ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly.

The book examines the ways Western art and Western commerce co-opt, pigeonhole, and commodify so-called "native experiences.

Taking on the neglected issue of the short story's relationship to literary Modernism, Claire Drewery examines works by Katherine Mansfield, Dorothy Richardson, May Sinclair, and Virginia Woolf.

Each story in this series offers a poignant glimpse of family life – the ties we cling to; the ties we try to sever; and the ties that make us who we are.

Reviewing examples ranging from the New World to India, the Near East to black Africa, and the South sea islands to the Barbary Coast, the book reflects on why foreign women were variously portrayed as alluring or threatening, foreign men ...

Fascinating introduction to traditional Chinese concepts of li, qi, shu, yin, yang, wuxing, and yijing. Other topics covered: Chinese mathematics, astronomy and astrology, alchemy, magic, elixirs, and the search for immortality.