in the colonization of Africa.

Tilley, Helen. Africa as a Living Laboratory: Empire, Development, and the Problem of Scientific Knowledge, 1870-1950. Chicago: U of Chicago, 2011. Print.

Dirks, Nicholas B. The Scandal of Empire: India and the Creation of Imperial Britain. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap of Harvard UP, 2006. Print.

From the chapters about colonization we learned in class, I had become very interested in the colonization of India by the British Empire. Therefore, for this Shelfie assignment, I wanted to look up a book on colonization of India. So, in order to look for my book, I accessed the Lafayette Library website, and under OneSearch, I typed in the words “colonization of India”. This search first came up with almost 4000 results, so I narrowed my search by searching only for books, which came up with about 200 books. My book, “The Scandal of the Empire”, caught my eye because from the title, it seemed like a very interesting book. This book seems to not focus on how the East India Company gained control of India as we had learned in a broader concept, but on one particular trial that had happened during the colonization, the impeachment and trial of Warren Hastings, and how this “scandal” eventually led to the British government creating the idea of “civilizing” India. Also, this book’s chapters seem to not be written in a chronological order, but written according to different ideas such as corruption, economy, sovereignty, and tradition, with a quote that is related to the topic in the beginning of each chapter. Furthermore, this book contains some illustrations, most of which are related to the trial of Warren Hastings. Most of the books around my book were about colonization of India, but there was one large series of books titled “The Transfer of Power 1942-1947”, which had 12 volumes and seemed to have over a 1000 pages per volume. Overall, I enjoyed doing this assignment again not just because it refreshed knowledge of the previous chapters but also because I was able to learn a new fact about the previous chapters.

Having been in England during the centennial of the start of the First World War, I know that I find public memory and war, especially WWI, to be of particular interest. I also think it is important to understand the profound effects that a war such as this had on the societies involved. Studying the ways in which these wars are remembered today can broaden that understanding. Coming from an American education, the war doesn’t sit in our memories in the same way that it does in Europe, and I think it is important to learn and understand that when discussing the world wars (especially the first). For these reasons, I thought a book on World War I and memory would be beneficial for the class in terms of understanding the first world war and its impact. To find such a book, I looked up ‘The Great War memory’ and scrolled through until The Great War and Modern Memory by Paul Fussell caught my eye. It was of interest to me because the title seemed to be exactly what I was hoping to find and it could be found in the lower section of the library, which I like because it smells like old books down there. There were not a lot of books on World War I surrounding this one, but there were several by the same author. One of which, titled Abroad, seemed particularly interesting. It was about the ways in which literature travelled throughout societies during times of war. As for The Great War and Modern Memory, I flipped through and was fascinated by the topic. The beginning seemed to be a general outline of the war and the new methodologies it required. The rest was was concerned with literary aspects of the war, and each section was marked by one of these aspects. Basically the book discusses that World War I changed society in profound and unprecedented ways. There had never been a war like this before, and there had never been a need for language to describe the horrors, violence, and overwhelming shock and grief that the war brought. There was therefore a lack of willingness and ability to put these experiences into words, and Fussell details the ways in which this was handled. One of his sections is on satire, as humor was often used as a way to deal with these new horrors and experiences. Another is on theater and war, as imagery of the theater was often used by soldiers to describe their experiences. Basically, World War I profoundly changed the way the world was viewed, and Fussell uses changes in language and its to analyze this.

Fussell, Paul. The Great War and Modern Memory. New York: Oxford University Press, 1975.

For this selfie assignment, I decided to look for a book on World War I. I wanted to find a book that told a personal story, that did not simply include facts and summaries about the war. While searching, I came across the book Through Blood and Ice by Ferenc Imrey. Imrey was a Hungarian artist and professor who became a member of the Austria-Hungarian army when the war broke out. While fighting the Russians for Austria-Hungary, he was captured and imprisoned in Siberia. He was a prisoner of war before, during, and after the Bolshevik Revolution. He was ultimately able to escape from the camp and travelled through Siberia and China. I feel that this perspective of the war is interesting, as its seems that students in America mostly look at the allied side of the conflict. It also feels unique to get a perspective of the war by not only a man from the Austria-Hungarian Empire, but from an artist. Surrounding the book were more books regarding the war from the perspective of Russia and Austria-Hungary.

Imrey, Ferenc. Through Blood and Ice. First Edition ed. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1930. Print.

Horses Don’t Fly

I found my book by searching key words ‘World War I’ in the Lafayette Library catalog online. One of the first books that popped up was a diary of a World War I soldier so I wrote down the call number and went to that section to look. The section was full of World War I novels, memoirs, and diaries. I did not even find the book I planned on getting because I found this one first; Horses Don’t Fly, a Word War I memoir by Frederick Libby. This book caught my eye at first glance because it was huge and because the title was really unusual. I read the short summary on the back and immediately knew I wanted to write about this book. In class we had talked a little bit about the introduction of new warfare during World War I like chemical warfare and airplanes. This memoir tells the story of Frederick Libby who was “the first pilot to fly the American colors over enemy lines” during World War I (Libby). Although, before joining the US army Libby was part of the Canadian army. The memoir is broken into thirty chapters describing the first twenty-six years of Libby’s life. It talks about his early years as a cowboy in the Old West and then goes on to explain his reasons for joining the war and the experiences and memories of being a pilot during World War I, and finally, his life after returning home from the war. Overall, I believe this book would be a great addition to our current material on World War I and I actually plan on reading it on my own.

Libby, Frederick. Horses Don’t Fly. 2000. Memoir. Print.