The Penguin History of Modern China

In 1850, China was the 'sick man of Asia'. Now it is set to become the most powerful nation on earth. This book 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. The author's clear and comprehensive account of China's recent past, now updated to take in the eighteenth National Congress of the Communist Party in Autumn 2012, is the definitive guide to this remarkable transformation.