This book was put together to accompany an exhibition entitled 'The Great Wall of China: Dynasties, Dragons and Warriors' circa 2006/2007. It was presented in Sydney, Australia, at the Powerhouse Museum. It comprises a range of articles from a whole slew of authors and spans articles about the artwork of various Chinese Dynasties, some of the massive history of China, discussions about preservation and reconstruction as well as interviews with people who work as guides and caretakers of the wall. It is replete with a great wad of colour photography and illustrations that not only show a range of views o the wall itself but also of various artefacts from the household to the imperial. There are shots of artworks in the form of paintings, sculptures and decorative items as well as of scrolls and diagrams of part of the wall itself.
If you are looking for a chronological narrative history of the wall then this is not the book for you. Nor is it going to satisfy the hard core art fanatic. And military history buffs will find their appetite unsatisfied in terms of discussion of arms and armour and military details. This to me is quite deliberate as the book is not trying to be a comprehensive dissertation on any one facet of the wall and its history but merely a cross section of viewpoints and issues of interest. Where things fall to the ground somewhat is the way the book - for all its attempts to cover a variety of aspects of the subject at hand is not really aimed at a general readership either. There are many somewhat dry passages/articles in the book and the work lacks 'handholds' for the casual armchair historian to latch onto.
For all that if you are a Great Wall book completest this is certainly not a bad book packed as it is with so many photos of so many parts of the wall and Chinese artistic treasures and some of the interview style articles with people who have worked on or around the wall add a human dimension to an otherwise forbiddingly massive subject and structure.
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