Book Blog: From the Ruins of Empire – The Revolt against the West and the Remaking of Asia
By John Jervis
Artists and curators have been quick to grasp the importance of Pankaj Mishra’s From the Ruins of Empire. Readable, inspiring and relatively brief at just over 300 pages, the book makes an immediate impact. Through the peripatetic lives and political philosophies of Jamal al-Din al-Afghani and Liang Quichao, and the equally turbulent careers of their teachers, peers, disciples and even opponents, Mishra has created a revelatory if selective portrayal of Asian reactions to European expansionism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
