Modern China
A Very Short Introduction, 2nd Edition

[URL not allowed] It's a good readable, brief and almost breezy introduction to China as it has developed in the last century or so. By taking modern China as his subject, he more of less starts with the 1911 revolution (with occasional contextualising from the past) and arg......more

I read this book for a political comparison class, and I found it generally vague and unhelpful. At almost every point, it would state the "commonly accepted view" and then immediately contradict that view, but not to the point where you could draw any solid conclusions. I have a somewhat broader un......more

I love these books. Great introduction into the history of modern China. The more Americans understand our biggest competitor, the better.......more

I know what they (and I) say about the Very Short Introductions, ... but this one was actually really good. It didn't really feel like an introduction, more introductory to a more nuanced question than 'basic' history as in recounting of the historical events. This is a feeling I had a few times rea......more

Modern China : A Very Short Introduction (2008) by Rana Mitter is a worth description of modern Chinese history. Mitter is a professor of modern Chinese history at Oxford. The book has chapters about what modern China is, a description of recent chinese history, one on what has made China modern and......more