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
Powerful Like a Dragon
Christopher Cheng (illus. Jacqueline Tam)
A children's picture book based on the author's true family story during the Imperial Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941.
Buy
Under Fishbone Clouds
A Novel
Sam Meekings
A novel of romance and family saga that journeys through Chinese history, myth and culture.
Buy
Surrendering the Task
British Baptists in China, 1937-1952
Audrey Salters
The story of the final years of missionary activity in China, with particular reference to the Baptist Missionary Society.
Buy
Xi Jinping’s Quest for a Sinocentric Asia, 2013-2024
Deciphering Chinese Strategic Thinking in a Pivotal Period
Gilbert Rozman, Yun Sun, Danielle F.S. Cohen
An examination of China's foreign policy.
Buy
The Original I Ching
A Landmark Translation of The Book of Changes Based on Recent Discoveries
Margaret J. Pearson
A new edition of the ancient Chinese Book of Changes, with explanations of social context.
Buy
Satirical Tibet
The Politics of Humor in Contemporary Amdo
Timothy Thurston
A look at the powerful role humor plays in Tibetan life.
Buy
A Great Clamour
Encounters with China and Its Neighbours
Pankaj Mishra
An account of contemporary Asia that explores the contradictions and dynamism of modern-day China.
Buy
Genuine Construction
Zhang Pengju's New Regionalism in Inner Mongolia
Ed. Zhang Pengju
A collection of the work of Chinese architect Zhang Pengju.
Buy
The Great Race for the Lunar Calendar
Valerie Tsen
A children's book about the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac and how they were placed on the lunar calendar.
Buy
Chiang Kai-shek’s Critical Years, 1935-50
Ed. Emily M. Hill
An analysis of Chiang Kai-shek at the peak of his influence in China.
Buy
Facets of the Self in Early Modern China
Escape from Authoritarian and Moralistic Predicaments
Paolo Santangelo
A study of philosophical and ethical comparability from an array of Eastern and Western sources.
Buy
Nainai’s Mountain
Livia Blackburne (illus. Joey Chou)
An illustrated children's book about a Taiwanese-American girl's trip to Taiwan.
Buy
City of Fiction
Yu Hua (tr. Todd Foley)
A story of love, blood and dreams, set in early 20th-century China.
Buy
Pork Fluff
Tiffany Hsieh
A prose poetry collection that explores the speaker's experience and reflection as an immigrant from Taiwan in Canada.
Buy
A Century of Humiliation 1839-1949
The Exploitation of China
Andrew Hyde
An examination of China's "Century of Humiliation" and its long-lasting consequences.
Buy
Inside Chinese Theater
Community and Artistry in Nineteenth-Century California and Beyond
Nancy Yunhwa Rao
A history of the early decades of Chinese opera in America.
Buy
The Guide to Chinese Cooking
A Journey Through China's Favorite Dishes
Handa Cheng
A guide to the different culinary regions of China and their dishes.
Buy
A History of Chinese Art in the 20th and 21st Century
Lü Peng
A history of the development of 20th and 21st century Chinese art situated in the contexts of Chinese politics and social change.
Buy
Life on the Fringe
The Almost Naked Memoir
Benny Chia
A memoir recounting life in the Hong Kong modern art scene in the 1980s.
Buy
Identity, Mutiplicity, and Resistance in Taiwanese Poetry
Ed. Wen-chi Li
A look at how Taiwanese poets conceptualize their identities, employing multiple voices to challenge political hegemony and re-evaluate Taiwan's colonial legacy and nationalism.
Buy
Reconsidering Chinese Citizenship
Cultural Roots and Cultural Reach
Eds. Canglong Wang, Zhenzhou Zhao, Zhonghua Guo
A reconsideration of the concept of Chinese citizenship through the lens of cultural traditions and their deep historical roots.
Buy
Introducing Chinese Philosophy
From the Warring States to the 21st Century
Douglas Berger
An introductory survey of the major themes, thinkers and texts, philosophical genres and profound insights of the Chinese philosophical tradition.
BuyRecent Politics Books
Xi Jinping’s Quest for a Sinocentric Asia, 2013-2024
Deciphering Chinese Strategic Thinking in a Pivotal Period
Gilbert Rozman, Yun Sun, Danielle F.S. Cohen
An examination of China's foreign policy.
Buy
A Great Clamour
Encounters with China and Its Neighbours
Pankaj Mishra
An account of contemporary Asia that explores the contradictions and dynamism of modern-day 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
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.
BuyRecent History Books
Surrendering the Task
British Baptists in China, 1937-1952
Audrey Salters
The story of the final years of missionary activity in China, with particular reference to the Baptist Missionary Society.
Buy
Chiang Kai-shek’s Critical Years, 1935-50
Ed. Emily M. Hill
An analysis of Chiang Kai-shek at the peak of his influence in China.
Buy
A Century of Humiliation 1839-1949
The Exploitation of China
Andrew Hyde
An examination of China's "Century of Humiliation" and its long-lasting consequences.
Buy
Inside Chinese Theater
Community and Artistry in Nineteenth-Century California and Beyond
Nancy Yunhwa Rao
A history of the early decades of Chinese opera in America.
Buy
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
In the Global Vanguard
Agrarian Development and the Making of Modern Taiwan
James Lin
A look at the history and impact of the "Taiwan model" of agrarian development.
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
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
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 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.
BuyRecent Society/Culture Books
The Original I Ching
A Landmark Translation of The Book of Changes Based on Recent Discoveries
Margaret J. Pearson
A new edition of the ancient Chinese Book of Changes, with explanations of social context.
Buy
Satirical Tibet
The Politics of Humor in Contemporary Amdo
Timothy Thurston
A look at the powerful role humor plays in Tibetan life.
Buy
Genuine Construction
Zhang Pengju's New Regionalism in Inner Mongolia
Ed. Zhang Pengju
A collection of the work of Chinese architect Zhang Pengju.
Buy
The Great Race for the Lunar Calendar
Valerie Tsen
A children's book about the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac and how they were placed on the lunar calendar.
Buy
Facets of the Self in Early Modern China
Escape from Authoritarian and Moralistic Predicaments
Paolo Santangelo
A study of philosophical and ethical comparability from an array of Eastern and Western sources.
Buy
The Guide to Chinese Cooking
A Journey Through China's Favorite Dishes
Handa Cheng
A guide to the different culinary regions of China and their dishes.
Buy
A History of Chinese Art in the 20th and 21st Century
Lü Peng
A history of the development of 20th and 21st century Chinese art situated in the contexts of Chinese politics and social change.
Buy
Life on the Fringe
The Almost Naked Memoir
Benny Chia
A memoir recounting life in the Hong Kong modern art scene in the 1980s.
Buy
Identity, Mutiplicity, and Resistance in Taiwanese Poetry
Ed. Wen-chi Li
A look at how Taiwanese poets conceptualize their identities, employing multiple voices to challenge political hegemony and re-evaluate Taiwan's colonial legacy and nationalism.
Buy
Reconsidering Chinese Citizenship
Cultural Roots and Cultural Reach
Eds. Canglong Wang, Zhenzhou Zhao, Zhonghua Guo
A reconsideration of the concept of Chinese citizenship through the lens of cultural traditions and their deep historical roots.
Buy
Introducing Chinese Philosophy
From the Warring States to the 21st Century
Douglas Berger
An introductory survey of the major themes, thinkers and texts, philosophical genres and profound insights of the Chinese philosophical tradition.
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
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
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
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
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
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.
BuyRecent Fiction Books
Powerful Like a Dragon
Christopher Cheng (illus. Jacqueline Tam)
A children's picture book based on the author's true family story during the Imperial Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941.
Buy
Under Fishbone Clouds
A Novel
Sam Meekings
A novel of romance and family saga that journeys through Chinese history, myth and culture.
Buy
Nainai’s Mountain
Livia Blackburne (illus. Joey Chou)
An illustrated children's book about a Taiwanese-American girl's trip to Taiwan.
Buy
City of Fiction
Yu Hua (tr. Todd Foley)
A story of love, blood and dreams, set in early 20th-century China.
Buy
Pork Fluff
Tiffany Hsieh
A prose poetry collection that explores the speaker's experience and reflection as an immigrant from Taiwan in Canada.
Buy
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