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  • Published: 19 February 2019
  • ISBN: 9780141988450
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 848
  • RRP: $40.00
Categories:

The Penguin History of Modern China

The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 - 2009




The crucial book for understanding modern China, now updated to include the rule of Xi Jinping

In 1850, China was the 'sick man of Asia'. Now it is set to become the most powerful nation on earth. The Penguin History of Modern China shows how turbulent that journey has been. For 150 years China has endured as a victim of brutality on an unmatched scale, of oppression, war and famine. This makes its current position as the newest and, arguably, most important global superpower all the more extraordinary.

Jonathan Fenby's clear, authoritative and brilliantly written account of China's recent past, now updated to take in the ascendency of Xi Jinping and China's global ambitions, is the definitive guide to this remarkable transformation.

  • Published: 19 February 2019
  • ISBN: 9780141988450
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 848
  • RRP: $40.00
Categories:

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Praise for The Penguin History of Modern China

His book is a miracle of thoroughness, truthfulness and readability - the perfect primer for a time when China is about to enter all our lives

Sunday Telegraph

Jonathan Fenby's ... illuminating book [is] the first major history that looks at the country with the eyes of the 21st century rather than the 20th

Rana Mitter

[It] reads like a novel and is never less than thoughtful and compassionate for the fate of a much-abused people ... [Fenby has] a journalist's eye for telling detail

Herald

Taut, anecdote-studded ... a great introduction for a general audience, with vivid scene setting and character sketches

Michel Sheridan, Sunday Times

For an accessible, authoritative, fair and comprehensive and well written account, this would be hard to better

BBC History

A wonderful history of modern China and a cracking good read

Chris Patten