These 2 recent books were bought by me to understand how far China has progressed since 1949.
China Resurrected (2025) is a political history from the Opium Wars of 1840 to 2024. It is by a Dutch historian writing in English.
Contemporary China (2018 French, 2023 English) is by Guiheux, a French specialist on the social history of China. He continues the excellent French scholarship in Chinese history.
Interestingly, both books use the colour yellow.
The colour yellow is a color of great importance in Chinese culture. It is the colour of the emperors.
It is the colour of the monk’s robes. The Hwang Ho, cradle of Chinese civilisation is called the Yellow River.
LWH, Sunday 17 Aug 2025