History viewed through the lens of fiction can enhance a standard textbook, making the subject more immediate and compelling to students. Anecdotal evidence suggests that students who read a novel in conjunction with a history class become more engaged with the subject. Both the grand themes of a work of fiction and its quotidian details inform and educate, remaining with a reader long after the novel or the course in which it was assigned is completed. The cataclysmic events of the twentieth century—world wars, regional wars, the end of colonial rule, emigration of large pop­ulations, national, ethnic, and religious movements, communism—all of these convulsed Asia: and all of these events are dramatically presented in fiction. Here are a few examples: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie is a nuanced portrait of life in China during the Cultural Revolution, describing the hardships suffered by those deemed intellectuals in need of reeducation. Yu Hua presents a more expansive view of China under Mao in To Live, where the protagonist's experiences and miraculous survival span a period from before the revolution to almost the present. The effects of World War II are examined by authors like Rani Manicka, who in The Rice Mother describes the Japanese occupation of Malaysia: Ismail Marahimin, who recounts an ill-fated attempt to escape from a prisoner-of-war camp in Suma­tra in And the War is Over; Sa Shan who examines the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in The Girl Who Played Go; and Agawa Hiroyuki, whose Citadel in Spring presents the Japanese point of view as his protagonist is first numbed by the brutality of war and then is overwhelmed by the bombing of his home, Hiroshima. The Korean War's impact on traditional society is portrayed in Junghyo Ahn's Silver Stallion; the effects of the Communist regime on village life in Vietnam is the theme of The Paradise of the Blind by Thu Huong Duong. A Suitable Boy, Vikram Seth's saga about the search for a bridegroom, is also a panoramic view of the changes that occurred in India during the list years after colonial rule. The bibliography below contains twenty-eight novels, each of which develops significant historical themes. All have been read by this author, and selected for their historical relevance from a much larger bibliography of Asian fiction. Dates of publication and publishers are those of the editions in the Johnson County Community College's Billington Library. These include titles mitten by a Nobel Laureate and other winners of prestigious prizes and works by first novelists still finding their voices. Many authors are former political prisoners or sol­diers, and most of these novels have autobiographical aspects. All authors are of Asian ancestry, and an attempt has been made to include titles from as many countries in Asia as possible. It is possible that a reader's favorite novel is absent from this list. Like all works in progress, the bibliography will continue to be refined and grow.