The Light of Asia Audiobook By Christopher Harding cover art

The Light of Asia

A History of Western Fascination with the East

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The Light of Asia

By: Christopher Harding
Narrated by: Christopher Harding
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

From the time of the ancient Greeks onwards the West's relationship with Asia consisted for the most part in outrageous tales of monsters and giants, of silk and spices trans-shipped over vast distances and an uneasy sense of unknowable empires fantastically far away. By the 20th century much of Asia may have come under Western rule after centuries of warfare, but its intellectual, artistic and spiritual influence was fighting back.

The Light of Asia is a wonderfully varied and entertaining history of this vexed, confused but centrally important relationship. From Marco Polo onwards Asia has been both a source of genuine fascination and equally genuine failures of comprehension. China, India and Japan were all acknowledged to be both great civilizations and in crude ways superseded by the West. Christopher Harding's captivating gallery of geniuses, adventurers and con-men celebrates Asia's impact on the West in all its variety.

©2024 Christopher Harding (P)2024 Penguin Audio Asia Politics & Government World Ancient History
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This is the second book I have listened to by Christopher Harding and it is as good as his first book.
It is an excellent overview of Asia in general and the religions originated in Asia.
The history of the different Westerners who became involved in Hinduism and Buddhism, whose names are undoubtedly familiar to those, studying these religions.
I absolutely enjoyed both books, expertly narrated by the author himself.
I hope that Audible will get more books by mr. Harding.
My thanks to all involved, JK.

A MUST READ

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Just finished listening to this mesmerizing and absolutely magnificent book. He is the only English narrator with authentic Japanese pronunciation, so this sounds perfectly natural. The author is getting better and better with each book. I hope his books are swiftly translated into Japanese and audiobooks are made available in the Japanese language, too. Then, they will be invaluable resources for people studying about Japan or the Japanese language. On the other hand, Japanese people may use them as resources for studying the English language. This book is well-researched and the narrative is fascinating. I was up all night listening to this on the day it was released. Thank you, Audible, for this great audiobook.

Unputdownable and precious

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