History Archives | Page 3 of 6 | China Books Review

Lin Yutang: My Country, My People

In 1935, the Chinese author Lin Yutang offered Westerners an insider’s guide to China's society. It endures today despite his own cultural contradictions.

Kublai Khan, from Land to Ocean

Kublai Khan’s Yuan dynasty, like the Mongol empire, is thought of as a land power. A new work of popular history argues that its real...

Jerome A. Cohen on Chinese Legal Reform

The veteran China watcher discusses his memoirs, the challenges of reforming Chinese law, meeting Zhou Enlai in the Cultural Revolution, and the CIA's Yale recruitment...

Reginald Johnston: Twilight in the Forbidden City

A Scotsman’s memoir of tutoring Puyi, China’s “last emperor,” is more than just court gossip — it’s a tantalizing portrait of China’s imperial trappings.

What If Hu Yaobang Had Lived?

The former Chinese Communist Party leader’s ousting and death led to the Tiananmen protests, but his life reveals a deeper push and pull between reformist...

The Thrilling Truth

A new thriller set in 1930s Shanghai includes just enough historical detail to be believable. But is history at risk of being overtaken by fiction?

The Curse of the “Good Premier”

Zhou Enlai, Mao Zedong’s second-in-command, has been lionized as a moderating force who held back Mao’s excesses. But does he deserve that reputation, when he...