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John Keay

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China: A History Hardcover – October 13, 2009

by John Keay (Author)

4.3 859 ratings

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Many nations define themselves in terms of territory or people; China defines itself in terms of history. With the world's longest tradition of history-writing, its extraordinary past ought to be common knowledge. China, by the eminent historian John Keay, should make it so.

Informed by the latest research and enlivened by wit and anecdote, Keay's narrative spans 5,000 years, from the Three Dynasties (2000220 BC) to Deng Xiaoping's opening of China and the past three decades of economic growth. Broadly chronological, the book presents a history of all the Chinasincluding regions (Yunnan, Tibet, Xinjiang, Mongolia, Manchuria) that account for two-thirds of the People's Republic of China land mass but which barely feature in its conventional history.

Crisp, judicious, and engaging, China is destined to become the classic single-volume history for anyone seeking to understand the past, present, and future of this immensely powerful nation.

Review

Library Journal
“Without sacrificing substance for brevity, Keay manages to illustrate China’s history very much as a narrative... Readers already interested in, or wishing newly to embark upon, Chinese history will adore this book. Highly recommended.”

Philadelphia Inquirer
“China: A History marks a welcome advance… [Keay’s] touch is deft and faithful to the tenor of the debates, especially those between archaeologists and literary scholars.”

About the Author

John Keay, formerly a special correspondent for The Economist, contributes regularly to the Sunday Telegraph, Times Higher Educational Supplement, and the Literary Review. The author of numerous books, including the classic India: A History, he lives in Argyll, Scotland.

Print length

624 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Basic Books
Publication date

October 13, 2009
Grade level

11 and up
Reading age

13 years and up
Dimensions

6.75 x 2 x 9.5 inches
ISBN-10

0465015808
ISBN-13

978-0465015801
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books; 1st edition (October 13, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 624 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0465015808
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0465015801
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 13 years and up
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 11 and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.04 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.75 x 2 x 9.5 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,006,565 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,627 in Chinese History (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.3 859 ratings

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4.3 out of 5

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David Hoffman

Yin and Yang

Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2014

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Perhaps nowhere is the saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same” more appropriate than in China. China has the honor of being the civilization with the longest continuous history on Earth. China was not the first or the oldest civilization, but while ancient Egypt and Sumer have long since vanished from history, China remains. In that long 3000-4000 years of history, China has undergone many changes. Dynasties of rulers have risen and fallen. The country has been united into an empire, only to break apart and then be united once again. The Chinese Empire has expanded its frontiers into Central Asia, and has been restricted to northern or southern China, while foreigners have ruled other sections. China has been conquered and has regained its independence. Through all the revolutions and changes, China remains China.

The Communists under Mao Zedong were determined to remake China into a modern, socialist country, yet they went about their goals in a characteristically Chinese fashion. Mao condemned Confucius and sought to end that sage’s influence on China. So did Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China (previous rulers were referred to as “kings”). The Communists enforced a rigid Marxist conformity on China intellectuals. The Song Emperors enforced a rigid Neo-Confucian ideology. China, under Mao limited its contacts with foreigners. So did the Qing Emperors. The present rulers of China have converted China into a major trading nation. So did the Tang Emperors. The Communist Party does not tolerate any rival parties. No imperial dynasty was ever comfortable with parties or partisanship. Like the Emperors of old, the Chinese government thinks more in terms of taking a paternal interest in the lives of its subjects rather than in protecting human rights.

Yet, one must not think China as being unchanging or Chinese history as being boring. China has seen drastic changes throughout its history. One might think of this history of change and continuity in terms of the Chinese philosophical ideas of Yin and Yang, opposites that work together. Passive, feminineYin might represent the periods of imperial unity and strength while active, masculine Yang might represent the chaotic periods of war and disunity that were, nevertheless, the most intellectually productive periods of Chinese history.

I think there are few resources which explore the grand sweep of the Yin and Yang of Chinese history in one volume better than John Keay’s China, A History. In his book, John Keay tells the story of the Chinese nation from its Neolithic beginning right up to the modern age. Keay does not, as many writers of history books do, spend too much time on recent events while neglecting past centuries. Every dynasty gets the proper amount of attention, as do the periods of disunion. If I have any complaint at all about China, A History, it is that at 611 pages it is simply too short. Six hundred pages are hardly enough to give an outline of Chinese history. I am not complaining, however. If you want a general outline of Chinese history, China A History serves the purpose admirably and if you want to know more about any topic, there is the bibliography John Keay provides.

23 people found this helpful

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James Ross

Satisfied

Reviewed in the United States on November 14, 2023

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One person found this helpful

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Ciqikou

Now This Is Truly a Fine Book!

Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2016

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True to the back-cover blurb, this history of China is engagingly written and as comprehensive as a book of this length can be. After each chapter I am left fascinated and eager to read a longer account of the key events described, whether the Qianlong emperor's threatening dicta, the Taiping Rebellion, or something from recent history. I quibble over the treatment of the Long March -- one of the sources relied on is very controversial -- but the author sees each important event and personage as part of a long history. Maybe then the best thing of all about this book is that it is a true synthesis, placing the events of the past two and a half centuries against a backdrop of control and chaos, isolation and often forced opening up. Highly recommended as a foundation text for Chinese history since earliest times.

4 people found this helpful

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The Glide

I always knew in the back of my mind that the people involved don't make history - it is a great, eye-opening, myth-busting read

Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2017

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I always knew in the back of my mind that the people involved don't make history -- historians make it, and this is the first time I've read a history of anything where the author points out how the history of China was this or that in one era, and in a later era was completely revised in order to present that latter's desired paradigm. So, the book may not describe what really happened although it is filled with facts; it does, however, tell you what those who documented what happened said, and then how what happened was later revised. For those who are interested in world history, and Chinese history in particular, it is a great, eye-opening, myth busting read.

6 people found this helpful

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number 6

Short on Mechanics, Art, Nature and Concrete Detail

Reviewed in the United States on December 14, 2020

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I like this book, John Keay is a brilliant writer, but this book frustrates me enormously at times. He's not good with concrete detail. He doesn't flesh out what life was for the ordinary people or the nobles in much concrete detail. It's a lot of this breathy historical generalist stuff. "The xxx dynasty would last another three hundred years... blah blah blah..." He doesn't tell you what the average life span of Chinese people were. I wish that every 300 or 500 years he'd tell me what the population of China was, "At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty the population stood at..." I wish he'd tell me in concrete detail how the average person lived sometimes. He tells me about a thousand wars, but what was it like on the battlefield. Were they fought primarily with bows and arrows? What was the weaponry? Did everyone have a horse? What the fudge was a mideval Chinese battle like? Sometimes I wish he'd tell me how the peasants lived. "They had two bowls and three outfits. They worked from... when to when. In winter they froze because medieval hearths were... The typical hut had two rooms. Five people in a hut... Most kids died in Childbirth" Also for the seminal Chinese historical texts like the Tao Te Ching, you get virtually nothing. If you're writing a history of England, you need to spend a few pages talking about Shakespeare and his influence. I don't get a feel for how Li Po or all these incredible poets sprung out of China. I want to know more about the Tao Te Ching and how it has influenced Chinese thought and philosophy over the centuries. Also, he's a abysmal when it comes to nature. What is the main meat running around. What animals dominated China? What got hunted? What was eaten? Are the plants that everyone cultivated different over there than here? What did they cook? What were the houses primarily made of? Bamboo? Wood? And the book is really bad at art. The guy isn't a lover of the arts. How the arts flowered. It's like they don't exist. An was the climate in China different a few hundred years from now than it is now? What percentage was wooded. Was much of it dense forest that was being systematically cleared. You get little pieces here and there, that tell you come gripping concrete stuff, but not enough--and, in the author's defense, some passages are sumptuous--I love his interest in Quin's tomb. But it's piecemeal. You're getting a lot of names and summaries and you read it and it's interesting. But it's this kind of a hack glossy history. There are so many history books that give you a bunch of names and dates and paragraphs that often are really telling you nothing. You're reading this book, and much of it is fascinating, but you can't close your eyes and imagine what it looked like in China or understand what life was like, smelled like, felt like, much of the time. There's just not enough concrete detail!!!

44 people found this helpful

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Lucy

Great book to learn Chinese History

Reviewed in Canada on August 28, 2023

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Enjoy reading it. Lots of contents about the lives of individuals and ordinary people. Not the usual history about emperors.
Hope he has written more about the years between the end of West Han Dynasty and Tang Dynasty.

Lucca Canizela De Camargo

Superb

Reviewed in Brazil on May 22, 2022

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Very informative book!

One person found this helpful

Amrinder

Fascinating and informative work

Reviewed in India on January 24, 2024

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