Books by Owen Lattimore
Pivot of Asia
by Owen Lattimore
It gives us a clear picture of what Xinjiang was like before the Chinese Communist Party came to take control of it in 1949
“It hasn’t really been superceded in spite of its age. It was the first serious study in English of the historical relationship between China and Central and Inner Asia, including those parts of Central and Inner Asia which are now considered by the Chinese to be part of China, in other words Tibet, Xinjiang and Mongolia. There had been studies in Russia, but this book really covered the topic from a completely different angle. It was also based both on academic study and Lattimore’s experience in China because he had travelled widely in China, Mongolia and Xinjiang, partly as a result of his job which involved trading between those different parts of China. So it was a combination of academic study and his experience on the ground, a combination that I consider to be extremely important.” Read more...
The best books on Uyghur Nationalism
Michael Dillon, Historian
Interviews where books by Owen Lattimore were recommended
The best books on Uyghur Nationalism, recommended by Michael Dillon
It’s hard to understand what’s going on in the Xinjiang region of China and the nationalism of the Uyghurs who live there without reading some history. Here Professor Michael Dillon, a historian at King’s College London, suggests books to read on the Uyghurs, focusing in particular on scholars and diplomats whose work gives insight into the period before the Chinese Communist takeover in 1949.
