The Middle Ground Journal
World History and Global Studies
recent posts
- “Politics, Protests, and Popular Culture: The Global Legacy of Akira Toriyama and His Dragon Ball”
- “Underprepared but Overperformed: Explaining the Enigma in Study Abroad”
- Review of Chasing Greatness by Anatoly Reshetnikov
- Review of Black Sun by Julia Kristeva
- The Clash of Trade Ideologies: Revisiting the Battle of Liaoluo Bay through the Lens of Hans Putmans’ Interpretation of Vrijen Handel and the Ming Tributary System
- Pursuing the Global in a Local Setting: Particularistic Silences in the Teaching, Deconstructing, Researching, and Writing of Asian History
- South Asian Migration and Colonial Records: Some Challenges in Reconstructing the Bengali Historical Migration
- The First and Second Taiwan Strait Crises in Cold-War Asia: An Overview
Author: The Middle Ground Journal
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On the Sultan’s Service: Halid Ziya Usakligil’s Memoir of the Ottoman Palace, 1909-1912. Translated and Edited by Douglas Scott Brookes. University of Indiana Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780253045515. Reviewed by James N. Tallon, Lewis University Edited by Julie Tanaka and Sarah Pesola (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page…
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People’s Wars in China, Malaya, and Vietnam. Mark Opper. University of Michigan Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780472131846. Reviewed by David Fitzgerald, University College Cork, Ireland Edited by Julie K. Tanaka and Sarah Pesola (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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In Camps: Vietnamese Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Repatriates. Jana K. Lipman. University of California Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780226665788. Reviewed by Peter Gatrell, University of Manchester Edited by Birgit Schneider and Sarah Pesola (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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Partitioning Palestine: British Policymaking at the End of Empire. Penny Sinanoglou. University of Chicago Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780226665788. Reviewed by Frank Zator, M.A., University of Chicago Edited by Birgit Schneider (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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Seapower States: Maritime Culture, Continental Empires and the Conflict that Made the Modern World. Andrew Lambert. Yale University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780300251487. Reviewed by Francisco M. Ortiz Delgado, Ph.D., Autonomous Metropolitan University, Mexico Edited by Justin Quinn Olmstead and Jeanne Grant (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for…
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Opening the Gates to Asia: A Transpacific History of How America Repealed Asian Exclusion. Grace H. Hong. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2019. ISBN 9781469653365. Reviewed by Lei Zhang, Department of American Studies, University of Minnesota Edited by Jeanne Grant (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines…
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Learning to Die in London, 1380-1540. Amy Appleford. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2015. ISBN 9780812246698. Reviewed by Katherine Pierpont, Ph.D. candidate, University of Minnesota Edited by Jeanne Grant and Justin Quinn Olmstead (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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Pure Invention: How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World. Matt Alt. New York: Crown, 2020. ISBN: 9781984826695. Reviewed by Rustin B. Gates, Bradley University Edited by Jeanne Grant (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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Beneath the Backbone of the World: Blackfoot People and the North American Borderlands, 1720-1877. Ryan Hall. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781469655154. Reviewed by Jacob Jurss, Adjunct Professor of History, Metropolitan State University and University of St. Thomas Edited by Sarah Pesola and Jeanne Grant (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21,…
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Peace on our Terms: The Global Battle for Women’s Rights after the First World War. Mona L. Siegel. New York: Columbia University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780231195102. Reviewed by Susan Smith, Maple Grove High School, Maple Grove, Minnesota Ms. Smith is one of the original co-founding members of the MWWHA and teaches World History and AP Government…
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Click to download pdf of Call for Submissions CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “Crisis and Recovery in World History” For a Special Issue of The Middle Ground Journal: World History and Global Studies Deadline for submissions: November 30, 2021 The Middle Ground Journal invites submissions of articles for a special issue of the journal on “Crisis and Recovery in…
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Tatar Empire: Kazan’s Muslims and the Making of Imperial Russia. Danielle Ross. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780253045706. Reviewed by Mark A. Soderstrom, Aurora University Edited by Jeanne E. Grant (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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Out of Our Minds: What We Think and How We Came to Think It. Felipe Fernández-Armesto. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780520331075. Reviewed by David C. Fisher, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edited by Birgit Schneider (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the…
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Idolatry and the Construction of the Spanish Empire. Mina García Soormally. Colorado: University of Colorado Press, 2019. ISBN: 9781607328001. Reviewed by Lydia A. Perez, Master’s student, University of Central Oklahoma Edited by Birgit Schneider and Justin Quinn Olmstead (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s…
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The Phantom Image: Seeing the Dead in Ancient Rome. Patrick R. Crowley. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780226648293. Reviewed by Joseph M. Snyder, Assistant Professor, Southeast Missouri State University Edited by Julie Tanaka (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access…
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Eat the Buddha: Life and Death in a Tibetan Town. Barbara Demick. New York: Penguin Random House, 2020. ISBN: 9780812998764. Reviewed by Annima Bahukhandi, Assistant Professor, Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi Edited by Julie Tanaka (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit…
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Atlantic Studies: Prospects and Challenges. William Boelhower. University of Louisiana Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780807171639. Reviewed by Len von Morzé, University of Massachusetts Boston Edited by Justin Quinn Olmstead (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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Historicizing Fear: Ignorance, Vilification, and Othering. Travis D. Boyce and Winsome M. Chunnu, eds. Louisville: University Press of Colorado, 2019. ISBN: 9781646420018 Reviewed by Jamie Stoops, Lone Star College Edited by Jeanne E. Grant (c) 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 20, Fall 2020. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access…
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Faithful Fighters: Identity and Power in the British Indian Army. Kate Imy. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2019. ISBN: 9781503610026 Reviewed by Victor Curiel, Idaho State UniversityEdited by Jeanne E. Grant and Sarah Pesola (c) 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 20, Fall 2020. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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Diaspora’s Homeland: Modern China in the Age of Global Migration. Shelly Chan. Durham: Duke University Press, 2018. ISBN: 9780822370543 Reviewed by Lei Zhang, University of MinnesotaEdited by Birgit Schneider (c) 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 20, Fall 2020. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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By Patrick H. Salkeld, Independent Scholar Abstract The twenty-first century has seen health crises related to SARS, Swine Flu, Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19. Nations cooperated with supranational groups when deciding what to do with football operations in these crises except during the COVID-19 pandemic when the “Ostrich Alliance” viewed it as interference with their sovereignty.…
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By Roberto Padilla, The University of Toledo History Abstract During the Sino-Japanese War the Japanese army medical bureau employed medical protocols based largely on their ideological import. The result was a failed system of testing that prevented the early identification of a cholera epidemic that swept through the warzone. Near the end of the conflict…
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By Kevin Mitchell Mercer, M.A., Adjunct Professor of History, University of Central Florida Abstract A history adjunct professor’s assignment allows students to understand that historic moments can be can be both extremely personal and globally shared and makes global connections for educators. Key words: Pandemic, COVID-19, history teaching, historical artifacts, social media. Edited by Birgit…
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By Sumiko Otsubo, Metropolitan State University Abstract During the Siberian Intervention, the Japanese Army decided not to adopt hospital ships (病院船) but to rely on patient ships (患者船) when transporting 13,800 troops back to Japan and when the fall wave of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic was at its worst. Is it a valuable lesson for the…
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By Maura Chhun, Metropolitan State University Abstract The 1918 Influenza Pandemic killed over twelve million Indians while a concurrent famine drove up the cost of basic necessities. The British government framed the pandemic as a complicating factor in their otherwise successful management of the famine, but more accurately the famine was a contributing factor to…
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By Sarah Pesola, Chief Intern, undergraduate at Metropolitan State University Edited by Birgit Schneider and Jeanne E. Grant This is a special summer issue of the journal called, Pandemics in Historical Perspective. Every Friday, or nearly every Friday, through mid-June another article will be published. The articles, as they are published, will be open to…
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From Sadat to Saddam: The Decline of American Diplomacy in the Middle East. David J. Dunford. Lincoln: Potomac Books, 2019. ISBN: 2370000713155 OlmsteadSadatReviews20192020theMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Justin Quinn Olmstead, University of Central Oklahoma Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and Sarah Pesola (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See…
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The Order of Genocide: Race, Power, and War in Rwanda. Scott Straus. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2006. ISBN: 10:080144489 KoderoRwandaReviews20192020theMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Cliff Ubba Kodero, Florida International University Edited by Martin Pflug (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s…
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Shaping the Vernacular Landscape of San Francisco’s Chinatown San Francisco’s Chinatown neighborhood is a notable landmark in San Francisco as its architecture, culture, and customs are distinct from the rest of the city. San Francisco’s Chinatown is significant as it the largest Chinatown in the world outside of Asia. What is notable about Chinatown is…
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Colonial Food in Interwar Paris: The Taste of Empire. Lauren Janes. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. ISBN: 9781472592828 WilliamsColonialReviews20192020TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Nicholas Williams, University of Minnesota Edited by Ann Waltner (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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Chop Suey, USA: The Story of Chinese Food in America. Yong Chen. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780231168922 McElroyChopReviews20192020TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by James McElroy, University of Minnesota Edited by Ann Waltner (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational…
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Maiden Voyage: The Senzaimaru and the Creation of Modern Sino-Japanese Relations. Joshua A., Fogel. Oakland: University of California Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780520283305 ChanMaidenReviews20192020TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Ying-kit Chan, Princeton University (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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East Asia Beyond the History War: Confronting the Ghosts of Violence. Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Morris Low, Leonid Petrov and Timothy Y. Tsu. Abingdon: Routledge, 2013. ISBN: 9781138851863 OvermeireEastReviews20292020TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Ben Van Overmeire, St. Olaf College Edited by Karen Rosenflanz (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission…
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Fighting Over Fidel: The New York Intellectuals and the Cuban Revolution. Rafael Rojas. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780691169514 For Full Article: ChavanaFightingReviews20192020TheMiddleGroundJournal.org_ Reviewed by Adrian Chavana, University of Minnesota Edited by Ann Waltner (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s…
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Out of the Woods: Essays in Environmental History. Char Miller and Hal Rothman, eds. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1997. ISBN:0822956314 RuthOutReviews20192020TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Christian Ruth, University at Albany SUNY Edited by Ashley Dressel (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the…
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The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Environmental Narrative from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-first Century. Third Edition. Robert B. Marks. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2015. ISBN: 9781442212404 StearOriginsReviews20192020theMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Ezekiel Stear, Pasadena City College Edited by Ashley Dressel (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school…
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Japan and the Shackles of the Past. R. Taggart Murphy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780190619589 DresnerJapanReviews20192020theMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Jonathan Dresner, Pittsburg State University, Kansas Edited by Birgit Schneider (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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Agents of Terror: Ordinary Men and Extraordinary Violence in Stalin’s Secret Police. Vatlin, Alexander. Translated by Seth Bernstein. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780299310806 vanTineReviewsTerror20192020theMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Shalon van Tine, Ohio University (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s…
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The Cuban Connection: Drug Trafficking, Smuggling, and Gambling in Cuba from the 1920s to the Revolution. Eduardo Sáenz Rovner. Translated by Russ Davidson. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2008. ISBN: 9781469632100 For Full Article: KadowMiCubReviewsSpring2019TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Michael Kadow, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18,…
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Korea’s Occupied Cinema, 1893–1948: The Untold History of the Film Industry. Brian Yecies and Ae-Gyung Shim. New York: Routledge, 2011 (Routledge Advances in Film Studies). ISBN: 9780415740487 For Full Article: ParkYSKoReviewsSpring2019TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Young Sun Park, University of Southern California Edited by Martin Pflug (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18, Spring, 2019. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org…
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The Global Transformation of Time: 1870–1950. Vanessa Ogle. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015. ISBN: 0674286146 For Full Article: AndersonTJTiReviewsSpring2019TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Thomas J. Anderson, Merrimack College Edited by Karen Rosenflanz (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18, Spring, 2019. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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The News of Empire: Telegraphy, Journalism, and the Politics of Reporting in Colonial India c. 1830-1900. Amelia Bonea. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780199467129 For Full Article: BethkeASNeReviewsSpring2019TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Andrew Schumacher Bethke, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities Edited by Karen Rosenflanz (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18, Spring, 2019.…
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Genocide: A World History. Norman M. Naimark. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. ISBN: 9780199765263 For Full Article: SchiesslCGenReviewsSpring2019TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by: Christoph Schiessl, Pierre Laclede Honors College, University of Missouri – St. Louis Edited by: Ashley Dressel (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18, Spring, 2019. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s…
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The World and All the Things upon It: Native Hawaiian Geographies of Exploration. David A. Chang. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780816699421 For Full Article: KesslerLWoReviewsSpring2019TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Lawrence H. Kessler, Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine Edited by Birgit Schneider (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18, Spring, 2019.…
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Global Environmental History: An Introductory Reader. J.R. McNeill, and Alan Roe, eds. London/ New York: Routledge, 2013. ISBN: 978041552053 For Full Article: KalbMReviewsSpring2019theMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Martin Kalb, Bridgewater College Edited by Birgit Schneider (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18, Spring, 2019. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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Ongoing Forum: Book Reviews and the Teaching of World History, 2018 Cohorts HIST3029 Transnational History: A New Perspective on the Past The University of Hong Kong Semester 1, 2017-18 Dr Birgit Schneider After teaching HIST3029, my favorite course here at HKU, for the third time, I am left amazed about how much of a difference…
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The Ottoman Scramble for Africa: Empire and Diplomacy in the Sahara and the Hijaz. Mostafa Minawi. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780804799270 For Full Article: ConeDaReviewsFall2018themiddlegroundjournal.org Reviewed by Daniel Cone, Ph.D. student, Auburn University Edited by Sarah R. Hamilton (c) 2018 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 17, Fall, 2018. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines…
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The Sino-Soviet Alliance: An International History. Austin Jersild. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2014. ISBN: 9781469629834 For Full Article: LaFavorLReviewsFall2018themiddlegroundjournal.org Reviewed by Lydia LaFavor, Ph.D. student, Auburn University Edited by Sarah R. Hamilton (c) 2018 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 17, Fall, 2018. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit…
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Review Essay – Capitalism by Any Other Name: Towards a synthesis of competing visions Abstract: The concept of capitalism is bound up not only with how and why Europe came to dominate the globe, but also with bitter contemporary debates on modernity and global inequality. This article examines competing conceptions of capitalism as formulated by…
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India China: Rethinking Borders and Security. L. H. M. Ling, Adriana Erthal Abdenur, Payal Banerjee, Nimmi Kurian, Mahendra P. Lama, and Li Bo. Configurations: Critical Studies of World Politics, ed. Patrick Thaddeus Jackson. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780472130061 For Full Article: JonesBReviewsFall2018themiddlegroundjournal.org Reviewed by Budd Jones, Ph.D. student, Auburn University Edited…
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