This page lists all recent China books, defined broadly as any English-language book on or from China that was published in the last year. We update this list on a biweekly basis (monthly in the summer). If you think we have missed a book, please contact us at listings@chinabooksreview.com, with the publisher link. The categories below are designed to present a large quantity of books by broad groupings, not as a perfect classification, and carousels are capped at 25 titles. Blurbs are dapted from publisher copy.
Most recent
Not Just Another Cold War
The Global Implications of the US-China Rivalry
Ed. Bard Nikolas Vik Steen
A look at how the emerging superpower rivalry between the US and China compares to the Cold War, and what that means for the future of global politics.
Buy
Soft Burial
A Novel
Fang Fang (tr. Michael Berry)
A literary portrait of historical trauma and the psychological toll of repressed violence, intercut through different generations, regions, and time periods.
Buy
The Running Flame
A Novel
Fang Fang (tr. Michael Berry)
A short novel exploring the difficulties of one woman shackled by patriarchal tradition against the backdrop of social change.
Buy
Remembering 1942
Liu Zhenyun (tr. Howard Goldblatt, Sylvia Li-chun Lin)
A collection of six short stories of political and personal struggle in China.
Buy
The Adoption Plan
China and the Remaking of Global Humanitarianism
Jack Neubauer
A history of the rise of global humanitarianism that places the receipients, administrators, and critics of humanitarian aid in China at the center of the story.
Buy
Let Only Red Flowers Bloom
Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping's China
Emily Feng
An investigation into the battle over identity in China, chronicling the state oppression of those who fail to conform to Xi Jinping's definition of who is "Chinese," from an award-winning NPR correspondent.
Buy
Salt Sugar MSG
Recipes and Stories from a Cantonese American Home
Calvin Eng, Phoebe Melnick
An introduction to Cantonese cooking from the chef behind the Brooklyn restaurant Bonnie's.
Buy
Just Awakening
Yogācāra Social Philosophy in Modern China
Jessica X. Zu
An examination of a forgotten philosophy of social democracy inspired by Yogācāra, an ancient, nondualistic Buddhist philosophy.
Buy
China’s Quest for Military Supremacy
Joel Wuthnow, Philip C. Saunders
An exploration of Chinese military power, challenges facing China's military and a preview of what it might take for a truly "world-class" Chinese military to take the global stage.
Buy
Green Superpowers
China, the European Union, and the United States in the Global Energy Transition
Andrea Prontera
A comparative analysis of the green foreign energy policies and green power strategies of the three main international actors in the global energy transition: China, the EU and the U.S.
Buy
The Impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia
Evaluating Risks and Benefits
Eds. Yos Santasombat, Lee Kian Cheng
An assessment of the continuing impact of China's BRI on Thailand and ASEAN.
Buy
The Great Plunder
How China Lost Its Treasures in the 19th and 20th Centuries
Qing Chang, Shan Huang
An overview of the dispersal of Chinese cultural relics from the late 19th to the early 20th century.
Buy
Mao Zedong
A True Story
Jie Li
An exploration of how Mao Zedong was shaped by his era and how he, in turn, profoundly influenced the 20th century.
Buy
China’s Cultural Soft Power
Deding Liu
A deep dive into how China is shaping its global image and influence through cultural strategies.
Buy
New Developments in the Trilateral Relationship Between the United States, Taiwan, and China
Ed. Charles K.S. Wu, Yao-Yuan Yeh
An analysis of the three-way relationship between the U.S., Taiwan and China.
Buy
The Kitchen God and His Wives
A Modern Chinese Folk Epic
Tr. Wilt L. Idema
A modern folk epic on the origin of the Stove God.
Buy
Interesting Times
Some New Zealanders in Republican China
Chris Elder
An introduction to a group of extraordinary New Zealanders who lived in China between 1912 and 1949.
Buy
The Judicial System of China
Xin He
A systemic study of Chinese courts after Xi Jinping took power and reformed its judiciary.
Buy
Picturing Animals and Plants in Early Modern China and Japan
Innovation, Experiments, and Anxieties
Eds. Fan Lin, Doreen Mueller
An edited volume addressing the complex meanings that visual representations of plants and animals gained in early modern China and Japan.
Buy
The Construction of Value Philosophy in Contemporary China
Deshun Li (tr. Linan Tian, Ming Wang)
An approach to humanism in the new era in China by discussing the nature of value philosophy and the significance of value research for China's modernization and future development.
Buy
The Japanese Informal Empire in China, 1895-1937
Ed. Peter Duus, Ramon H. Myers, Mark R. Peattie
A collection of essays by leading experts on the history of Japan to examine the period from 1895 to 1937, when Japan's economic, social, political and military influence in China expanded rapidly.
Buy
Voice for the Voiceless
Over Seven Decades of Struggle with China for My Land and My People
Dalai Lama
A personal story from the Dalai Lama of his struggle with China to save Tibet and its people.
Buy
The Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel
Ssu ta ch'i-shu
Andrew H. Plaks
A reinterpretation of the "Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel."
BuyRecent Politics Books
Not Just Another Cold War
The Global Implications of the US-China Rivalry
Ed. Bard Nikolas Vik Steen
A look at how the emerging superpower rivalry between the US and China compares to the Cold War, and what that means for the future of global politics.
Buy
China’s Quest for Military Supremacy
Joel Wuthnow, Philip C. Saunders
An exploration of Chinese military power, challenges facing China's military and a preview of what it might take for a truly "world-class" Chinese military to take the global stage.
Buy
Green Superpowers
China, the European Union, and the United States in the Global Energy Transition
Andrea Prontera
A comparative analysis of the green foreign energy policies and green power strategies of the three main international actors in the global energy transition: China, the EU and the U.S.
Buy
The Impact of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in Southeast Asia
Evaluating Risks and Benefits
Eds. Yos Santasombat, Lee Kian Cheng
An assessment of the continuing impact of China's BRI on Thailand and ASEAN.
Buy
China’s Cultural Soft Power
Deding Liu
A deep dive into how China is shaping its global image and influence through cultural strategies.
Buy
New Developments in the Trilateral Relationship Between the United States, Taiwan, and China
Ed. Charles K.S. Wu, Yao-Yuan Yeh
An analysis of the three-way relationship between the U.S., Taiwan and China.
Buy
The Judicial System of China
Xin He
A systemic study of Chinese courts after Xi Jinping took power and reformed its judiciary.
Buy
Europe in an Era of US-China Strategic Rivalry
Challenges and Opportunities from an Outside-in Perspective
Ed. Sebastian Biba
An examination of some of the major challenges and opportunities for Europe in the light of the intensifying US-China global strategic rivalry.
Buy
The Inner Court of Communist China
Elites and Their Bureaucratic Institutions in an Authoritarian System
Wen-Hsuan Tsai
A systemic analysis of the mishu system and the operations of the CCP between 1921 and 2022.
Buy
China’s Changing Role in the Middle East
Filling a Power Vacuum?
Chuchu Zhang
A look at China's recent engagement in the Middle East and how its approach has fundamentally changed.
Buy
China’s Pathways to Prosperity
Abductive Reflections on Reforms and Opening-Up
Jun Fu
An examination of one unified theoretical framework and six milestone stories abotu China's pathways towards building a moderately prosperous society since 1949.
Buy
Tides of Fortune
The Rise and Decline of Great Militaries
Zack Cooper
A look at how the twentieth century's great powers devised their military strategies and what their implications mean for military competition between the United States and China.
Buy
China’s Strategy in the Gulf
Navigating Conflicts and Rivalries
Benjamin Houghton
An exploration of China's hedging strategy in the Gulf from the 1979 Iranian revolution through early 2024.
Buy
Eurasian Maritime Geopolitics
The United States and China in an Age of Indo-Pacific Transformation
Kent K. Calder
A look at the maritime geopolitics of Eurasia and an analysis of the contrasting roles of the U.S. and China in these strategic areas.
Buy
Technology Rivalry Between the USA and China
Ed. Peter C.Y. Chow
An analysis of the geopolitics and geoeconomics of technological rivalry between the USA and China.
Buy
China’s Peaceful Rise
Identities, Interests and Strategies
Le Hu
An examination of the extent to which China has stabilized its communist regime and defended or pursued its crucial interests while maintaining a relatively peaceful environment in East Asia.
Buy
Entanglements and Ambivalences
Africa and China Encounters in Media and Culture
Eds. Hongwei Bao, Daniel H. Mutibwa
An exploration of the media and cultural exchanges between Africa and China in the 21st century against the backdrop of the rise of Africa and China in global geopolitics.
Buy
US-China Strategic Competition
Military Strategy and Contemporary Doctrine
Muhammad Ali Baig
A map of the strategic competition between the U.S. and China, its history, and the contemporary outlook of their armed forces.
Buy
China’s High-Tech Repression Against Uyghurs
Novel Theoretical Insights
Lacin Idil Oztig, Abdurresit Celil Karluk
An exploration of the socio-spatial impacts of China's high-tech repression against Uyghurs both within and beyond its borders.
Buy
China’s European Headquarters
Switzerland and China during the Cold War
Ariane Knǔsel
A history of Sino-Swiss relations during the Cold War.
Buy
The Idea of a China Arrest Warrant
Surrender of Fugitive Offenders between Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau
Yanhong Yin
A theoretical model for extradition between China, Hong Kong, and Macau.
Buy
Planning for War at Sea
400 Years of Great Power Competition
Eds. Paul M. Kennedy, Evan Wilson
An account of four centuries of naval warfare addressing how effectively or ineffectively Russia, China and the United States have configured themselves during the post-Cold War era in preparing for future great power conflict.
Buy
Chinese Investments and the Economic Security Turn in Europe
Francesca Ghiretti
An analysis of how European states' economic interactions with China have become a security issue.
Buy
New Zealand’s Geopolitics and the US-China Competition
Reuben Steff
An analysis of New Zealand's geopolitical reality in an increasingly fractured global security order.
Buy
Navigating India-Taiwan Relations in the Digital Age
Surveying the Theory and Practice of Science and Technology Diplomacy
Ramnath Reghunadhan
An investigation of India-Taiwan relations through the convergence of science, technology and diplomacy.
BuyRecent History Books
Remembering 1942
Liu Zhenyun (tr. Howard Goldblatt, Sylvia Li-chun Lin)
A collection of six short stories of political and personal struggle in China.
Buy
The Adoption Plan
China and the Remaking of Global Humanitarianism
Jack Neubauer
A history of the rise of global humanitarianism that places the receipients, administrators, and critics of humanitarian aid in China at the center of the story.
Buy
The Great Plunder
How China Lost Its Treasures in the 19th and 20th Centuries
Qing Chang, Shan Huang
An overview of the dispersal of Chinese cultural relics from the late 19th to the early 20th century.
Buy
Mao Zedong
A True Story
Jie Li
An exploration of how Mao Zedong was shaped by his era and how he, in turn, profoundly influenced the 20th century.
Buy
Interesting Times
Some New Zealanders in Republican China
Chris Elder
An introduction to a group of extraordinary New Zealanders who lived in China between 1912 and 1949.
Buy
The Japanese Informal Empire in China, 1895-1937
Ed. Peter Duus, Ramon H. Myers, Mark R. Peattie
A collection of essays by leading experts on the history of Japan to examine the period from 1895 to 1937, when Japan's economic, social, political and military influence in China expanded rapidly.
Buy
Eastward, Westward
A Life in Law
Jerome A. Cohen
A memoir from a lawyer who helped to shape East Asian law and U.S.-China legal relations.
Buy
Modern China in Flux
Networks, Mobility, and Transformation
Ed. Christian Henriot
A volume highlighting the promise of network analysis as a model for historians studying modern China.
Buy
Elephants and Ivory in China and Spain
John Beusterien, Stephen West
A global history of ivory and elephants in China and Spain.
Buy
Spatial Stories and Intersecting Geographies
Hong Kong, Britain, and China, 1890-19140
Klaudia Hiu Yen Lee
An account of the literary and journalistic connection between Hong Kong, Britain, and China from 1890 to 1940.
Buy
Water Lords
Beijing's Drinking Water and Its Carriers, 1644-1937 (China Studies)
Lei Zhang
The story of drinking water and its carriers in Beijing from the imperial Qing to the Republican period, including an ecological perspective to existing studies.
Buy
Sentimental Republic
Chinese Intellectuals and the Maoist Past
Hang Tu
A chronicle of forty years (1978-2018) of bitter cultural wars about the Maoist past.
Buy
The Politics of Sorrow
Tsering Wangmo Dhompa
An account of Tibetan religious and political leaders who sought to protect Tibetan culture in exile.
Buy
Translingual Catholics
Chinese Theologians before Vatican II
Jin Lu
An exploration of the life experiences and theological writings of twentieth-century Chinese Catholic intellectuals and their impact on global Catholic theory.
Buy
Jennie Hudson Taylor
An Adventurous Spirit, Courageous Faith and a Trailblazing Call to China
Marion Osgood
The untold story of the second wife of James Hudson Taylor and her extraordinary ministry with the China Inland Mission.
Buy
The World of Wu Zhao
Annotated Selections from Zhang Zhuo's Court and Country
N. Harry Rothschild
An annotated translation of Zhang Zhuo's account of the empire of Wu Zhao, China's first and only female emperor.
Buy
Christian Mission in Seventeenth-Century Taiwan
A Reception History of Texts, Beliefs, and Practices
Christopher Joby
A study of the reception of Christianity and the epistemic outcomes of contact between Protestant and Catholic missionaries and indigenous Austronesians in seventeenth-century colonial Taiwan.
Buy
Gendered Memories
An Imaginary Museum for Ding Ling and Chinese Female Revolutionary Martyrs
Xian Wang
A collection of stories of Chinese female revolutionary martyrs told through a mixture of historiography and personal narratives.
Buy
Reimagining the International
Chinese World Ordering before the West
Yongjin Zhang
An examination of Chinese world ordering before the West as both intellectual history and institutional practices in deep world history.
Buy
The Fear of Witchcraft and Witches in Imperial China
Figurines, Familiars and Demons
Barend Ter Haar
A historical survey of witches and witchcraft in China.
Buy
A Chinese Reformer in Exile
Kang Youwei and the Chinese Empire Reform Association in North America, 1899-1911
Robert L. Worden, Jane Leung Larson
A documentation of the exile years of Chinese reformer Kang Youwei and the political organization he mobilized.
Buy
House of Huawei
The Secret History of China's Most Powerful Company
Eva Dou
The untold story of Huawei, the mysterious company that shook the world.
Buy
Sit, Cinderella, Sit
A Mostly True Story
Lisa Cheek
A memoir about a woman who flew to rural China and edited a Cinderella story film.
Buy
Recent Society/Culture Books
Let Only Red Flowers Bloom
Identity and Belonging in Xi Jinping's China
Emily Feng
An investigation into the battle over identity in China, chronicling the state oppression of those who fail to conform to Xi Jinping's definition of who is "Chinese," from an award-winning NPR correspondent.
Buy
Salt Sugar MSG
Recipes and Stories from a Cantonese American Home
Calvin Eng, Phoebe Melnick
An introduction to Cantonese cooking from the chef behind the Brooklyn restaurant Bonnie's.
Buy
The Kitchen God and His Wives
A Modern Chinese Folk Epic
Tr. Wilt L. Idema
A modern folk epic on the origin of the Stove God.
Buy
Picturing Animals and Plants in Early Modern China and Japan
Innovation, Experiments, and Anxieties
Eds. Fan Lin, Doreen Mueller
An edited volume addressing the complex meanings that visual representations of plants and animals gained in early modern China and Japan.
Buy
The Construction of Value Philosophy in Contemporary China
Deshun Li (tr. Linan Tian, Ming Wang)
An approach to humanism in the new era in China by discussing the nature of value philosophy and the significance of value research for China's modernization and future development.
Buy
Voice for the Voiceless
Over Seven Decades of Struggle with China for My Land and My People
Dalai Lama
A personal story from the Dalai Lama of his struggle with China to save Tibet and its people.
Buy
The Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel
Ssu ta ch'i-shu
Andrew H. Plaks
A reinterpretation of the "Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel."
Buy
Chinese Dough Figurines
Artistry at the Fingertips
Jie Liu
A collection of Liu Jie's works in dough figurine art.
Buy
China Sweet and Sour
Virginia Heslinga
A memoir from a volunteer for an NGO, Amity, about her time in China.
Buy
Moltmann in China
Reception and Dialogue
Naomi Thurston
A look at the reception of the German theologian Jürgen Moltmann's theology within the framework of a budding Chinese academic theology.
Buy
Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, and Other Curiously Named Classic Chinese Dishes
A Graphic Cookbook
Ying Chang Compestine (illus. Vivian Truong)
An exploration of the nomenclature of traditional Chinese dishes through folklore, personal storytelling, and recipes.
Buy
The Forger’s Creed
Reinventing Art History in Early Modern China
J. P. Park
An in-depth look at the history and legacies of forgeries in Chinese art.
Buy
A Historical Taxonomy of Talking Birds in Chinese Literature
Wilt L. Idema
A study of the development of the parrot and the mynah as characters in many forms of poetry and prose of Chinese elite literature.
Buy
Kings of Oxen and Horses
Draft Animals, Buddhism, and Chinese Rural Religion
Meir Shahar
A history of two gods, the Horse King and the Ox King, and a look at the place of draft animals in Chinese and Buddhist religious traditions.
Buy
Modern Chinese Foodways
Eds. Jia-Chen Fu, Michelle T. King, Jakob A. Klein
An edited collection that explores the multifaceted experiences of Chinese culinary modernity both within and outside of mainland China from the mid-19th century to present.
Buy
Model Minority Gone Rogue
How an unfulfilled daughter of a tiger mother went way off script
Qin Qin
An autobiographical story of how an unhappy overachiever working for a prestigious law firm quit, changed paths, changed countries, changed her entire view of what the world could be, and who she could be.
Buy
As Many as the Stars
Robert Glover
The memoir of an individual's fight for family-based fostering and adoption in 1990s China.
Buy
Flowing with the Pearl River
Memoir of a Red China Girl
Amy Chan Zhou
A memoir about growing up in rural Communist China.
Buy
The Beef Taboo in China
Agriculture, Ethics, Sacrifice
Vincent Goossaert (tr. Barbara R. Ambros)
An investigation into Chinese practices around animals, meat, meat ethics, vegetarianism and more.
Buy
Familial Hungers
Christine Wu
A collection of poems that reckon with identity, race, and fractured relationships through the lens of food.
Buy
China and the Wireless Undertow
Media as Wave Philosophy
Anna Greenspan
A reimagining of the relationship between China and wirelessness synthesizing contemporary media theory with modern Chinese thought.
Buy
Film History and Screen Culture in and beyond Greater China
Ed. Lin Feng
A collection of scholarship on cinemas of the Sinosphere.
Buy
Wisdom Stories of Tibet
Tales of Magic, Adventure, adn Bravery
Laura Burges, Lama Chonam (illus. Wen Hsu)
An illustrated collection of 14 Tibetan folktales for children.
BuyRecent Fiction Books
Soft Burial
A Novel
Fang Fang (tr. Michael Berry)
A literary portrait of historical trauma and the psychological toll of repressed violence, intercut through different generations, regions, and time periods.
Buy
The Running Flame
A Novel
Fang Fang (tr. Michael Berry)
A short novel exploring the difficulties of one woman shackled by patriarchal tradition against the backdrop of social change.
Buy
You Must Take Part in Revolution
A Graphic Novel
Badiucao, Melissa Chan
A graphic novel set in contemporary Hong Kong, addressing ideas of political and individual freedom.
Buy
The Immortal Woman
A Novel
Su Chang
A sweeping generational story of heartbreak, resilience, and yearning, revealing an insider's view of the fractured lives of Chinese immigrants and those they leave behind.
Buy
For now I am sitting here growing transparent
Yau Ching (tr. Chenxin Jiang)
A collection of poetry by the video artist and queer community organizer Yau Ching.
Buy
Ten Thousand Miles of Clouds and Moons
New Chinese Writing
Xiao Yue Shan
An anthology of Chinese literature that gathers sixteen Chinese writers in their English debut: eight fiction writers, six poets, and two essayists.
Buy
Mother River
Can Xue (tr. Karen Gernant, Chen Zeping)
A translated collection of 13 stories challenging our perceptions of time, identity, and existence.
Buy
Taipei at Daybreak
Brian Hioe
A coming-of-age novel set among the social protests of the early 2010s in East Asia.
Buy
Elephant Herd
A Novel
Guixing Zhang (tr. Carlos Rojas)
A novel following a young Malaysian-Chinese man's journey upriver deep into the Sarawak rainforest of northwest Borneo in search of his uncle, the leader of a Communist guerilla group.
Buy
The Envelopes
Hasu August
A novel examining how far love and devotion can go in the struggle between good and evil, set in China in the 2010s.
Buy
Homeseeking
Karissa Chen
A tale of one couple across 60 years as world events pull them together and apart, illuminating the Chinese diaspora and exploring what it means to find home far from your homeland.
Buy
The Lotus Shoes
A Novel
Jane Yang
A tale of two women from opposite sides of Chinese society and their extraordinary journey of sisterhood, betrayal, love and triumph.
Buy
Dead Souls
Han Song (tr. Michael Berry)
The final installment in Han Song's Hospital trilogy, following Yang Wei's journey through a dystopian hospital system.
Buy
In the Face of Death We Are Equal
Mu Cao (tr. Scott E. Myers)
A magical realist novel that explores the exploitation of the young living in China's poor countryside.
Buy
The Second Journey
Joel Bigman
A Chinese-Jewish historical fantasy following the monk Xuanzang, Monkey and Pigsy on an adventure to get the Hebrew Scriptures.
Buy
Cloud Labour
Sabrina Huang (tr. Lin King)
A story set in an unspecified dystopian future in which people known as 'Proxies' are paid handsomely to remove negative emotions from their clients.
Buy
Wu River Variations
Pang Bei (tr. James Trapp)
A novel about PLA codebreakers during The Long March.
Buy
Taiwan Travelogue
A Novel
Yang Shuang-zi (tr. Lin King)
A bittersweet story of love between two women, nestled in an exploration of language, history and power.
Buy
Be Careful, Xiao Xin!
小心 小心！
Alice Pung (Il. Sher Rill Ng)
An illustrated children's story of a little boy who must learn to overcome his fears.
Buy
The Conspiracies of the Empire
A Judge Dee Investigation, 2
Qiu Xiaolong
A mystery set in ancient China, featuring the semi-fictional historical character Judge Dee.
Buy
Sunset at Lion Rock
A Novel
Matthew Wong Foreman
A novel that navigates a shifting culture on the eve of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.
Buy
Nothing but the Now
Seven Short Stories by Wen Zhen
Wen Zhen (tr. Dave Haysom)
A collection of of seven short stories that offer a look into various facets of contemporary life in China.
Buy
The Choice
Zhang Ping (tr. James Trapp)
A novel of corruption and deceit set in a Chinese manufacturing town.
Buy