Book
Resurgent Asia

Reviews from hardback edition

'The analysis in the book is unique. It is grounded in economic theory and history and is not confined to a chronological narration of events or regression analysis-oriented conclusions Nayyar's well-researched and readable book make it essential reading for students, academics, and policy-makers not only in developing countries but also in the developed countries and international institutions.’ - V. N. Balasubramanyam, Journal of Chinese Economic and Business Studies

‘The diverse development of Asia is epitomized in this book...’ - Djun Kil Kim, Seol National Univerity, Seoul Journal of Economics

‘The book is magisterial in scope, providing a broad overview of the Asian experience... as well as a detailed study of four sub-regions and 14 countries. It combines a wealth of empirical data with numerous tables and charts, and a compelling storyline underpinned by a clear analytical framework. In addition Nayyar has an easy facility with the English language that makes the book a pleasure to read.’ - David Vines, Balliol College Annual Record 2020

‘Resurgent Asia: Diversity in Development is magisterial in profoundness of analysis of the transformation of the region over the five decades, bringing out a diversity of experiences, highlighting the achievements, and the causative factors... The book is rich in detail of the patterns and trends, and it would serve as an authoritative analysis for any observer of Asian development and political economy for many years to come.’ - Nagesh Kumar, Economic & Political Weekly

‘Deepak Nayyar's Resurgent Asia examines Asia's miraculous economic transformation and resurgence over more than five decades with an intellectual richness and analytical rigor missing from contemporary discussions on this issue. The continent's economic, cultural, and political diversity is a serious challenge for a pan Asian study. It is a tribute to Nayyar's scholarship that he manages to bring out broad trends across countries without losing track of the granularity of individual countries' outcomes.’ - Ram Singh, Biblio

‘Resurgent Asia is an impressive book. The data compiled specifically for the manuscript is formidable for its historical and geographical breadth. Herein lies the significant value of the book, particularly with the comparative statistics and rich insights that were and can be derived from the dataset... Nayyar's Resurgent Asia will find a ready audience in social scientists, historians, and policy makers. It will serve as a good primer or reference for anyone interested in the economies of Asia, and in their transformation since the mid-twentieth century. Many researchers should also find good fodder for their own work in the statistics offered in the book.’ - Jikon Lai, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Singapore, Pacific Affairs

‘Resurgent Asia offers an easy read: each chapter has a clear road map in the introduction as well as a succinct summary in concluding remarks. Together with the companion volume, the book will be an essential reading for development economists, area specialists, economic historians and aspiring generations of students across disciplines in social sciences for many decades to come.’ - Machiko Nissanke, School of Oriental and African Studies, The Journal of Development Studies

‘Deepak Nayyar's book, Resurgent Asia: diversity in development is indeed a master piece. It is a superb and solid contribution to the literature on economic and social development of Asia and its major nations. It provides an incisive, insightful and informative analytical narrative of the phenomenal economic transformation and social development Asia and 14 of its major nations located in four sub-regions, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and West Asia. The book depicts in detail the resurgence of Asia and its major nations against the backdrop of decline and fall during the colonial period, 1820-1950.’ - K.L. Krishna, Indian Economic Review

‘This book is a most welcome contribution to development economics.’ - Arkebe Oqubay, UNECA Blog

‘Given the divergences in Asia, this is a remarkable exercise which manages to divine some patterns in the region....That he manages to examine broad trends even while being granular in examining individual countries is a tribute to Nayyar'sscholarship.’ - Harsh V. Pant, The Hindu

‘Nayyar, in his most ambitious and exciting work, convincingly challenges the mythical representation of Asia as the 'same majestic ruin' of the West in conventional economic history and theory....I read Resurgent Asia with a pulsating joy and a lingering feeling that something momentous is at stake in Asia.’ - Ashwani Kumar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, Financial Express

‘Resurgent Asia sets a high bar for new contemporary publications on Asia and broader development economics research. Resurgent Asia is required reading for policy makers, researchers, and students particularly in emerging and developing countries. Policy makers will benefit from the lessons drawn by the book, which take full account of the complexity of development endeavours. Researchers will appreciate Nayyar's methodology with its integration of economic theory, empirical evidence, and policy analysis, always situated in historical perspective. This book is a most welcome contribution to development economics.’ - Arkebe Oqubay, UNU-Wider

‘Nayyar comes to the task with exceptional academic qualifications and real-world national and international policy experience. The book, magisterial in scope, blends wide-angled study of the Asian experience overall (minus already industrialized Japan) with a detailed granular study of four sub-regions and 14 countries. It combines a wealth of empirical data with numerous tables and charts and an analytical narrative with a compelling storyline. Nayyar also has a rare command of the language that makes the book a pleasure to read...executives in Japan's aid bureaucracy could benefit professionally from reading this book and absorbing its lessons for successful pathways to development.’ - Ramesh Thakur, Australian National University, The Japan Times

‘Nayyar's brilliant analysis, based on historical and statistical analysis, using the Asian perspective, enables the reader to understand the socio-economic transformation of Asia in the past 50 years. Students of economic development, researchers and economic policymakers will find the book an excellent reference material.’ - U. Sankar, Frontline

‘I read Resurgent Asia with a pulsating joy and a lingering feeling that something momentous is at stake in Asia.’ - Ashwani Kumar, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Financial Express

‘Nayyar's painstaking statistical compilation demonstrates clearly as to what policies worked and what could not.’ - Sanjaya Baru, Institute for Defence Studies & Analysis, The Indian Express

‘This is a positive story that combines marshalling of data and culling of stories about growth over the past 50 years.’ - Siddharth Singh, Open the Magazine

‘In this magisterial work, Deepak Nayyar discusses one of the most important socio-economic phenomena in human history - the (re-)rise of Asia since the 1950s. Based on a deep understanding of history, Nayyar provides a most profound analysis of this momentous event and a most thoughtful contemplation of the future of the region - and the world. His analysis is panoramic in scope but never loses sight of the diversity of the process and is always concerned with the welfare of real people. A singular achievement. ‘ - Ha-Joon Chang, University of Cambridge, Author of Kicking Away the Ladder and Economics: The User's Guide

‘The decades since the end of the Second World War have seen the remarkable resurgence of the role of Asia in the world economy after centuries of subordination to the West. In this book Deepak Nayyar provides a brilliant overview of this process and its historical antecedents, with a masterly deployment of the relevant statistics and a wealth of sharp analytical insights. The incisive policy perspectives and critiques highlight the lessons that subsequent latecomers to this process can draw. The succinct analysis of development outcomes in Asia, which could not have been imagined fifty years ago when Gunnar Myrdal published Asian Drama, is a fitting tribute to the memory of the great Swedish scholar. It will be a major reference for decades to come.’ - Ronald Findlay, Ragnar Nurkse Professor Emeritus of Economics, Columbia University

‘Deepak Nayyar's Resurgent Asia is an outstanding analysis of the development of the world's most dynamic economic region over the past five decades. It presents an excellent view of diversity of development experiences in different sub-regions and countries, and a social pattern in which massive poverty reduction was accompanied by rising inequality within and among countries. It is a must read for development analysts and practitioners, but also for economic historians of the contemporary world.’ - José Antonio Ocampo, Member of the Board of the Central Bank of Colombia, Chair of the United Nations' Committee for Development Policy

‘The last fifty years have constituted a significant historical time-marker for Asia. Countries ceased to be colonies of Europe or Japan and became independent nations. The economic basis of the transformative change since then is admirably analyzed in this book with lucid explanations and persuasive arguments. This would be comprehensible even to non-economists and other social scientists, such as sociologists, contemporary historians, commentators on politics, as well as general interested readers. What makes the book even more perceptive are the passing pointers to parallel concerns emanating from a variety of nationalisms affecting politics and democratic institutions, as also the imprint of change in social habits and cultural articulations.’ - Romila Thapar, Professor Emeritus of History, Jawaharlal Nehru University

‘In an impressive, wide-ranging and penetrating account, this book records and analyses the Asian Drama of the last fifty years. Deepak Nayyar's ambitious and exciting book examines the remarkable transformation of the continent, from its marginal significance in the global economy to a situation where it accounts for almost a third of world output, and from abysmally low health, education and income levels, to a situation where human development is converging to levels achieved in developed countries and income levels are converging towards the world average. The author points to differences as well as similarities in political conditions and economic performance across countries in Asia, to recognize diversity and analyse success.’ - Frances Stewart, Emeritus Professor of Development Economics, University of Oxford

‘Deepak Nayyar's non-ideological, no-nonsense account avoids the common pitfalls and draws a comprehensive picture of the continent's economic development. It provides a unified interpretation informed by a broad theoretical perspective, while doing justice to the diversity of the Asian experience.’ - Dani Rodrik, Professor of International Political Economy, Harvard University

‘In this remarkable book, Deepak Nayyar analyses the economic rise of Asia over the past fifty years, which has restored its historic significance in the world economy to where it was in the mid-nineteenth century. The book is a must read for anyone who wants to understand Asia's past, present and future, which could chart paths to prosperity in other parts of the developing world. ‘ - Justin Yifu Lin, Dean and Professor, Institute of New Structural Economics, Peking University, and former chief economist, the World Bank