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China: A New History, Second Enlarged Edition |  | Authors: John King Fairbank, Merle Goldman
Publisher: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
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Seller: hickorybook
Rating:  24 reviews
Sales Rank: 19306
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2 Enlarged
Pages: 640
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.3
ISBN: 0674018281
Dewey Decimal Number: 951
EAN: 9780674018280
ASIN: 0674018281
Publication Date: April 30, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
John King Fairbank was the West's doyen on China, and this book is the full and final expression of his lifelong engagement with this vast ancient civilization. It remains a masterwork without parallel. The distinguished historian Merle Goldman brings the book up to date, covering reforms in the post-Mao period through the early years of the twenty-first century, including the leadership of Hu Jintao. She also provides an epilogue discussing the changes in contemporary China that will shape the nation in the years to come.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
 Comprehensive Overview of Chinese History November 15, 2009
John Russon (Toronto, ON Canada)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a book written by an expert who devoted his life to understanding China and its history. The result is a highly informative look at the entirety of Chinese history. Because so much material is covered, the coverage of any period is brief, but the learning and insight of the treatment is manifest nonetheless. The treatment of the 20th Century is significantly more detailed than the treatment of the preceding thirty centuries, and would be an extremely valuable read for anyone wanting to understand contemporary China. The final chapters (dealing with recent Chinese history) are a supplement added by another scholar. The political and interpretive perspective of this author is differs somewhat from what one encounters in the rest of the text, and it is worth keeping that in mind while reading through this material. This is a great introduction to Chinese history for someone looking to be introduced to this topic who is willing to be a serious reader.
Great December 21, 2006
R. E. Jackson (Minnesota)
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This book is a great overview of Chinese history. While true that Spence's Volume has more artistic qualities this volume is mor than sufficient for the student of history. Clear and concise, this book describes the major events of Chinese history while integrating a plethora of supplemental and recent scholarship. Anyone interested in diving further into Chinese history can use Fairbank and Goldman as a launching platform.
A fun survey of Chinese history October 23, 2004
Irrational Expectations (Georgia)
8 out of 14 found this review helpful
This was the first book on China I read, and I did it at my own leisure. I must say that this book was quite the enjoyable read for the most part. It has a wonderful source and works cited section in the back as well as a very useful refrence index. This should be the first book anyone reads if he/she is intrested in Chinese history.
The author has taken the privalege to refrence many other authoritative books and material on specific subjects when mentioned (for instance, mateiral on ancient Chinese warfare). I am a bad judge of "bias" or anything like this, although I did not detect any in my first reading of this book (although I may notice some if I were to read this for a second time).
The only "borring" part of the book, in my opinion, was the first 1/8 of the book which discussed early human records in China and some of the earlier dynasties (although this is probably just my temperment). Otherwise, the book is excellently written and holds a lot of information for a survey.
A thoroughly exciting history of China! December 9, 1998
12 out of 22 found this review helpful
I enjoyed this book immensely, and first read it in the late 1980s as part of an honors course in the history of China. Much of my interest was in the revolutionary period, and Fairbank gave me a keen insight into the many variables impacting on that era. Everyone should read this book. It illustrates much of the rationale behind "History repeats itself." And, we, in the US are experiencing some of the influences that Sun Yat Sen was was campaigning under at that time. . . in elections!
Saved my butt in history class!!! October 23, 2004
Charlie (east coast)
6 out of 13 found this review helpful
A simple, easy to understand overview. Great for those of us who have been denied China's beautiful history, and just about everyone else. Covers basic themes and is not just from a western perspective. Very helpful. This is however a text book not a novel and offers the facts in a clear and plane way. It leaves all interpretations up to you and is merely a introduction to the subject.
In other books you may get depth and interpretation but these books are for the people who already have the facts written in this book under their belt. It is the best Chinese history text I have found so far but it has its limits. I read it in combination other books in class and this helped me understand them. Still, I cannot help but appreciate the really solid history in this text as so many books on China contain so many mistakes. I also like the details about the many and varied changing terms and spellings that frustrate so many students of the East.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 24
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