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Product Description
Beautifully written by a leading scholar in the field, the new edition of The Search for Modern China brings to life the characters and events of China s turbulent modern history. The narrative is detailed balanced, integrating political and cultural history with social and economic developments. Spence has streamlined and thoroughly updated the text in light of new scholarship and the major new steps China has taken in the last ten years. The Search for Modern China, Second Edition, features a visually striking art program that includes more than 150 illustrations many by world-famous photographers 50 maps, and many helpful tables.
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First Sentence
In the year A.D. 1600, the empire of China was the largest and most sophisticated of all the unified realms on earth. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
In the year A.D. 1600, the empire of China was the largest and most sophisticated of all the unified realms on earth. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Older readers may recall those Walter Kronkite-narrated documentaries where Kronkite kept saying "And you were there!", even though the documentaries themselves were stripped-down butcherings. This book does take you there. Spence accomplishes what so few historians do--he approaches his subject on its own terms, and within the narrative seeks to immerse the reader in the temporal and geographic subject matter. This is one of the few--perhaps the only--narrative surveys where readers might root for protagonists and feel anger toward villains. In reading this book, you feel as if you _are_ China; the turmoils of the late 1800s and 1900s strike you physically, at the gut. Each chapter conveys not only the happenings, but also the mood of the period--you feel tranquil and arrogant as you read about the Qing Dynasty at the height of its power, you begin to feel anxious as the Western world arrives, and you feel helpless as internal strife and Western demands eat away at the Empire. If you have near-zero interest in history books and will read only ten in your lifetime, this should be one of them. (PS--If you are ever in New Haven during school terms, make sure to sit in on a Spence lecture.)
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book to supplement other books on Chinese history. It really brings the whole thing to life. Spence is such a good writer; I was so impressed I ended up buying other books by him.
He made a source book which accompanies this book, which has extra documents and pictures.
He made a source book which accompanies this book, which has extra documents and pictures.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have read extensively on China's modern history in preparation for exams - this book never failed to provide clear explanations whilst always maintaining a readable style, recommended!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Detailed, but so very very dry
This book was essential reading for one of my modules at university, so first and foremost I must say that I am probably biased against it because I had to read it under... Read more
Published 2 months ago by S
The Present echoes the Past
This is an excellent history of modern China, very readable despite the small print and thin pages. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Antenna
A good start in history of China
China history is a quite complex matter. Western studies are scattered and many times concentrated on few periods, essentially contemporary time. Read more
Published 5 months ago by xifang roberto
The best
I read this in 1996-7 when first I arrived in China. To date, the best history book I have ever read, better even than the classic 'The Story of Art'. Read more
Published 6 months ago by WT BELOE
A feast of history and difficult issues
For anyone interested in contemporary China, this books provides the necessary historical backdrop in great and well reasoned detail. Read more
Published 11 months ago by rob crawford
Phenomenal book
Just finished reading this. It is the most accurate, comprehensive and compelling book on Chinese history that you could ever hope to read.
Fantastic.
Fantastic.
Published 23 months ago by C. Morley
So good
Wow! Ever so big, yet so very readable. An exhaustive history of China from then till now, it covers every aspect of chinese civilization. Read more
Published on 28 May 2003 by "tinybiker"
A magnet for the eyes
War, revolution, drama, triumphs and defeats: It's all here in this 800+ page book. Spence, a scholar with unquestionable competence, does a great job detailing the struggle of a... Read more
Published on 29 Mar 1997
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