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
Category: Reviews
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“Colonial Transactions expands our knowledge and refines our understanding of the two themes that stand at its center – witchcraft and colonialism. The book historicizes witchcraft, arguing that history can enhance our understanding of the obsessions and modes of power of modern witchcraft in Africa. It brings closer the allegedly contradictory ideas of the European…
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“As an hourglass funnels sand from the top, through its waist, to the bottom, and when turned over shifts that same sand back, Ong Soon Keong portrays the coastal Chinese city of Xiamen as a middle ground funneling people from Fujian to Southeast Asia and back again.”
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“The Library: A Fragile History maintains a quick pace throughout, a fact which is necessitated by the sheer breadth of history which it encompasses.”
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Review of Mapping Water in Dominica: Enslavement and Environment under Colonialism by Mark W. Hauser
“Hauser provides a nuanced and an enriched environmentally informed history of how that oppression took place and by what means.”
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“[Balloffet] masterfully navigates a wide range of literatures and perspectives including case studies of Middle Eastern migration, comparative studies of migration in the Americas, global studies of South-South migration, and studies of nation-building in Argentina.”
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“Wells-Oghoghomeh offers crucial insights, close analysis, and some surprising findings along the way.”
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“…this elegantly composed and organized book…”
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“…Silvia Mitchell’s book uses a microhistorical approach to comprehend larger questions, such as the political and diplomatic situation of the Spanish Monarchy during the second half of the seventeenth century…”
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“…an interdisciplinary and multifaceted study that spans more than two hundred years and three continents…”
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“…Thomas and Lewis resurrect the words of dissent the Nazis tried so hard to silence. In nearly every story they tell, the authors find the final words of the resistors who were executed, showing the courage these people possessed.”
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“As plague swept the globe at the dawn of the early eighteenth century, ideas about poverty and disease justified new medical geographies and biopolitical schemes for dispossessing poor people. ”
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“…those of us who teach Central Asian history can now rejoice—not one, but two accessible and well-written narrative histories of Central Asia in the modern age have been published within a year of each other, accompanied by a sourcebook about the same period.”
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“…This rich and complex story of North Korea’s Third World policies is based upon the author’s extensive archival research, including government documents and newspapers from the West, the East, and the Third World….”
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“…The goals of Abolishing Boundaries are set against our present skepticism about sweeping transformations.”
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“…Sedgewick’s twenty-six brisk chapters introduce the reader to the global history of coffee from a peculiar vantage point, the Las Tres Puertas coffee plantation at the foot of the Santa Ana volcano in El Salvador…”
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“Reese’s work is an extensive treatment of the Russian Army during its last six decades. He places major emphasis on a new view of the final collapse of the army from long term causes…”
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“…this book is an unprecedently clear account of the ways in which Mexico was both uniquely free and at the same time meaningfully limited in its diplomatic relations with the rest of the world…”
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In this smart, concise survey of twentieth-century development ideology and practice, Sara Lorenzini deconstructs what she calls the “global myth of development”…
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Colonialism in Global Perspective. Kris Manjapra. Cambridge University Press, 2020. ISBN-13: 9781108441360. Reviewed by Joseph Snyder, Southeast Missouri State University Edited by Julie Tanaka © 2022 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 23, Spring 2022. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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Between Fitness and Death: Disability and Slavery in the Caribbean. Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy. University of Illinois Press, 2020. ISBN-13: 9780252085062. Reviewed by Zach Sell, Drexel University (now Brown University) Edited by Julie Tanaka © 2022 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 23, Spring 2022. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access…
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Imperial Peripheries in the Neo-Assyrian Period. Edited by Craig W. Tyson and Virginia R. Hermann. University Press of Colorado, 2019. ISBN: 9781607328223. Reviewed by Alexander Johannes Edmonds, University of Tübingen Edited by Julie Tanaka and Sarah Pesola © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for…
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Lisbon: A Biography. Magda Pinheiro. Translated by Mario Pereira. Dartmouth, MA: Tagus Press, 2019. ISBN: 9781933227757. Reviewed by Ernst Pijning, Minot State University Edited by Julie Tanaka © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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Seeds of Control: Japan’s Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea. David Fedman. University of Washington Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780295747453. Reviewed by Steven Ivings, Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University Edited by Birgit Schneider © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational…
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Soldiers, Saints, and Shamans: Indigenous Communities and the Revolutionary State in Mexico’s Gran Nayar, 1910-1940. Nathanial Morris. University of Arizona Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780816541027. Reviewed by Joshua Simon, Columbia University Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and Sarah Pesola © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page…
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The Crown and the Capitalists: The Ethnic Chinese and the Founding of the Thai Nation. Wasana Wongsurawat. University of Washington Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780295746241. Reviewed by Fabrizio Martino, Chulalongkorn University-Bangkok Edited by Birgit Schneider and Sarah Pesola © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for…
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I Want You to Know We’re Still Here: A Post-Holocaust Memoir. Esther Safran Foer. Random House, 2020. ISBN: 9780525575986. Inge’s War: A German Woman’s Story of Family, Secrets, and Survival under Hitler. Svenja O’Donnell. Viking, 2020. ISBN: 9781984880215. Reviewed by Laura J. Hilton, Muskingum University Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and Sarah Pesola ©…
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Gendered Power: Educated Women of the Meiji Empress’ Court. Mamiko C. Suzuki. University of Michigan Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780807174302. Reviewed by Daniel Barish, Baylor University Edited by Birgit Schneider © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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Chow Chop Suey: Food and the Chinese American Journey. Anne Mendelson. Columbia University Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780231541299. Reviewed by Elizabeth Fuhan Mason, M.A. student, San Francisco State University Edited by Julie Tanaka © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access…
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Sweet Land of Liberty: America in the Mind of the French Left, 1848-1871. Tom Sancton. Louisiana State University Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780807174302. Reviewed by Michael Clinton, Gwynedd Mercy University Edited by Julie Tanaka © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access…
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Review of In a Sea of Empires: Networks and Crossings in the Revolutionary Caribbean by Jeppe Mulich
In a Sea of Empires: Networks and Crossings in the Revolutionary Caribbean. Jeppe Mulich. Cambridge University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781108489720. Reviewed by Christopher Marshall, University of Wisconsin-Stout Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and Sarah Pesola (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access…
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The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions. Jeffrey D. Sachs. Columbia University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780231193740. Reviewed by J. Justin Castro, Arkansas State University Edited by Birgit Schneider © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
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The Global Bourgeoisie: The Rise of the Middle Class in the Age of Empire. Christof Dejung, David Motadel, and Jürgen Osterhammel, eds. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780691195834. Reviewed by Steven Ivings, Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University Edited by Justin Quinn Olmstead and Sarah Pesola © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number…
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Asian Place, Filipino Nation: A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887-1912. Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz. Columbia University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780231192156. Reviewed by Tristan Miguel Osteria, University of Santo Tomas Edited by Birgit Schneider © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit…
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Russia’s Entangled Embrace: The Tsarist Empire and the Armenians, 1801-1914. Stephen Badalyan Riegg. Cornell University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781501750113. Reviewed by Krista Sigler, University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College Edited by Birgit Schneider © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access…
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Teaching World History Thematically: Essential Questions and Document-Based Lessons to Connect Past and Present.Rosalie Metro. New York: Teachers College Press, 2020. ISBN 9780807764466. Reviewed by Stephen Jackson, University of Sioux Falls 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…
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State Formation in the Liberal Era: Capitalisms and claims of Citizenship in Mexico and Peru. Edited by Ben Fallaw and David Nugent. University of Arizona Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780816540389. Reviewed by Andrea K. Moerer, Saint Paul Academy and Metropolitan State University Andrea K. Moerer holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Minnesota with…
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A Slave Between Empires: A Transimperial History of North Africa. M’hamed Oualdi. Columbia University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780231191869. Reviewed by Jennifer M. Morris, Ph.D., Mount St. Joseph University, Cincinnati, Ohio Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and Sarah Pesola (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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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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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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