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Vanishing Asia: Three Volume Set: West, Central, and East Hardcover – Big Book, May 24, 2022

by Kevin Kelly (Creator)
4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 45 ratings
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This is a 3-volume set of oversize books that span the continent of Asia. Ancient and beautiful traditions in Asia that are rapidly disappearing are recorded here in 9,000 images on 1,000 pages. The author has visited 35 countries in Asia and has travelled to the end of the road in its most remote places to capture the costumes, architecture, festivals, and lifestyles that are vanishing. The diverse cultures range from Turkey in the west to Japan in the east, from Siberia in the north to Indonesia in the south, and everything in between. Volume 1 covers West Asia, Volume 2 Central Asia, and Volume 3 East Asia. Every one of its 1,000 pages is uniquely designed, and every one of its 9,000 images is captioned. This is an ambitious and extreme passion project that the author/photographer has worked on for 49 years.  Many of the scenes depicted in the book are now gone from the world, and others are becoming rarer by the day. There is no other book like it.
Previous page
  1. Reading age
    12 years and up
  2. Print length
    1080 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Dimensions
    11 x 4.5 x 16.5 inches
  5. Publisher
    Cool Tools Lab
  6. Publication date
    May 24, 2022
  7. ISBN-10
    6975393192
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1940689067
  9. See all details
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From the Publisher

Inside these books are thousands of rare dramatic scenes like this one of a Buzkashi game in Afghanistan.

Glimpses of the tranquil way of life now long gone in South China.

These books collect examples of handcrafts, such as embroidered skirts, that are becoming hard to find.

Hand-paddled boats floating in a lake in Kashmir in the snow-covered Himalayas are a disappearing scene.

Traditional costumes from all around Japan gathered into two pages.

A total of 1,080 pages are divided into 3 volumes, beautifully packaged into a stunning slipcase.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kevin Kelly is Senior Maverick at Wired magazine. He co-founded Wired in 1993, and served as its Executive Editor for its first 7 years. In addition to his day job he has traveled in 35 Asian countries photographing the disappearing cultures. His most recent book on technology, The Inevitable, is a New York Times bestseller. His other books include New Rules for the New Economy, and his classic book about decentralization, Out of Control. Kelly’s theory of technology was featured in What Technology Wants. From 1984-1990 Kelly was publisher and editor of the Whole Earth Catalogs. He co-founded the Hackers’ Conference in 1984, and was involved with the launch of the WELL, a pioneering online service started in 1985. He also founded the popular Cool Tools website in 2003, which has published a cool tool every day for past 18 years. He is co-chair of the Long Now Foundation which is building a clock in Texas that will tick for 10,000 years. Kelly resides in Pacifica, CA.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 1940689066
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cool Tools Lab (May 24, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 1080 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 6975393192
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1940689067
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 30.6 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 11 x 4.5 x 16.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.9 4.9 out of 5 stars 45 ratings

Customer reviews

4.9 out of 5 stars
4.9 out of 5
45 global ratings
Cannot be duplicated!
5 Stars
Cannot be duplicated!
This astonishing, monumental, and beautiful collection of color photographs meticulously assembled over 49 years by Kevin Kelly traveling on a shoe string budget, mostly by himself without interpreters, sleeping under the stars sometimes, usually living off the generosity and kindness of the local people, and not speaking the local lingos, will be treasured and mined by travelers, sociologists, artists and art historians, historians, costume designers, architects, anthropologists, scientists and engineers and many others for years to come. Kevin may be better known as a writer and philosopher, but here, what I think might be his true love, photography, shines like crazy. Kevin's positive, happy, hugely curious and loving personality enabled him to travel safely to faraway places and as a complete stranger (and obvious foreigner), navigate his way into private family affairs and all manner of the local human activities and traditions, and place his camera right into what was happening and shoot great photographs. The many incredible portraits (smiling and serious) he got in return (ok, and yes a few dour looks too) and the trust of the locals is exhibited over and over. There is so much humanity, art and craft in the books interwoven with images of food, baby back packs, grown-ups and kids at work and play, and fascinating town and country landscapes. Vanishing Asia is a masterpiece – thank you Kevin!
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Top reviews from the United States

Duff
5.0 out of 5 stars Just incredible. I spent hours going through just the first book.
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2023
Verified Purchase
I knew Kevin Kelly was well traveled, but I never knew just how much he travelled - and also such a gifted photographer. For one person to have seen what he has seen and photographed it all, so well, with details of all of the shots, is just incredible. I want to get on a plane right now to Asia.
2 people found this helpful
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Y. Cho
5.0 out of 5 stars "11 x 4.5 x 16.5 inches"! Buyer beware!
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2022
Verified Purchase
This isn't like a heavy 3 book D&D set. It's a large format photo print set. Hardcover and heavy. Don't be surprised if you thought you accidentally ordered a scooter b/c it comes in a big box. The book box is protected further inside, in its original shipping box. And inside that it is further protected with foam corners. And it is still big. "11 x 4.5 x 16.5 inches" Haven't opened the books yet, b/c it's my daughters' July birthday present. But looking forward to it!
7 people found this helpful
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TJ
5.0 out of 5 stars Huge beautiful books
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2022
Verified Purchase
When the box for these turned up I thought maybe they came with a free coffee table to keep them on! Giant, gorgeous books that myself and my children have enjoyed travelling through. A huge achievement by KK to capture and compile his travels in this way.
2 people found this helpful
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Barry Adams
5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking collection of photos spanning decades across Asia - a true collector’s item
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2022
Verified Purchase
What a treasure this trilogy is! Mine just arrived today and I’m already blown away at just the first 50 pages. I consider this an important anthroplogical document in addition to a work of incredible beauty. Please take a bow, Kevin Kelly!
2 people found this helpful
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L. Jones
5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing Book
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2022
I have just spend the last hour completely engrossed in the first 20 pages of Kevin Kelly's new 1000 page masterpiece, Vanishing Asia. The book is monumental, from it's physical size of 30 pounds, to the scope and scale of it's content. Mr. Kelly spent 40 years travelling throughout the area of the world known as Asia, recording with his camera the lives and ways of living he found there.

Seemingly not much interested in the usual tourist haunts Mr. Kelly traveled the back roads into magical worlds seldom seen by Westerners. The books 1000+ pages are filled with engaging photos captured with a true artists eye toward the aim of revealing the details, great and small, of ways of life and culture that are quickly vanishing due to modernization of the world.

The 3 volumes are filled with full page images of people and places as well as fascinating mosaics showing the myriad of variation and detail of such common objects as hand carved wooden doors in the Middle East and food carts in Indonesia. From the deserts of the Middle East to the islands of Japan, human life, art and culture is captured in fine detail as well as epic vistas.

It's a feast for the eye. Your mind and eyes are drawn into the detail of color, pattern and design and I soon found myself in a state of meditative calm. I was launched into thoughts comparing my way of life with the many others shown here. I was astounded to see designs and patterns nearly identical to those used by native peoples in North America for thousands of years. I was especially delighted to find images of a few places I had visited myself in my limited travels to east and southeast Asia.

I have had many books pass through my hands in my life but this one is truly remarkable. It's a captivating photographic study of Human essence, ways of living, art and architecture as well as people at work and play.

The author, Kevin Kelly, has had a storied career as an author and editor, being involved in such varied endeavors as Wired magazine and The Whole Earth Catalogue, but I feel certain that the labor of love that is Vanishing Asia is the work he will be most remembered for.
12 people found this helpful
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bean gardener
5.0 out of 5 stars The Very Best Armchair Traveling I have Ever Done!
Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2022
Although I would not classify our family as “coffee table book” types, (and these volumes qualify on size alone) we are thoroughly enjoying these books together.  Usually we sit together and take turns reading the captions aloud, which adds so much to the photographs. The photos range from full page closeups of people or sweeping landscapes to collections of detail shots that help to capture the essence of a place. What an incredible experience to have traveled so widely! We have visited some, but not nearly all the places in the book, and it is a fascinating look into cultures that we are unfamiliar with. It's a delight to vicariously travel to so many places, with a guide to all the little details, but also bittersweet after not having travelled at all the past few years. This is only heightened by the awareness that we'll never be able to travel to many of the places pictured, either because they aren't safe or they no longer exist in the same form. The author’s love and respect for the people and places he photographed comes through unmistakably in the pages.  We also particularly enjoyed seeing foods from many cultures. The books are aptly named, as surely many of the photographs captured events that no longer occur/will never occur again, although part of the charm of the book is seeing people also in their everyday situations. I hope someone somewhere will stash a copy of these books in a time vault!
One person found this helpful
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