Chang, Jung, and Jon Halliday. Mao: The Unknown Story. 2006. Very controversial biography of the Chinese leader.

Chow, Tse-tung. The May Fourth Movement: Intellectual Revolution in Modern China. 1960. The classic study of the Chinese intellectual revolution that began in 1919.

Fromkin, David. A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East, 20th anniversary ed. 2009. A thorough but readable introduction to the Middle East in the early twentieth century.

Gandhi, Rajmohan. Gandhi: The Man, His People, and the Empire. 2008. Monumental scholarly biography written by a university professor who is also Gandhi’s grandson.

Hane, Mikiso, and Louis G. Perez. Modern Japan: A Historical Survey, 5th ed. 2012. Highly readable and comprehensive study of modern Japan.

Hourani, Albert, and Malise Ruthven. History of the Arab Peoples, 2d ed. 2003. One of the best single-volume histories of the Arab peoples.

Hsü, Immanuel C. Y. The Rise of Modern China, 6th ed. 1999. Classic, comprehensive history of modern China.

Irokawa, Daikichi. The Age of Hirohito: In Search of Modern Japan. 1995. An excellent brief account by a leading Japanese historian.

Laqueur, Walter. A History of Zionism: From the French Revolution to the Establishment of the State of Israel. 1972. Good general history of Zionism and the founding of Israel.

Mango, Andrew. Atatürk. 2000. Rich, well-researched biography of this complex Turkish leader.

Myers, Ramon H., and M. Peattie, eds. The Japanese Colonial Empire, 1895–1945. 1984. Broad collection of essays covering all of Japan’s colonial empire, both formal and informal.

Osborne, Milton. Southeast Asia: An Introductory History, 10th ed. 2010. Remains the classic introduction to the region’s history.

Owen, Norman, David Chandler, William R. Roff, et al. The Emergence of Southeast Asia: A New History. 2004. Several scholars collaborate on histories of both individual countries and social and economic themes, including gender and ecology.

Spence, Jonathan. The Search for Modern China, 3d ed. 2012. Important study of modern China by a leading Chinese scholar.

Wolpert, Stanley. A New History of India, 8th ed. 2008. An excellent introduction to India’s history.

Young, Louise. Japan’s Total Empire: Manchuria and the Culture of Wartime Imperialism. 1998. A fascinating pioneering work on Japanese imperialism.