Modernization and Revolution in China: From the Opium Wars to World Power

I purchased this for a class. I found it to be informative and well written. It doesn't get into deep and lengthy details about historical events, but rather very excellently and concisely provides a general overview of Chinese history beginning in the 19th century up to the present. Plus, the best part is it is smartly written in very easily understood terms-or layman's terms. One doesn't need a PhD to read this book. In short, I enjoyed it very much. I wouldn't have read this voluntarily on my own, but I'm very glad it was required reading for my class.

This book is one of my textbook. I can honestly say this is a great book. The book provides the reader with the history of China in the Twentieth century and an overall theme of Chinese traditional value. The book gives a good explaination of what make China who they are today. The first 2 chapters are about rough history of ancient of China and Chinese traditional value. The rest of the book is about the history from early communist revolution to present. The language is accessible, easy to read, but provide a good academic ground. This book is actually a text for one of my subject in Master course. But, it's very easy to read that should be consider as a casual reading too.

Besides the fact that this was specifically designed to be a textbook (whatever that means) ... While this book focuses on China's history in the modern period, the authors claim that, "an understanding of contemporary China requires an appreciation of it's rich historical traditions." And they've done an excellent job of looking back without losing their focus or boring the reader.