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Title: A Concise History of China by J. A. G. Roberts ISBN: 0-674-00075-7 Publisher: Harvard University Press Pub. Date: 01 December, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $17.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.64 (11 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: An Introduction for the 21st century
Comment: J.A.G. Roberts' A Concise History of China is an introduction to China for a China ready to join the World Trade Organization. China is not an enigna or special case, but a microcosm of the world as a whole. Roberts' contribution is, that he undermines the notion of a unified Chinese culture or region.
Roberts most memorable chapters recount the disparate states which rose and fell, some contemporaneously, and the foreign influences always ar work on them. China is revealed as a continent of many nations, not as a monolithic and eternal concept.
Roberts' book is also well balanced, and his chapters, instead of following dynastic changes, roughly divide Chinese history into equal time periods. His polemical acumen is considerable, and his chapters are full pf debates between Western and modern Chinese historians. If there is one period where his skills are lacking, it is the immediate past, and the last pages are disappointing.
This is a relevant introduction to Chinese history, that places China historically in the world, and within its own worlds.
Rating: 2
Summary: Waste of great source material
Comment: The history of China, from what I have heard and read, is a fascinating story. Chinese history, like most other history, proves that the best stories are true stories. Unfortunately, this is lost of JAG Roberts, the author of this book.
I purchased this book to get an overview of Chinese history. But it was incredibly boring. The author packs so much information in such a small space, nothing is explored with any detail, feeling, or creativity.
A good historical writer will propose a thesis in the beginning of the book and support that thesis. (ex. "The Chinese Communists are a continuation of (or a break from) the old dynastic regimes" or even something so simple as "China has a long tradition of civilization") Roberts does nothing of the sort. The reader merely gets a confusing outline of dynasties, leaders, and events in no narrative flow whatsoever, all without a purpose.
It is not even entertaining.
Rating: 4
Summary: Spare, but good
Comment: This book successfully packs a lot into 300 pages, but the writing style isn't entertaining. Roberts often discusses different historical theories about a topic, which is helpful, but he rarely provides the anecdotes or details that make a history memorable.
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Title: The Cambridge Illustrated History of China (Cambridge Illustrated Histories) by Patricia Buckley Ebrey ISBN: 052166991X Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 13 May, 1999 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
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Title: China: A New History by John King Fairbank, Merle Goldman ISBN: 0674116739 Publisher: Belknap Press Pub. Date: May, 1998 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
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Title: A History of Chinese Civilization by Jacques Gernet, J. R. Foster, Charles Hartman ISBN: 0521497817 Publisher: Cambridge University Press Pub. Date: 31 May, 1996 List Price(USD): $29.00 |
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Title: The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence ISBN: 0393307808 Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company Pub. Date: October, 2001 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Sources of Chinese Tradition by William Theodore De Bary, Irene Bloom, Joseph Adler ISBN: 0231109393 Publisher: Columbia University Press Pub. Date: 15 March, 2000 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
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