The Five+ Best Books For Understanding China.

The Search for Modern China – Jonathan Spence

Lieberthal, Kenneth (2004). Governing China: From Revolution through Reform. (Second Edition). New York and London: W. W. Norton & Company.
This was a good introduction to the political and policy-making history of the PRC with a description of the basic skeleton of the current governmental hierarchy and channels of influence. It is a longish book, but it was great nuts and bolts reading for someone like me, who was pretty uninitiated before reading it. Lieberthal is a recognized expert in the field. This is virtually required reading in my M.A. program in Chinese Studies.

I found both “What Does China Think?” by Mark Leonard and “The Party” by Richard McGregor to be quite insightful.

* Sam Goodman, “Where East Eats West”. Contains all of the major ingredients as the many China 101 books, but in a way that at least makes you smile, like getting a lolly after your shots: it still hurts, but at least you have a lolly, right?
* Bill Dodson, “10 Irreversible Trends…” is also a good read, but a bit more serious/academic.
* Strange enough, I find ‘old’ books on China just as informative/accurate as ‘new’ books, for example, read White/Jacoby’s “Thunder Out of China” or Tuchman’s “Stillwell and the American Experience in China” and just swap some names.
….. “But what about the CCP/PRC/Mao/etc?” you might ask… Well, like I said, just swap names. Smoke and mirrors is still smoke and mirrors, since “under new management” might (or might not) imply “new” but certainly does not imply “management”. Which is why, as I said, ‘old’ books are just as helpful as ‘new’ books when trying to understand China. Even more so when you come to realize that “modern China” is not as modern as it might seem and that things are the way they are because of the way they were and have been for oodles of time. Only now with Pizza Hut, ShanZai iPhone and BMW, rather than chicken feet, bamboo and donkeys.

Good books:
- The Great Chinese Revolution 1800-1985 by John King Fairbank – an excellent survey of modern Chinese history up to the Mao era.
- Chiang Kai Shek: China’s Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost by (former South China Morning Post editor) Jonathan Fenby – not just a biography, but literally the best history of the Chinese civil war and world war two in China that I have been able to find in English.
Other than these, any general history of China, and anything written by someone with a long-running familiarity with the country is OK, but if you’re looking for a history of the last couple of decades in China, there really aren’t many good ones.
Books to run a million miles from:
- Anything written on the theme that China is facing imminent or eventual collapse (Gordon Chang’s The Coming Collapse of China being an example).
- Anything written on the theme that China is inevitably going to run the world (When China Rules the World etc.).
- Anything that states categorically that China is/isn’t the market of the future for industry X.
- Basically anything that applies a broad-brushed theory to a large and complex country.
- Or anything written by someone who has never lived in the country long-term – and an awful lot of the books out there fall into this category.
One more note: your friend should at least try to study Chinese before and after he/she goes there. It’s nowhere near as hard as people try to make out (the tones – it’s really simple, just copy what other people say and you’ll be fine) and the grammar is practically non-existent.

Everything that James Fallows writes about China is vapid, shallow, and lacking in detail. I am shocked that his book made the list.

A Canadian friend of mine recommended Out of Mao’s Shadow, for he thought young Chinese generations rarely would know this part of history – he was right.
The author seemed very passionate, or maybe a little bit emotionally dominated when writing this book, in my opinion.

Any book by Jonathan Spence is great for understanding Chinese history. For a perspective on modern China, I’d like to add to the recommendations “Factory Girls” by Leslie Chang.

I totally agree with all the recommended books. I have read many of those mentioned and they are all great reads and useful tools for understanding a wonderful country:)

Two Kinds of Time by Graham Peck – written in Chungking in 1944 and still valid today. Tells you more about China and how it works than anything by Edgar Snow, Mark Kitto or Peter Hessler.

Great list, but I would have put something in it that was more directly political. Either McGregor’s The Party or Kissinger’s new book.

Mick: if you like oldies read Forever China, Robert Payne, 1945

David: find anything by Mote (forgot his first name) ref. chinese history