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
The Everything Hong Kong Cookbook
Simple Hong Kong Recipes from Street Food to Family Dinners
Chality Wright
A cookbook with recipes ranging from street food snacks to fancy restaurant meals.
BuyHutong Heartthrobs
How an American Academic and a Chinese Migrant Worker Found Love in Beijing's Alleyways
Tammy Treichel
A story about an American academic and a Chinese migrant worker who find love in Beijing.
BuyMasquerade
Mike Fu
A queer coming-of-age mystery about a lovelorn bartender and his complex friendship with a volatile artist.
BuyThe Origin and Evolution of China’s Names I
The Reigning Dynasties
Hu A-Xiang
A linguistic and historical two-part analysis of the development and proliferation of the different names for China across the globe.
BuyThe Origin and Evolution of China’s Names II
Domestic and Foreign Appellations
Hu A-Xiang
A linguistic and historical two-part analysis of the development and proliferation of the different names for China across the globe.
BuyThe Great Transformation
China’s Road from Revolution to Reform
Odd Arne Westad and Jian Chen
A history tracing the causes of China's turn from the Cultural Revolution to Reform and Opening and recounting life during the period.
BuyEmperor of the Seas
Kublai Khan and the Making of China
Jack Weatherford
A history of the technological and political accomplishments of Kublai Khan.
BuyIs the Chinese Economy a Miracle or a Bubble?
Lawrence J. Lau, Lawrence Juen-yee Lau
A collected volume of Professor Lawrence J. Lau's papers looking at the growth of the Chinese economy over the past decades.
BuyShaping the Blue Dragon
Maritime China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Ronald C. Po
An examination of China's relationship with the maritime world from the Ming through the Qing, following the stories of ordinary and extraordinary people engaging with the blue domain.
BuyFaces in the Crowd
54 Extraordinary Tales of Tianjin
Feng Jicai
A collection of 54 short stories set in Tianjin at the time of the Boxer Rebellion.
BuyFate Rewritten
Dong Xi (tr. John Balcom)
A novel following the journey of a top student struggling to escape his humble roots and break into the upper echelons of Chinese society.
BuyThe History and Compilation of Zhang Zhongjing’s Wu Zang Lun
Five Viscera Theory
Qiang Cao, Yun Xiao
The collected Treatise on the Five Zang Organs by historical acupuncture practicioner Zhang Zhongjing.
BuyThe Book of Politics
China in Theory
Michael Dutton
A theory of politics that seeks to transcend the traditional antagonistic notions of friend and enemy, drawing on Chinese and Western political thought.
BuyThe Conscience of the Party
Hu Yaobang, China's Communist Reformer
Robert L. Suettinger
A biography of the Chinese Communist Party's most avid reformer and its general secretary for a part of the 1980s.
BuyManipulating Authoritarian Citizenship
Security, Development, and Local Membership in China
Samantha A. Vortherms
An examination of how autocrats use institutions to create particularistic membership in citizenship in China.
BuyOn Xi Jinping
How Xi's Marxist Nationalism is Shaping China and the World
Kevin Rudd
An analysis of how Xi Jinping's political philosophy, 'Marxist-Leninist nationalism,' differs from that of his predecessors and shapes modern China.
BuyTaiwan and the Cause of Democratization in China
Inspiration and Support
Chen Jie
An overview of the importance and declining agency of Taiwan in Chinese politics.
BuyElegies for Empire
A Poetics of Memory in the Late Work of Du Fu
Gregory M. Patterson
A mapping of a poetics of memory in the poems of Du Fu, from his prolific period of residence in Kuizhou.
BuyThe Girl Who Dreamed
A Hong Kong Memoir of Triumph Against the Odds
Sonia Leung
A memoir from Sonia Leung's childhood in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
BuyBeyond Power Transitions
The Lessons of East Asian History and the Future of U.S.-China Relations
David Kang, Xinyu Ma
An examination of the labor politics of the Chinese working class.
BuyTrans-Generational Trauma After the Chinese Cultural Revolution
Transforming Wounds into Work Across Three Generations
Yao Lin
A psychoanalytic examination of the trauma caused by the Cultural Revolution and how it has passed between generations.
BuyFighting Stars
Stardom and Reception in Hong Kong Martial Arts Cinema
Kyle Barrowman, Mark Gallagher, Yiman Wang
An examination of martial arts film stars and how they can be used to analyze the cultural significance of the 20th century Hong Kong film industry.
BuyRecent Politics Books
Is the Chinese Economy a Miracle or a Bubble?
Lawrence J. Lau, Lawrence Juen-yee Lau
A collected volume of Professor Lawrence J. Lau's papers looking at the growth of the Chinese economy over the past decades.
BuyThe Book of Politics
China in Theory
Michael Dutton
A theory of politics that seeks to transcend the traditional antagonistic notions of friend and enemy, drawing on Chinese and Western political thought.
BuyManipulating Authoritarian Citizenship
Security, Development, and Local Membership in China
Samantha A. Vortherms
An examination of how autocrats use institutions to create particularistic membership in citizenship in China.
BuyOn Xi Jinping
How Xi's Marxist Nationalism is Shaping China and the World
Kevin Rudd
An analysis of how Xi Jinping's political philosophy, 'Marxist-Leninist nationalism,' differs from that of his predecessors and shapes modern China.
BuyTaiwan and the Cause of Democratization in China
Inspiration and Support
Chen Jie
An overview of the importance and declining agency of Taiwan in Chinese politics.
BuyBeyond Power Transitions
The Lessons of East Asian History and the Future of U.S.-China Relations
David Kang, Xinyu Ma
An examination of the labor politics of the Chinese working class.
BuyCommunity Governance in China
History and Reality (China Perspectives)
Wu Xiaolin
An analysis of historical and modern approaches to community governance in China.
BuyGeopolitics and China’s Patronage Strategy
The Wary Patron, the Autonomous Client, and the Vietnam War
Dalton Lin
An analysis of how geopolitical circumstances lead China to adjust its regional resource patronage strategies.
BuyIn Search of Admiration and Respect
Chinese Cultural Diplomacy in the United States, 1875-1974
Yanqiu Zheng
An examination of the institutionalization of Chinese cultural diplomacy in the period between high imperialism and the international ascendance of the People's Republic of China.
BuyHayek and Post-War Chinese Liberalism
Beyond the Enlightenment and National Salvation
Chor-yung Cheung
An analysis of the effects of Hayek's liberal thought on Chinese notions of liberalism.
BuyThe End of Engagement
America's China and Russia Experts and U.S. Strategy Since 1989
David M. McCourt
A look into the world of America's national security experts as they have struggled to make sense of changes in China and Russia and the question of what comes next.
BuyCritical Issues in Contemporary China
Decoding Xi Jinping’s ‘New Era’
Czeslaw Tubilewicz
An empirical academic overview of Xi Jinping's approach to China's present economic and social issues.
BuyTo Overthrow the World
The Rise and Fall and Rise of Communism
Sean McMeekin
A global history of Communism tracing its ascent from theory to practice, from Marx to Mao.
BuyAmerica’s Cold War against China
Destined to Fail
Peter Nolan
An argument that U.S. efforts to exercise hegemony over Asia have failed, leaving the U.S. in a position where cooperation with China is its best alternative.
BuyWhere Every Ghost Has a Name
A Memoir of Taiwanese Independence
Kim Liao
A family history written by the granddaughter of a Taiwanese independence movement leader persecuted by the Kuomintang.
BuyWomen and Their Warlords
Domesticating Militarism in Modern China
Ket Merkel-Hess
An exploration of the political and cultural impacts of the female relatives of China's 20th century warlords.
BuyTaiwan’s Presidents
Profiles of the Majestic Six
John F. Copper
An assessment of Taiwan's six key presidents that focuses on politics, economics, elections, successes and failures in office, popularity and democratization.
BuyChina Rule of Law and the West
Michael Hooper
An argument that the CCP uses the letter of law to dissuade potential challengers and gild its policies in moral legitimacy.
BuyThe Red Emperor
Xi Jinping and His New China
Michael Sheridan
A portrait of Xi Jinping that draws on intimate stories from the closed world of China's leading families and two decades of first-hand reporting.
BuyWolf Warrior Watch
Transforming the China Challenge
Allan J. "Alonzo" Wind
A collection of musings examining Xi Jinping's policy actions and the China challenge more broadly.
BuyA New Cold War
US-China Relations in the 21st Century
Zeno Leoni
An argument that the US and China are locked in a new type of cold war where mechanisms of deterrence and competition differ compared to those of the Cold War.
BuyContemporary Hong Kong Government and Politics
Third Edition
Eds. Wai-man Lam, Percy Luen-tim Lui, Wilson Wong
An updated edition of a close and comprehensive look at modern Hong Kong politics up to the present.
BuyThe New Cold War
How the Contest Between the US and China Will Shape Our Century
Robin Niblett
An exploration of the similarities of between the Cold War and present US-China relations, drawing prescriptions for present policy from this historical mirror.
BuyRecent History Books
The Origin and Evolution of China’s Names I
The Reigning Dynasties
Hu A-Xiang
A linguistic and historical two-part analysis of the development and proliferation of the different names for China across the globe.
BuyThe Origin and Evolution of China’s Names II
Domestic and Foreign Appellations
Hu A-Xiang
A linguistic and historical two-part analysis of the development and proliferation of the different names for China across the globe.
BuyThe Great Transformation
China’s Road from Revolution to Reform
Odd Arne Westad and Jian Chen
A history tracing the causes of China's turn from the Cultural Revolution to Reform and Opening and recounting life during the period.
BuyEmperor of the Seas
Kublai Khan and the Making of China
Jack Weatherford
A history of the technological and political accomplishments of Kublai Khan.
BuyShaping the Blue Dragon
Maritime China in the Ming and Qing Dynasties
Ronald C. Po
An examination of China's relationship with the maritime world from the Ming through the Qing, following the stories of ordinary and extraordinary people engaging with the blue domain.
BuyThe Conscience of the Party
Hu Yaobang, China's Communist Reformer
Robert L. Suettinger
A biography of the Chinese Communist Party's most avid reformer and its general secretary for a part of the 1980s.
BuyA Catalog of Benevolent Items
Li Shizhen's Compendium of Classical Chinese Knowledge
Li Shizhen (tr. Paul U. Unschuld)
A distillation of 10 volumes, 4 dictionaries, and 1,800 years of knowledge into an introduction to the Ben cao gang mu, an encyclopedia of natural history and medicine published in China in 1593.
BuyMy Grandfather Duan Qirui and the Review and Reflection of the Century
Naihui Zhang, William Chang, David J Liu
A biography of former Beiyang Army commander and leader of the Republic of China Duan Qirui.
BuyMedia and Truth
French Media and the Depiction of China
Maxime Vivas
A picture of China drawn from the perspective of the French media and France's political class.
BuyChina and the Palestinian Organizations
1964-1971
Shai Har-El
An exploration of the relations between China and the Palestinian organizations and their development during the period between 1964 and 1971.
BuyNot Just a Man’s War
Chinese Women's Memories of the War of Resistance against Japan, 1931-45
Yihong Pan
A look at the stories of ordinary Chinese women during WWII, told through interviews, published reminiscences and oral histories.
BuyEnvironment and Selection of Technology
The Historical Agrotechnical Geography of West China During the Qing Dynasty
Zhenghong Xiao (tr. Xiaoming Xu)
An historical analysis of West Chinese development, focusing on agricultural technology selection.
BuyAgainst Exclusion
Disrupting Anti-Chinese Violence in the Nineteenth Century
Audrey Wu Clark
A reframing of Asian American resistance through the stories of five early Chinese American public figures who fought their exclusion.
BuyReshaping China
The Concept of the Chinese Nation in Modern Times
Xingtao Huang (Eds. Lane J. Harris, Chun Mei)
An exploration of the origins, evolution and dissemination of the concept of the 'Chinese nation' during the late Qing and Republican periods.
BuyCultural Communications Between China and The Outside World Throughout History
Fuwei Shen, Lyu Rui
A comprehensive timeline of China's communications with the West, including cultural, cartographic, and written exchanges.
BuyGood Wife, Wise Mother
Educating Han Taiwanese Girls Under Japanese Rule
Fang Yu Hu
A history of Taiwan that uses female education and citizenship as a lens to examine Taiwan as a colonial crossroads between Chinese and Japanese ideas and practices.
BuyMission to Mao
US Intelligence and the Chinese Communists in World War II
Sara B. Castro
An innovative history of US intelligence officers on the ground and the first official contacts between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party.
BuyEarly China
The Making of the Chinese Cultural Sphere
Jianye Han
A history of the lineage and developmental evolution of archaeological cultures in early China.
BuyState Power and Governance in Early Imperial China
The Collapse of the Qin Empire, 221-207 BCE
Chun Fung Tong
A study of the collapse of China's Qin Empire that argues that the collapse was rooted in persistent structural problems.
BuyBone, Bronze and Bamboo
Unearthing Early China With Sarah Allan
Constance A. Cook, Christopher J. Foster, Susan Blader
An account of the archeological findings and recovered manuscripts that have cast early China in a new light.
BuyThe Indigenization of Christianity in China II
1922–1927
Qi Duan
The second installment of a three-part history of how Christianity embedded itself into Chinese culture.
BuyThe Indigenization of Christianity in China III
1927–2000
Qi Duan
The final installment of a three-part history of how Christianity embedded itself into Chinese culture.
BuyState Building in Cold War Asia
Comrades and Competitors on the Sino-Vietnamese Border
Qingfei Yin
An approach to Sino-Vietnamese relations during the Cold War, centering on the two modernizing revolutionary powers' competitive and collaborative state building on the borderlands and local responses to it.
BuyEast Asian International Relations in History
The Long and Stormy 20th Century
Kyu-hyun Jo
A history of contemporary East Asian geopolitics, with a focus on imperialism, decolonization, and nationalism.
BuyRecent Society/Culture Books
The Everything Hong Kong Cookbook
Simple Hong Kong Recipes from Street Food to Family Dinners
Chality Wright
A cookbook with recipes ranging from street food snacks to fancy restaurant meals.
BuyThe History and Compilation of Zhang Zhongjing’s Wu Zang Lun
Five Viscera Theory
Qiang Cao, Yun Xiao
The collected Treatise on the Five Zang Organs by historical acupuncture practicioner Zhang Zhongjing.
BuyElegies for Empire
A Poetics of Memory in the Late Work of Du Fu
Gregory M. Patterson
A mapping of a poetics of memory in the poems of Du Fu, from his prolific period of residence in Kuizhou.
BuyThe Girl Who Dreamed
A Hong Kong Memoir of Triumph Against the Odds
Sonia Leung
A memoir from Sonia Leung's childhood in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
BuyTrans-Generational Trauma After the Chinese Cultural Revolution
Transforming Wounds into Work Across Three Generations
Yao Lin
A psychoanalytic examination of the trauma caused by the Cultural Revolution and how it has passed between generations.
BuyFighting Stars
Stardom and Reception in Hong Kong Martial Arts Cinema
Kyle Barrowman, Mark Gallagher, Yiman Wang
An examination of martial arts film stars and how they can be used to analyze the cultural significance of the 20th century Hong Kong film industry.
BuyReimagining the More-Than-Human City
Stories from Singapore
Jamie Wang
An examination of Singapore as a model for the future of eco-centric urban design.
BuyThe Ink Trail
Hong Kong
Andreas von Buddenbrock
A selection of the best drawings of Andreas von Buddenbrock –also known as "The Ink Trail"–showcasing the places and people he comes across in Hong Kong.
BuyLiving Chinese Philosophy
Zoetology as First Philosophy
Roger T. Ames
A comparison of concepts from Greek philosophy with those of the Yiching (Book of Changes).
BuyThe Chinese Way
Classic Techniques, Fresh Flavors
Betty Liu
A selection of favorite recipes and an introduction to eight distinct methods of Chinese cooking.
BuyChinese Enough
Homestyle Recipes for Noodles, Dumplings, Stir-Fries, and More
Kristina Cho
A collection of California-style Cantonese recipes.
BuyMotherlands
Poems
Weijia Pan
A collection of poems following the speaker-poet through a childhood in post-Maoist China and an eventual move to the U.S.
BuySinophone Studies Across Disciplines
A Reader
Eds. Howard Chiang, Ed. Shu-mei Shih
A compendium of significant contemporary academic works in the field of Sinophone studies.
BuyShanghai Saga
The Story of a City
John Pal
A memoir from an Australian who worked as a customs official and newspaper reporter before fleeing from Shanghai in the face of Japanese threats.
BuyFolk Tales from China
Legendary Love, Hidden Utopias, and Epic Heroines from Chinese Folklore
F.T. Weaver
A collection of Chinese folk tales.
BuyLiving in Heritage
Tulou as Vernacular Architecture, Global Asset, and Tourist Destination in Contemporary China
Lijun Zhang
An ethnographic account of the people dwelling and working within traditional tulou architecture in the 21st century.
BuyMapping Urban Regeneration
City Life Experiences in Yunnan, China
Ali Cheshmehzangi
A study of urban regeneration in Yunnan.
BuyMinzu as Technology
Ethnic Identity and Social Media in Post 2000s China
Lei Hao
An ethnographic approach to the understanding of ethnogenesis in the Chinese context, with a focus on how it is being reshaped in the post-2000s era.
BuyThe Vibrant Hong Kong Table
88 Iconic Vegan Recipes from Dim Sum to Late-Night Snacks
Christine Wong
A visual ode to Hong Kong that reimagines 88 classic dishes as plant-based meals.
BuyFloating on Clouds
My China in Tang Poetry Volume II
Susan Wan Dolling
A collection of new translations and readings of Tang poetry.
BuyLove of the Half-Eaten Peach
Inspired by a True Story
Lee Wind (illus. Jieting Chen)
A lyrical take on Yuan, Duke Ling of Wei, and his beloved Mi Zi Xia, who shared a peach in 500 BCE, inspiring a phrase that would come to describe romantic love between men.
BuyThe Red Lie
A Story of Family, Betrayal, and My Escape from China
Hua Foley
An account by a Chinese dissident of her childhood as the daughter of a CCP propaganda officer.
BuyRecent Fiction Books
Hutong Heartthrobs
How an American Academic and a Chinese Migrant Worker Found Love in Beijing's Alleyways
Tammy Treichel
A story about an American academic and a Chinese migrant worker who find love in Beijing.
BuyMasquerade
Mike Fu
A queer coming-of-age mystery about a lovelorn bartender and his complex friendship with a volatile artist.
BuyFaces in the Crowd
54 Extraordinary Tales of Tianjin
Feng Jicai
A collection of 54 short stories set in Tianjin at the time of the Boxer Rebellion.
BuyFate Rewritten
Dong Xi (tr. John Balcom)
A novel following the journey of a top student struggling to escape his humble roots and break into the upper echelons of Chinese society.
BuyThe Good Women Of Fudi
Liu Hong
A novel of loves lost and gained, set during the aftermath of the Opium Wars.
BuyThe Unfilial
Four Tragic Tales from Modern China
Yao Emei (tr. Honey Watson, Martin Ward, Olivia Milburn, Will Spence)
Four short stories shining a light on the crumbling foundations of the Chinese family unit.
Sinophagia
A Celebration of Chinese Horror
Ed./Tr. Xueting Christine Ni
An anthology of chilling tales from contemporary China, translated into English for the very first time.
BuySpring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue
A Literary Translation of the First Chinese Novel, Wu Yue Chunqiu
Olivia Anna Rovsing Milburn
A new translation of the oldest surviving novel written in the Chinese language.
BuyThe Phoenix and the Firebird
Alexis Kossiakoff, Scott Forbes Crawford
A young adult fantasy novel set in warlord-era China.
BuyLove Becomes Her
A Fable for the Ages
Yun Rou
A magical-realist depiction of Lao Tzu as a legendary figure in search of a soulmate.
BuyA Trip to China and Taiwan
Discovering Ancient Wonders and Modern Marvels in the Heart of Asia
Bulat Hametov, Aroosha Saeed
A children's tale whisking young readers away to China and Taiwan.
BuyThe Logoharp
A Cyborg Novel of China and America in the Year 2121
Arielle Emmett
A science fiction story of a Chinese journalist who can see the future.
BuyMurder in the Maloo
Paul Bevan
A murder mystery unfolding in the gritty underworld of nineteenth-century Shanghai.
BuyThe Barter Trade
A Novel
Chris Ruffle
A Le Carre-esque drama of love and espionage in 1980s China.
BuyThe Night Ends with Fire
K.X. Song
A fantasy adventure inspired by the legend of Mulan that follows a young woman determined to choose her own destiny.
BuyOf Jade and Dragons
Amber Chen
A silkpunk fantasy about a girl who must disguise herself as a boy and enter the famed and dangerous Engineer’s Guild trials to unravel the mystery of her father’s murder.
BuyTongueless
Lau Yee-Wa (tr. Jennifer Feeley)
A psychological thriller that sheds light on the current political situation in Hong Kong.
BuyThe Cry of the Silkworm
Shi Naseer
A coming of age novel set in 1990s China and spanning to the turn of the century.
BuyTiananmen Square
A Novel
Lai Wen
A coming-of-age novel about young love and lasting friendships forged in the years leading up to the Tiananmen Square student protests.
BuySouls Left Behind
A Novel
Fan Wu (tr. Honey Watson)
A novel about members of the Chinese Labour Corps working in France during World War I.
BuyBanana King Ngôo Tsín-suī
Wang-Tai Lee (tr. Timothy Smith)
A translated Taiwanese novel weaving together actual events, fictional elements, and the culture and politics of Taiwan through the tale of a young banana mogul.
BuyFang Si-Chi’s First Love Paradise
A Novel
Yi-han Lin (tr. Jenna Tang)
A fictional account of sexual violence, women's vulnerability and victimization in Taiwan.
Buy