China

Once described by Mao Zedong as a "needle inside a ball of cotton", Deng was the pragmatic yet disciplined driving force behind China's radical transformation in the late 20th century. He confronted the damage wrought by the Cultural Revolution, dissolved Mao's cult of personality, and loosened...

Few books have had such an impact as Wild Swans: a popular best seller and a critically acclaimed history of China that opened up the country to the world....

Informed by Erik Erikson's concept of the formation of ego identity, this book, which first appeared in 1961, is an analysis of the experiences of 15 Chinese citizens and 25 Westerners who underwent "brainwashing" by the Communist Chinese government....

In the summer of 2001, Peter Hessler acquired his Chinese driver's license. For the next seven years, he traveled the country....

China's military has entered a new era. It has acquired modern weapons to rival the world's finest, undergone a massive restructuring under Xi Jinping, and been on the frontlines of territorial disputes with Japan, India, Vietnam, and the Philippines. It is readying forces to be able to seize...

The first ever comprehensive history in English of China's Warring States period, an era that saw epic battles, the birth of profound philosophies, groundbreaking innovations, and shaped much of East Asian culture as we know it today. The Warring States period saw the emergence of Confucianism...

Bloomsbury presents… Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China by Jack Weatherford, read by Mark Elstob Control the sea, and you control everything...a gripping tale of naval warfare, dynastic rivalry, and technical innovation, from the author of the classic work Genghis Khan...

In December 1937, in the capital of China, one of the most brutal massacres in the long annals of wartime barbarity occurred. The Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking and within weeks not only looted and burned the defenseless city but systematically raped, tortured and murdered...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER The national security expert who predicted Putin’s invasion of Ukraine argues that Xi Jinping is preparing to conquer Taiwan—with dire global stakes if he is not deterred “An excellent source.” —Economist We are fully in the midst of Cold War II, this time with...

In the heart of China's Sichuan province, amid the terraced hills of the Yangtze River valley, lies the remote town of Fuling....

Reader's Choice Award Winner. Throughout China's rapidly growing cities, a new wave of unregistered house churches is growing. They are...

This is a riveting and disturbing account of the medical atrocities performed in China during WWII. Some of the cruelest deeds of Japan's war in Asia did not occur on the battlefield, but in quiet, antiseptic medical wards in obscure parts of China. Far from front lines and prying eyes, Japanese...

The Art of War by Sun Tzu is much more than an ancient treatise on military strategy: it is a timeless guide on how to face challenges, make wise decisions, and win intelligently.

The Travels of Marco Polo by Marco Polo Read by Walter Covell. Take a fascinating journey through strange and exotic countries...

Brought to you by Penguin. In June 1992, Chris Patten went to Hong Kong as the last British governor, to try to prepare it not—as other British colonies over the decades—for independence, but for handing back in 1997 to the Chinese, from whom most of its territory had been leased 99...

A Brief History of China tells of the development of a rich and complex civilization where the use of paper, writing, money, and gunpowder were widespread in ancient times and where silk, ceramics, tea, metal implements, and other products were produced and exported around the globe. It examines...

China's leader, Xi Jinping, is one of the most powerful individuals in the world—and one of the least understood. Much can be learned, however, about both Xi Jinping and the nature of the party he leads from the memory and legacy of his father, the revolutionary Xi Zhongxun (1913–2002).

A landmark in travel writing, this is the incredible true story of Heinrich Harrer’s escape across the Himalayas to Tibet....

Colin Thubron undertakes a journey along the greatest land route on earth: the Silk Road....

The Silk Road is as iconic in world history as the Colossus of Rhodes or the Suez Canal. But what was it, exactly? It conjures up a hazy image of a caravan of camels laden with silk on a dusty desert track reaching from China to Rome. The reality was different - and far more interesting - as...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2023 WINNER OF THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE 2023 SHORTLISTED FOR THE BRITISH ACADEMY PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION 2023 A SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR A BBC RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK An indelible exploration of the Cultural Revolution and how it...

THE FIRST THOROUGH ACCOUNT OF A FORMATIVE AND LITTLE UNDERSTOOD CHAPTER IN CHINESE HISTORY Odd Arne Westad and Chen Jian chronicle how an impoverished and terrorized China experienced radical political changes in the long 1970s and how ordinary people broke free from the beliefs that had shaped...

This is the first work of its kind to employ hundreds of Chinese sources to explain the history and current state of Chinese Communist intelligence operations. It profiles the leaders, top spies, and important operations in the history of China's espionage organs and links to an extensive online...

Weijian Shan's Out of the Gobi is a powerful memoir and commentary that will be one of the most important books on China of our time, one with the potential to re-shape how Americans view China, and how the Chinese view life in America. Shan, a former hard laborer who is now one of Asia's...

The harrowing story of a woman who escaped famine and terror in North Korea, not once but twice. ‘A gripping, suspenseful and cathartic memoir that tells a story of pain and perseverance and makes the moral case for asylum.’ David Lammy MP North Korea is an open-air prison from which there...