Li Narangoa and Robert Cribb: Historical Atlas of Northeast Asia 1590–2010 Korea, Manchuria, Mongolia, Eastern SiberiaHang Lin

ASIEN – Nr. 145 (2017) pp. 116–18

New York: Columbia University Press, 2014. 336 S., 150,00 USD

Frontiers, or borderlands, can connote a boundary line which separates two states from one another. But more often, they refer to a broader and more diffuse zone or place where different cultures mingle and meet. This is particularly true when dealing with lands where national borders have been ill-defined, but which have an immense influence on the history of their neighbors, as in the case of Northeast Asia. For centuries, Northeast Asia has been frequently viewed as a periphery region of the great powers that surround it: China, Japan, and Russia. In their „Historical Atlas of Northeast Asia 1590–2010“, Narangoa and Cribb have created an intriguing work that reveals the significance of Northeast Asia in world history by presenting 55 original maps and accompanying texts which chart the important historical events of this region from 1590 to 2010…