The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (Cambridge Illustrated Histories)

For the most part, the book is factual and unbiased, although Ebrey does allow her anti-Maoist bias to slant her discussion of post-1949 China. The read is extremely dry, however, and often comes across as a colorless collection of irrelevant facts.

Customers who are wondering whether this book is worth the price may do well to ask themselves if China is important enough to merit study. I'm afraid it is. China is the world's second largest economy, according to the CIA, worth $6 trillion in Purchasing Power Parity and almost 60% as large as America's. (In nominal GDP China is in fifth place, just ahead of France.) According to the World Trade Organization, China is now the world's fifth largest trader (in both exports and imports of goods and services), after the US, Japan, Germany, and France, and just ahead of Britain, which is sixth. (If the EU is counted as one unit, China is fourth.) China has the world's third largest stockpile of nuclear warheads, and has a highly developed ballistic missile technology (which is also reflected in its well-developed space program). The Pentagon believes China will improve its nuclear deterrence in both quality and quantity. China is one of the world's largest oil producers, with proven crude oil reserves larger than America's, according to the US Dept of Energy. Needless to say, China is the third largest country in territory (America is almost exactly the same size) and the largest in population, and has the veto on the UN Security Council. Two key facts make China particularly important in the future: its economic growth rate, which is the fastest in the world, and its population growth rate, which is kept under control (which is in fact lower than America's) and thus will help raise the average standard of living. In either respect can India, China's closest competitor in the future, compete. By one estimate China's economy will be equal in size to America's in twenty years' time. (See Gregory Chow's "China's Economic Transformation" available here on amazon.com.)

So China is a very important country, both politically and economically, and will be increasingly important in the future. Some people are already calling China the second most important country in the world. But what fascinates many people is the fact that China has lasted so long as a country. Indeed China's history as a unified state is ten times as long as the United States's own. China is one of the most ancient of civilizations. Unlike some of them - such as Babylon - China not only has survived, but it is still thriving. People like Margaret Thatcher, Henry Kissinger, Paul Wolfowitz and Jack Welch are already predicting China to become a superpower within a generation.

To understand such an important country, one must know something about its history. And this book is an excellent guide. I recommend it to all who wish to know more about China. I have yet to find a general historical survey of China as accurate and suitable for the beginners as it is fun and pleasurable to read, as this book.

Ebrey gets across the important point that we look to China and want a simple, linear summary, when China is complex and decidedely non-linear. (The Cultural Revolution as much happened to Mao as it was caused by him, for example). Moreover, she explains how our Western world view needs to see certain things (we always want the good guys to win in the end--perhaps they won't). This book would be great for a student at any level from High School library on to college. It could be used as