The note, while recounting the challenges of zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXWVUTSRQPONMLKJIHGFED Third World Women's History (the emphasis is mine), said: "It is important to avoid three common pitfalls: interpreting women as the exotic, women as victims, and women as anomalies" (xvii). The book fulfills a gap long felt in teaching a general understanding of women's historic roles in Asia. The style is simple and free of jargon. Unlike most similar works, this one places glossaries, maps, and chronologies at the beginning and not the end, which makes the reading easy and smooth. In terms of time and span this study glides through centuries, from the earliest to the 1990s. It explores human experience as informed and shaped by a diverse terrain of concepts, philosophies and beliefs, ranging from the Vedic, Hindu, Buddhist, and Islamic patterns. The volume falls into two sections. The first section, "Women in South and Southeast Asia" (1-141) is authored by Professor Barbara Ramusack and the second one, "Women in China, Japan, and Korea" (143-2540), is by Professor Sharon Sievers. Both these sections have extensive bibliographies including only secondary sources written in the non-indigenous languages by researchers and authors either from outside the regions or by those trained at and informed by non-indigenous institutions. This is by no means a reflection on the credibility of the authors' research tools and methodology. What it does, however, is change the focus of events and analysis of roles and thus create a perspective different from a woman's. Let me give an example to illustrate what I mean by this oversight of a selective use of sources for restoring women to history. Ramusack's narrative of women in South Asia has overlooked even a simple inclusion of the name of Chand Bibi, who challenged the power of the mightiest Mughal, Emperor Akbar, in the seventeenth century of the Christian era. Similarly amazing is the lack of knowledge of the role of Begum Hazrat Mahal, who led the armies of both Hindu and Muslim male stalwarts against the British colonialists in the first War of Independence in 1857. Ramusack does mention the role of Rani Lakshmi Bai, another charismatic leader and Hazrat Mahal's contemporary by saying: "For the next four years the Rani tried to secure the rights of her adopted son, and eventually she joined the revolt of Indian troops in 1857" (emphasis is mine). A slight twist of the words and phrases changes the whole role of Indian women leaders in the First War of Independence of 1857. Later, however, the narrative brings up women's activism both in the reform and the nationalist movement of the twentieth century. A l l of this discussion heavily relies on non-Indian sources. In her second narrative of "Women's History in South East Asia," Ramusack guides the reader to Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines. Once again, the task of recreating women's roles from 1500 BCE to the most recent is a challenging one, and the information is drawn from historical writings in the English language, so that the author's arguments tend to emphasise outside influences on local ideas and movements. Overall, however, the work is a commendable addition to the scarce writings on South East Asian women's history. Sharon Sievers covers a similarly wide area in terms of space and chronology in her section on "Women in East Asia" which reconstructs the history of China, Japan, and Korea for us. With the help of diligently prepared maps, chronologies and bibliographies, Sievers in her study analyses the impact of Confucianism, Neo-Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and other philosophies and beliefs on women's lives and experiences. The author has finely dealt with the issue of footbinding custom in China (182-84) and how it should be examined in classroom teachings. Women in Asia successfully reconstructs women's history for the use of classroom teaching in the colleges in the West. At the same time, it sets out the possibilities of further research with the help of well-prepared bibliographies. Tahera Aftab Gettysburg College zyxwvutsrqponmlkjihgfedcbaZYXW Feminist Locations: Global and Local, Theory and Practice. Marianne Dekoven, editor. New Jersey: Rutgers University Press,