The Penguin History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850-2009 [Paperback]

Jonathan Fenby (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2009 | Series: Penguin History

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 victim to brutality on an unmatched scale, to oppression, to war and to famine. This makes its current position as the newest and, arguably, most important global superpower all the more extraordinary. Jonathan Fenby's clear and comprehensive account of China's recent past is the definitive guide to this remarkable transformation.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'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, FT '[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

About the Author

Jonathan Fenby, CBE, has been the editor of the Observer and the South China Morning Post. His books include Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the China He Lost and Dealing with the Dragon: A Year in the New Hong Kong. He is currently Editor-in-Chief and China Editor of the analytical service, Trusted Sources.

Product Details

• Paperback: 816 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Group(CA) (June 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141020091
• ISBN-13: 978-0141020099
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,241,764 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Dense and Dull, October 16, 2010

By 

John Fitzpatrick (São Paulo, Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Penguin History of Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850-2009 (Paperback)

I have yet to read a book that convincingly explains how the teetering Manchu-dominated empire of the mid-19th century was eventually transformed into a republic, a Communist dictatorship and then a capitalist power that could become the world's biggest economy in the foreseeable future.

This attempt is no different and is hard going despite the plethora of rave reviews and the author's impressive credentials*. It is a 700-page page slog, pitted with statistics**, accounts of beheadings, atrocities, battles and power struggles.

The author gets bogged down in too many details and makes little attempt to describe the background and significance of events to the lay reader.

We get chapter after chapter of accounts of the rise and fall of leaders. As many of them were of limited historical importance, one wonders why so much space is devoted to them, particularly the warlord generals and gang leaders with names like Big Ears, Dogmeat and Old Crow.

Trivia abounds. "Zhou Enlai lost control of his bowels and soiled his trousers" at one point when he feared that Mao Zedong was about die. Apparently the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev "did not know to swim and had to bob around in a rubber ring" while conversing with Mao in a swimming pool

The place names are also confusing to a Western reader. There are provinces called Shaanxi and Shanxi, Henan and Hunan and Liaoing and Liaoning. Familiar names like Canton and Shanghai have been replaced by Guangzhou and Hangzhou, respectively.

Obviously there is nothing the author can do about this. However, he could at least try and make things simpler or give the reader a general explanation of the regional or strategic importance of the comings and goings of the armies sweeping through once province to another and then back again. The maps could also be a lot better.

The style is rather quaint at times and the author uses words like "memorial" (like Mr. Dick in "David Copperfield") instead of "memorandum". He refers to the "gentry" as though writing about fox-hunting English squires rather than (presumably) the Chinese merchant class.

This quirkiness is probably a leftover from his days at "The Economist" - a weekly magazine that describes itself as a newspaper - where eccentricity is encouraged as a means of covering up shallow thinking.

My conclusion is that China is beyond the scope of any writer, particularly a Westerner. It is just too big to fit into any conventional history. As the author says, the Chinese "can be regarded as being part of a common culture rather than a naturally cohesive country."

*As they include "The Economist" and "Independent" for which he worked, one can reasonably question their sincerity.

**Did you know that the South Manchurian Railway Company had 13,621 employees in 1908?