Thunder from the East: Portrait of a Rising Asia

by Nicholas D. Kristof, Sheryl WuDunn

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists and authors of China Wakes comes this insightful and comprehensive look at Asia on the rise.

The recent economic crisis in Asia heaped devastation upon millions. Yet Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn argue that it was the best thing that could have happened to Asia. It destroyed the cronyism, protectionism, and government regulation that had been crippling Asian business for decades, and it left in its wake a vast region of resilient and determined millions poised to wrest economic, diplomatic and military power from the West. Thunder from the East is a riveting look at a complex region, a fascinating panoply of compelling characters, and a prophetic analysis from arguably the West's most informed and intelligent writers on Asia.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Genres: China, Nonfiction, History, Asia, Politics, Economics

400 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Nicholas Donabet Kristof is an American journalist, author, op-ed columnist, and a winner of two Pulitzer Prizes. He has written an op-ed column for The New York Times since November 2001 and is widely known for bringing to light human rights abuses in Asia and Africa, such as human trafficking and the Darfur conflict. He has lived on four continents, reported on six, and traveled to 160 countries and all 50 states. According to his blog, during his travels he has had "unpleasant experiences with malaria, wars, an Indonesian mob carrying heads on pikes, and an African airplane crash".

Reviews

[Vanshika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first book in genre of journalism..Although written almost 18 years back, the narrative still holds true in lot of aspects in relation to Asia..Unlike some of the reviews that I read here for this book,the authors show a level headed mix of good,bad and most importantly- the grey..I thoroughly enjoyed my journey through Asian culture,politics,economy..The subject is far too complex to be covered in one book,but 'Thunder from the East' is a good introduction to Asia.

[Sierra Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn are officially my favorite authors! (Though to be fair I've had very little exposure to writers journalistic nonfiction.)

Anyway,
PROS
-Uncertainty is constantly reiterated; with every argument the authors warned that their predictions, while educated, could very well be wrong depending on future events. Similarly, they acknowledged many contradictions within Asian economics and current events, making the entire story seem more objective.
-As someone who knows very little about Asia, I felt like I was constantly learning something new.
-The writing is extremely engaging.
-I found the bits about the legacy of the Sino-Japanese war and the legacy the violence left on each country particularly compelling, especially the interviews with veterans.
-I enjoyed reading it through the lenses of 2020. It was interesting to compare Kristof and WuDunn's predictions with current state of affairs, or least what I know of them. Many of their broad predictions they got right, but a lot was off. I think they severely downplayed the impact of the rise of computers, for instance.

CONS
- 20 years out of date. But that's not the book fault.
- Way too Japan-heavy. I know that the authors lived in both China and Japan for extensive periods of time, so it makes sense that they focused on the countries they are most knowledgeable about. And given that at the time of writing Japan was the largest Asian economy I'm not surprised it got the spotlight. That being said, I wish they'd included how the small economies, such as Burma/Myanmar and Pakistan factor in to the picture as well.
-The economic sections were obviously written for an audience with some knowledge of macroeconomics. I wish they had dumbed it down so I could have remotely understood these parts, which were included pretty much every other chapter. This isn't a con so much as me being clueless tho.

Overall, I got a lot out of reading this. I probably wouldn't reccomend it to anyone who isn't specifically interested in Asian affairs.

[Audrey Saltarelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book is written from the point of view that America is obviously the best country in the world and that Asian country will do well if they follow the same ideals and ideologies.

[Thurston Hunger · Rating 4 out of 5]

First thanks to my co-worker Dan for recommending this book. It's an interesting blend of folksy travelog meshed with a magazine style essay on various aspects of Asian economies. I think that makes it quite unique right there, but also the book is delivered tag-team style by a husband and wife (not sure why this Goodreads' entry denies her credit?). I'm trying to remember if he was the one who was more a features writer and she was the more clinicallly observant, or vice versa. I read this a few months ago...

Despite some harrowing accounts of poverty (people choosing between health care and education with grave costs on either side) and barbarism (the book opens with a relatively recent witch hunt), there is a degree of optimism as we are led to believe that a personality trait of "chi ku" (Chinese) or "gaman" (Japanese). Indeed it appears that Kristof likes to take the extremely long view on Asia's share of Global GDP (dating back to 1000 AD, feels like a bit of a stretch to me), seeing "The West's" influence as more of a recent blip. That feels unfair to me, as East/West while easier to spot, seem less influential to me than corporate alliances in this era of instant world-wide communication.

Had this purely been a economic look at the Asian bubble, largely inflated by foreign investment to get the quick high yield and then abandon countries), it would have been a slow read for me. Despite the fact that one could claim the anecdotal interactions with specific people is an unfair way to handle something so broad in scope, I found it compelling, even warily taking some of the rags-to-riches (and back twice?) tales as a slice of specific marketing.

I'll not bet against the human creative spirit in any corner of the globe, especially when coupled with personalized detail/support as found in this book.

[Andrew Burin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A basic introduction to the history of Asia (which in itself is a massive venture) and a more detailed look at the causes and consequences of the Asian Economic Crisis of the 90s. Kristof and his wife do a great job of pairing statistics and economic theory with anecdotal evidence of what they are proposing and this is all in all definitely a worthwhile book. The first I've read on Asia so it was very informative for me, but I would imagine it might not be if you are already an expert.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to read this for a Political Science class, so I was already predisposed to it. However, it turned out to be one of the best books I ever was forced to read. The authors' intimate knowledge of Eastern Asia, as well as their accurate insight into how Asia will perform in the future helps to put the eastern hemisphere into closer focus in the ever shrinking world.

[M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how Kristof and WuDunn write about so much of Asia, and alternate writing a chapter each. They cover topics such as the 1997 financial crisis, business, economics, social norms, politics, environment, discrimination against women and nationalism while showing the development and growth that have occurred in the region.

[Rich Pisarra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, it combines history, current events (at the time), and personal stories that will make people who think about what happens between countries think about the people and remind those who focus on individuals to think about what happens to the country.

[Renee Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is good primer on SE Asia, representing research through the 1990s. It contains the roots of their subsequent work _Half the Sky_.