The Great Wall [Import] [Paperback]

John Man (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 3, 2008

China’s Great Wall north of Beijing is one of the world’s most famous sights. Millions every year climb the line of stone snaking over mountains. We all feel we know the Wall. But we are wrong. It is too big, too varied, too complex to be captured by a few images or a day-trip.

Myths surround it. Many believe that the stone barrier marches across all China, that it has been in existence for over 2,000 years, and that it is the only man-made structure visible from the Moon. In fact, most of it is made of earth, and much of it is not there at all. It cannot even be seen from earth orbit, let alone the Moon. Estimates of its length vary from 1,500 to 5,000 miles. Even its name is deceptive: it is not an it, a single entity, but many walls (hence the uncertain length), built at different times.

Yet behind the confusion are great simplicities. The many walls are united by two ideas — self-protection and unity — which go back to the First Emperor, who founded the nation in 221 BC. For 2,000 years, the Wall marked the border between China and nomadic peoples to the north and west. Mutual hostility inspired centuries of attacks, counter-attacks and Wall-building, until the northward spread of China in the 20th century made the Wall redundant.

For this riveting account, John Man travelled the Wall from the far western deserts to the Pacific, exploring the grandest sections and many “wild” ones. He is the first writer to describe two unknown walls in Mongolia. He covers two millennia of history, from the country’s first unification to the present day, when the Great Wall, built and rebuilt over centuries of war, has become a symbol of tranquility.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A learned, lively history of the Great Wall's evolution that cuts it down to size without diminishing its allure.No, you can't see it from the moon. Nor is it an unbroken, serpentine glory of many thousand kilometers, all dressed stone and watchtowers; much of it is simply rammed dirt, sometimes a yard high. As a stone curtain keeping the northern barbarians at bay it was more of a sieve, though it did have its military uses. Sinophile Man (The Terra Cotta Army, 2008, etc.) offers a close, informed reading of historical documents as well as his observations based on many hours spent Wall-side. What emerges is a shifting, kaleidoscopic portrait - cultural, geopolitical, symbolic - that puts the mighty edifice into perspective. Man suggests that the Great Wall started as an expression of Chinese expansionism, rather than protectionism. Under the First Emperor, as China moved from city-state to nation-state in the third century BCE, the Wall marked borders, but they were fairly porous; "its main function [was] to serve China's internal political purposes: to define itself, to declare its identity to itself - and to keep its own people in line." The Han dynasty added to the Wall, which by the first century BCE also served as a road to transport goods, provide traders with safe houses and garrison soldiers. The pastoral-nomadic Mongols had no use for it and let it decay during the 12th century. After pushing them from power, the Ming dynasty embarked on a 200-year building spree designed to keep the Mongols on the other side of the Wall. The author's intent is not to diminish the Wall, but to ascertain its purposes and paint its many attitudes, from rude earth-and-reed bulwark to the fairy-tale adornment of the landscape.Man presents readers with a Wall for every season, even more awe-inspiring in its workaday clothes than in its romantic garb. (Kirkus Reviews)

From the Back Cover

The Great Wall of China is a wonder of the world. Hundreds of thousands of tourists every year make the five-mile journey from Beijing to climb its battlements. It is instantly familiar to millions more from the myriad photographs of this extraordinary landmark. But what do we really know about the Great Wall?

Many myths surround it - for example, that it is visible from space. Not true: it cannot even be seen from earth orbit. Estimates of its length vary from 1,500 to 5,000 miles. Even its name is deceptive – it is not in fact a single entity, but many walls (hence the uncertain length), most of which are built not of stone but of earth. Different sections were built by different states and were first joined together in the third century BC, to counter the threat from nomadic barbarians from the north – a threat that was to menace China’s borders for almost 2,000 years.

In this riveting history John Man travels the entire length of the Great Wall and across over two millennia. In so doing, he finds a fascinating way into China’s remarkable and complex history, taking us from the country’s tribal past, through the war with the Mongols, right up to the modern day, when the Great Wall is once more a powerful emblem of the resurgent superpower. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Bantam Press; Airport / Export ed edition (June 3, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0593055756
• ISBN-13: 978-0593055755
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds

More About the Author

JOHN MAN

I usually write non-fiction, mainly exploring interests in Asia and the history of written communication. So 'The Lion's Share', available only on Kindle, is something different - a new edition of a thriller written some 25 years ago when I wasn't sure what I wanted to focus on. It's about the 'real' - in quotes, i.e. fictional - fate of Haile Selassie, Emperor of Ethiopia.

Most of the time, I like to mix history, narrative and personal experience, exploring the places I write about. It brings things to life, and it's a reaction against an enclosed, secure, rural childhood in Kent. I did German and French at Oxford, and two postgraduate courses, History and Philosophy of Science at Oxford and Mongolian at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London (to join an expedition that never happened).

After working in journalism and publishing, I turned to writing, with occasional forays into film, TV and radio. A planned trilogy on three major revolutions in writing has resulted in two books, 'Alpha Beta' (on the alphabet) and 'The Gutenberg Revolution', both republished in 2009. The third, on the origin of writing, is on hold, because it depends on researching in Iraq. (On the fourth revolution, the Internet, many others can write far better than me).

My interest in Mongolia revived in 1996 when I spent a couple of months in the Gobi. 'Gobi: Tracking the Desert' was the first book on the region since the 1920's (those by the American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews). In Mongolia, everything leads back to Genghis. I followed. The result was 'Genghis Khan: Life, Death and Resurrection', now appearing in 20 languages. Luckily, there's more to Mongol studies than Genghis. 'Attila the Hun' and 'Kublai Khan' came next.

Another main theme in Asian history is the ancient and modern relationship between Mongolia and China. 'The Terracotta Army', published to in 2007, was followed by 'The Great Wall', which took me from Xinjiang to the Pacific. 'The Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan' (combining history, character analysis and modern leadership theory) and 'Xanadu: Marco Polo and Europe's Discovery of the East' pretty much exhausted Inner Asian themes for me.

So recently I have become interested in Japan. For 'Samurai: The Last Warrior', I followed in the footsteps of Saigo Takamori, the real 'Last Samurai', published in February 2011. After that, more fiction, perhaps.

I live in north London, inspired by a strong and beautiful family - wife, children and grand-children.