Essay

The Missing Pages

Sixty years after the Cultural Revolution began, a writer looks back to her childhood in Beijing during its peak, and the banned books that sustained her through the tumult.

Can China Actually Go Green?

China’s environmental strides came out of the clash between grassroots activists and the state, argues a new book by a Chinese journalist. But now that the Party leads all, it's not so simple for economic development to stay green.

From the Archive

The Bomb is Back

The myth of China's nuclear restraint obscures the dangers of its rapidly expanding arsenal. A trio of recent books take us from the bomb’s origins in Lop Nur to the present arms race.

Changing China

Five new books deal with efforts to transform China: from the conquests of the Warring States to nationalist internet fantasies, all the way to campaigns against superstition.