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China's Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa Hardcover – Deckle Edge, May 20, 2014

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4.2 out of 5 stars 106 customer reviews
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The latest book club pick from Oprah
"The Underground Railroad" by Colson Whitehead is a magnificent novel chronicling a young slave's adventures as she makes a desperate bid for freedom in the antebellum South. See more

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Knopf; First Edition edition (May 20, 2014)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0307956989
  • ISBN-13: 978-0307956989
  • Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1.1 x 9.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (106 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #464,761 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Top Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsA Valuable Contribution to the Discussion
By Viajero de La Jolla on July 19, 2014
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
I know very little about Africa except for our media's portrayal of it. I know a lot about China, having lived there for many years and speaking the language. But China is a civilization posing as a nation-state, and its venerable history and dizzying pace of modernization constantly defy easy understanding. Putting China and Africa together, oddly enough, turns out to be a formula to better understand both. And that is what Howard French accomplishes in his latest book, China's Second Continent: How a Million Migrants Are Building a New Empire in Africa.

A well-traveled, well-educated, and multi-lingual American journalist, French presents a rare, if not unique, perspective on the Chinese experience in Africa and the African experience of China. The author for the most part steers clear of the ideological grand posturing too often found in Western coverage of China's involvement in Africa. Rather, his reporting reads refreshingly like a travelogue sprinkled with the almost reflexive musings of the traveler along his journey.

Yet through those musings, along with the abundance of "as is" observations, emerges a much more serious and thought-provoking sense of a complex reality. French's unique contribution is that he writes not so much about "China" as a polity but more about the experience of individual Chinese emigrants and their African hosts at the personal level. And as individuals, we are each and every one different and cannot be reduced to simple statistics or generalization. Hence the richness of those personal stories creates space for the reader to interpret and come to his / her own conclusions.

A blemish of the book is French's seeming lack of awareness that his identity as a Western journalist inevitably affects his interviewees' answers.Read more ›
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3.0 out of 5 starsA travelogue
By SMS on July 11, 2014
Format: Hardcover
I thought the book intended to provide an account of the Chinese migrants experiences, instead the book is a personal travelogue attempting to provide analysis on the theme based on a string of analogies.

No doubt the author has enjoyed quite an adventure writing this book and there are interesting experiences being told. However, the book is a story of the author' travels and encounters with Chinese people as opposed to telling the stories of Chinese who moved to Africa. ¨

Other parts of the book consists of analysis on the subject of Chinese migration to Africa, but anecdotal stories nearly always provide a poor source of information to draw wider observations from, which some factual errors in the book confirm. I understand the need to tie the various stories together by making some general observations and providing a contextual backdrop for the stories, however the book stretches beyond its capacity in this regard.

Overall I felt as if the book didn't really know what chair to sit on: a collection of personal stories of the struggles and successes of Chinese migrants would make for a fascinating read on its own and provide insights on an individual level; while a book stretching further into deeper observations require a more systematic research approach which was beyond the scope of this book. This book thus falls somewhere in between these two, not fully achieving either.

The author does nonetheless collect a bunch of highly interesting encounters which makes the book worth a read, but I often found myself skipping passages to get to these parts.
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3.0 out of 5 starsGood insights, though missing depth at some places
By Harish Nair on October 5, 2014
Format: Kindle Edition Verified Purchase
I knew something about China and a little bit about Africa. But in my various professional forays, I have been seeing sizeable Chinese presence which many a times Amazed me but at lots of occasion frustrated me as well.

Thus, I approached this book with hope to learn how the machinery function in China - Africa relationship and hoped for some real insights which could help me professionally. Many reviewers have already mentioned that it read more like a travelogue and I would tend to agree with them. The readers will acknowledge that Howard's intimate knowledge of Africa and the knowledge of Chinese could help him travel to Mozambique , Zambia, Senegal, Liberia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali, Ghana, Tanzania and Namibia. This is quite a lot of travel and credit to Howard for making it through. However, most of the interaction comes through as hear say and not much official versions emerge. For those who have been interacting with Africa, most of it is a confirmation of what is already known first half.

Then why would I recommend this book? I would recommend this book to those who are thinking of getting into Africa (and I know many across the globe are looking at the potential consumption emerging from there, given the low growth rate in developed nations) . The book clearly tells that one needs to have a long term outlook for this place and also gives an indication of what could be components of the strategy to achieve a real "win-win" rather than the "win-win" which is currently being felt. And, yes, one needs to be ready to "eat bitter" to earn the "sweet returns" in long run. What that "bitter" really is, will change from country to country, which Howard has tried to cover.

To come back to the disappointment on lack of some deeper insights, I think it would be a tad unfair on the author to really get behind the Chinese wall as a rank outsider. What he has presented can still be helpful
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsWorth reading

Well researched and with lots of compelling stories this book paints a good picture of how China supposedly sees itself in the world and the role it is playing in Africa's... Read more

Published 29 days ago by Michael J. Cole
4.0 out of 5 starsIt's a fascinating look at how China, and Chinese ...

It's a fascinating look at how China, and Chinese nationals, are affecting Africa and the people in the countries where they are operating. Read more

Published 2 months ago by Adolph Evangelista
5.0 out of 5 starsGrowing Dismay for Africa

I read this book with growing dismay. The issue of the Chinese in Africa is a very serious one and every African country needs to be aware of what is going on. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Anne M Chappel
5.0 out of 5 starsWake up and read this book!

Interesting review of Chinese business people's experiences in various countries on the African continent. Read more

Published 5 months ago by Penelope A.
5.0 out of 5 starsLearn what a million chinese are doing in Africa!!

The premise of this book "What are a million Chinese migrants (within the last decade) doing in Africa, what took them there and how are they making out? Read more

Published 6 months ago by Peter J. Harrison
3.0 out of 5 starsAfrica...getting to know you

A journalists view of China's virtual imperialistic migration into Sub-Saharan Africa through his travels across a vast area interviewing entrepeneurs from China. Read more

Published 6 months ago by Lois Deitschel
4.0 out of 5 starsThis is more like a chat room based on his travels

A solid book, yet Howard fails to substantiate many of his conclusions. This is more like a chat room based on his travels. Read more

Published 7 months ago by David C. Bennett
5.0 out of 5 starsExcellent writing and interviews

"China's Second Continent" is an extremely well-written and easy to read book. It is a collection of anecdotes and data that comes together to create the complicated and... Read more

Published 7 months ago by M.B.
4.0 out of 5 starsVery good and timely information

Very good and timely information. Tells you all the things China is up to. However, as a friend pointed out, America and the west is just a guilty

Published 8 months ago by Arthur Ratliff
5.0 out of 5 starsFact package

Fact package of African Chinese business relations.

Published 8 months ago by Sami Leino

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