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
A Brief History of Transportation in China
Ed. Huapu Lu
An exploration of transportation development throughout China's history.
Buy
Living Chinese Philosophy
Zoetology as First Philosophy
Roger T. Ames
A comparison of concepts from Greek philosophy with those of the Yiching (Book of Changes).
Buy
Big Enough
Regina Linke
An illustrated picture book about a little boy who learns he is big enough to do big things.
Buy
Celestial Signs and Classical Rhetoric in Early Imperial China
Jesse J. Chapman
A consideration of how the reading of celestial signs fits into broader understandings of the human and cosmic worlds in Han China.
Buy
Muslim Transnationalism in Modern China
Debates on Hui Identity and Islamic Reform
Hale Eroğlu
An exploration of how a group of key figures navigated the challenges faced by Chinese Muslims in the early twentieth century, and a transnational intellectual history of Chinese Muslim thought.
Buy
Exploration of Multifaceted Cooperation and Engagement Between Eritrea and China
Camel and Dragon
Fikresus Amahazion
A look at relations between China and Eritrea, and how cooperation and involvement between the two have intensified in recent years.
Buy
A Cure for Chaos
Mencius, Brian Bruya (author & translator)
A graphic version of the stories and teachings of the Chinese philosopher Mencius.
Buy
Nothing Serious Can Happen Here
Photographs from Macau
Adam Lampton, Tim Simpson, Laura Pecoroni
A photographic depiction of Macau's transformation from a historical city to a phantasmagorical dreamscape.
Buy
The Time Inheritors
How Time Inequalities Shape Higher Education Mobility
Cora Lingling Xu
An argument that intergenerational transfers of privilege or deprivation are manifested in and through time.
Buy
The Celestials
Outcasts, Outlaws and Why Ned Kelly Yearned for China
Ian Roberts
A story weaving Chinese, Irish, and Australian people together through the Opium Wars and the Australian Gold Rush.
Buy
Secret Stories on the Silk Road
Symbols, Architectures and Myths between Italy, the Middle East and China
Alessandro Coscia, Sergio Coppola
A photographic documentation of artifacts left from the exchanges between Western and Eastern civilizations along the Silk Road.
Buy
Disability and Impairment in Early China
Other Bodies
Ed. Avital H. Rom
A collection of scholarly works dedicated to exploring diability and impairment in early Chinese history.
Buy
State Governance and Public Finance Theory
A Chinese Perspective
Eds. Ma Jun, Gao Peiyong
An exploration of the fundamental theories, methodologies and innovative directions of public finance research in China.
Buy
Peony Lantern Tales
Ghostly Encounters in the Early Modern Sinosphere
Fumiko Joo
An analysis and history of "The Story of the Peony Lantern" by Chinese author Qu You (1347-1433).
Buy
How Maoism Was Made
Reconstructing China, 1949-1965
Ed. Aaron William Moore
A history of the early years in China after 1949.
Buy
The Emperor of Famine
Mao's Great Leap into Darkness
Borna Ahadi
A history of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution in Mao's China.
Buy
Remembrance in Clay and Stone
Early Memorial and Funerary Art of Southwest China
Hajni Elias
An exploration of the memorial and funerary artistic traditions of Southwest China during the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 CE).
Buy
Europeans in Hong Kong
Teachers, Traders and Technostars
Mark O'Neill
The stories of the Europeans who made contributions to Hong Kong.
Buy
Latin America, China, and Great Power Competition
New Triangular Relationships
Enrique Dussel Peters
An exploration of the dynamics of new triangular relationships between the U.S., China, and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Buy
Chinese Thirdspace
The Paradox of Moderate Politics, 1946-2020
Jianmei Liu
A look at how a diverse set of Chinese intellectuals carved out in-between spaces beyond the poles of competing ideologies for greater openness, multiplicity, and pluralism.
Buy
Befriending China
People-to-People Peacemaking
Dee Knight
An individual's account of China's current effort to open up to visitors as part of the people-to-people peacemaking campaign.
Buy
China’s 1800s
Material and Visual Culture
Jessica Harrison-Hall
A collection of essays focusing on the social, cultural, religious, creative, economic and political history of makers, users, owners and collectors related to the British Museum exhibition "China's hidden century: 1796-1912".
BuyRecent Politics Books
Muslim Transnationalism in Modern China
Debates on Hui Identity and Islamic Reform
Hale Eroğlu
An exploration of how a group of key figures navigated the challenges faced by Chinese Muslims in the early twentieth century, and a transnational intellectual history of Chinese Muslim thought.
Buy
Exploration of Multifaceted Cooperation and Engagement Between Eritrea and China
Camel and Dragon
Fikresus Amahazion
A look at relations between China and Eritrea, and how cooperation and involvement between the two have intensified in recent years.
Buy
State Governance and Public Finance Theory
A Chinese Perspective
Eds. Ma Jun, Gao Peiyong
An exploration of the fundamental theories, methodologies and innovative directions of public finance research in China.
Buy
Latin America, China, and Great Power Competition
New Triangular Relationships
Enrique Dussel Peters
An exploration of the dynamics of new triangular relationships between the U.S., China, and countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Buy
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 U.S. 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
Why Chinese Do It Cheaper?
A Book You Won't Find in China
Yannick S. Feder
A perspective on the motivations, challenges and spirit driving China's manufacturing dominance.
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 U.S.-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
Environmental Securitization in India and China
Eds. Joe Thomas Karackattu, Justin Joseph, Ramnath Reghunadhan
An analysis of how emerging environmental challenges in India and China are situated wtih existing theoretical understandings of security.
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.
BuyRecent History Books
A Brief History of Transportation in China
Ed. Huapu Lu
An exploration of transportation development throughout China's history.
Buy
Celestial Signs and Classical Rhetoric in Early Imperial China
Jesse J. Chapman
A consideration of how the reading of celestial signs fits into broader understandings of the human and cosmic worlds in Han China.
Buy
Secret Stories on the Silk Road
Symbols, Architectures and Myths between Italy, the Middle East and China
Alessandro Coscia, Sergio Coppola
A photographic documentation of artifacts left from the exchanges between Western and Eastern civilizations along the Silk Road.
Buy
Disability and Impairment in Early China
Other Bodies
Ed. Avital H. Rom
A collection of scholarly works dedicated to exploring diability and impairment in early Chinese history.
Buy
How Maoism Was Made
Reconstructing China, 1949-1965
Ed. Aaron William Moore
A history of the early years in China after 1949.
Buy
The Emperor of Famine
Mao's Great Leap into Darkness
Borna Ahadi
A history of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution in Mao's China.
Buy
Remembrance in Clay and Stone
Early Memorial and Funerary Art of Southwest China
Hajni Elias
An exploration of the memorial and funerary artistic traditions of Southwest China during the Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 CE).
Buy
Europeans in Hong Kong
Teachers, Traders and Technostars
Mark O'Neill
The stories of the Europeans who made contributions to Hong Kong.
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
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
Marshal Feng
A Good Soldier of Christ Jesus
Marshall Broomhall
A biography of Marshal Feng, a soldier whose journey led from military service to salvation in Christ.
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
The Broken Dragon
The Forgotten Story of China's Last Emperor
Borna Ahadi
A look into the life of Puyi, a ruler who was never truly allowed to rule.
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
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.
BuyRecent Society/Culture Books
Living Chinese Philosophy
Zoetology as First Philosophy
Roger T. Ames
A comparison of concepts from Greek philosophy with those of the Yiching (Book of Changes).
Buy
A Cure for Chaos
Mencius, Brian Bruya (author & translator)
A graphic version of the stories and teachings of the Chinese philosopher Mencius.
Buy
Nothing Serious Can Happen Here
Photographs from Macau
Adam Lampton, Tim Simpson, Laura Pecoroni
A photographic depiction of Macau's transformation from a historical city to a phantasmagorical dreamscape.
Buy
The Time Inheritors
How Time Inequalities Shape Higher Education Mobility
Cora Lingling Xu
An argument that intergenerational transfers of privilege or deprivation are manifested in and through time.
Buy
Peony Lantern Tales
Ghostly Encounters in the Early Modern Sinosphere
Fumiko Joo
An analysis and history of "The Story of the Peony Lantern" by Chinese author Qu You (1347-1433).
Buy
Chinese Thirdspace
The Paradox of Moderate Politics, 1946-2020
Jianmei Liu
A look at how a diverse set of Chinese intellectuals carved out in-between spaces beyond the poles of competing ideologies for greater openness, multiplicity, and pluralism.
Buy
Befriending China
People-to-People Peacemaking
Dee Knight
An individual's account of China's current effort to open up to visitors as part of the people-to-people peacemaking campaign.
Buy
China’s 1800s
Material and Visual Culture
Jessica Harrison-Hall
A collection of essays focusing on the social, cultural, religious, creative, economic and political history of makers, users, owners and collectors related to the British Museum exhibition "China's hidden century: 1796-1912".
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
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
The Purple Frontier
The History of the Great Wall of China for Kids
Brian Thomas
A children's book about the Great Wall of China.
Buy
China Sweet and Sour
Virginia Heslinga
A memoir from a volunteer for an NGO, Amity, about her time in China.
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.
BuyRecent Fiction Books
Big Enough
Regina Linke
An illustrated picture book about a little boy who learns he is big enough to do big things.
Buy
The Celestials
Outcasts, Outlaws and Why Ned Kelly Yearned for China
Ian Roberts
A story weaving Chinese, Irish, and Australian people together through the Opium Wars and the Australian Gold Rush.
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
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