“Opportunity for high office is a matter of fate” -Tseng Kuo Fan advising Li Hung Chang. (Page 21) Li was a son of a Chin-Shih…
View More Liu Hung-Chang and China’s Early ModernizationTag: Asian History (Books)
Introduction to Western specialists on China’s history (Part 2)
Jacques Gernet is a French sinophile. Long before the Americans, he had written highly acclaimed books on China’s history. Buddhism in Chinese Society was written…
View More Introduction to Western specialists on China’s history (Part 2)Introduction to Western specialists on China’s history (Part 1)
Joseph W Esherick is an expert on Chinese History. In Ancestral Leaves, he gives us a human history of China from the 14th century to…
View More Introduction to Western specialists on China’s history (Part 1)A Critical Introduction to Mao
This is not an introduction to Mao. It is a deep dive. In this 2010 book comprising 14 essays by 15 scholars the subjects covered…
View More A Critical Introduction to MaoMao
This slim 205-page book published in 1999 of Mao by Jonathan Spence is a very concise biography. It merely scratches the surface of a leader…
View More MaoMao Tse Tung (Part 1)
All biographies of Mao focus on his failures and foibles. They magnify his disastrous Hundred Flowers Campaign of Feb 1957, and the Anti-Rightist Movement that…
View More Mao Tse Tung (Part 1)The New Emperors: Mao and Deng – A Dual Biography
This is arguably the best biography of Mao and Deng. The author has gone into granular details which gives wonderful perspectives on them. Besides this,…
View More The New Emperors: Mao and Deng – A Dual BiographyThe New Emperors: Mao & Deng; a Dual Biography
This is a stunningly detailed dual biography of Mao and Deng. The late Salisbury is a reporter who wrote many books on Russia and China.…
View More The New Emperors: Mao & Deng; a Dual BiographyTracing It Home
This is not a typical memoir. What we have is the author (who achieved fame for her Sons of the Yellow Emperor) tracing her roots…
View More Tracing It HomeChina’s Imperial Past: An Introduction to Chinese History and Culture
Nothing benefits learning more than being associated with the right people. – Hsun Tzu (wade-Giles), Xunzi (pinyin) p v. This is one of the best,…
View More China’s Imperial Past: An Introduction to Chinese History and Culture