A Short History of China: From Ancient Dynasties to Economic Powerhouse

by Gordon Kerr

From the beginnings of Chinese prehistory right through to internet censorship, a comprehensive introduction to the sprawling history of this enormous country An absorbing introduction to more than 4,000 years of Chinese history, this book tells the stories of the tyrants, despots, femmes fatales, artists, warriors, and philosophers who have shaped this fascinating and complex nation. It describes the amazing technological advances that China's scientists and inventors made many hundreds of years before similar discoveries in Europe. It also investigates the Chinese view of the world and examines the movements, aspirations, and philosophies that molded it and, in so doing, created the Chinese nation. Finally, the book examines the dramatic changes of the last few decades and the emergence of China as an economic and industrial 21st-century superpower.

Genres: History, China, Nonfiction, Historical, Cultural, Asia

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Gordon Kerr was born in the Scottish new town of East Kilbride and worked in the wine trade and then bookselling and publishing before becoming a full-time writer. He is the author of numerous books in a variety of genres, including art, history, true crime, travel and humour. He has a wife and two children and lives in Hampshire and—when he can—South West France.

Reviews

[WarpDrive · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good introduction to the fascinating history of this complex country.
Succinct and well written, it manages to deliver a riveting, concise but informative narrative of the main events since the beginning of civilization in China. Highly recommended (as a primer) to non-experts interested in a relatively short but comprehensive enough history of this sprawling and unique nation.
It would have deserved a 5-star rating, had it not been for an unfortunate lack of maps and timelines.

[zed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good. My knowledge of Chinese history was, and still is to tell the truth, very limited. But this nice primer is the perfect introduction. Gordon Kerr has written a fast paced short history that has me salivating for more.

As good on the 2nd read. I have delved deeper into a couple of the subjects in this book, The Great Leap Forward comes to mind. The author has done the subject justice in only 4 pages.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

The shear breadth of the book is astonishing. But, for the lengths it takes to be "short," it ultimately dashes through important parts of history. This is merely a cliffs notes version of China. It helps to pinpoint parts of history for further discovery (albeit in other books or online). If you truly want to delve into Chinese culture, this is not the book.

[Mjstevens1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the classic phrase, it does what it says on the tin. A whistle-stop concise history of one of the world's most fascinating countries. Obviously you sense that a lot is being left out or condensed, but that is sort of the point - it is up to the reader to go and look deeper into any particular period or person about which/whom they want to learn more.
Only thing I would have liked would be images or in particular maps (I was reading on Kindle - a print edition may have these but the Kindle sadly lacked any).

[Belinda Zipper · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent start to what could lead to a basic understanding of a complex national history.

[MrBReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to this book as an absolute Chinese history novice. What I was after was a book that would give me a narrative history and draw out the key parts...and all at a decent price! Amazon (other ebook providers are probably available) provided the latter and Kerr has, by and large, successfully provided the former.
The best way to review it then is to explain why I couldn't award this book the 5-star maximum. Firstly, the book is skewed a little too much to the 20th century. For my preference I would have like more on the earlier history. Secondly, the only thing I 'knew' about pre-1938 Chinese history came from the video game Dynasty Warriors and I was looking forward to reading about this particular era... and there wasn't really any!
To cram so much into 160 pages is an admirable effort and it has achieved its goal of tempting me deeper into the fascinating history of this not-so-sleeping-anymore giant.

[Anna Hepworth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I respect that this book is covering a large amount of history, and that because I'm not familiar with the names (until we get to the 1900s) I found it very difficult to keep track of who is who. But even still, this book was dull, and poorly organised. There are a lot of place names mentioned which don't appear to be on the two maps provided; and a lot of detail that appears to be 'and then the same thing happened again, but some years later'.

This is probably a really good book for someone already somewhat familiar with sections of the history who want it all put in context. But for someone who doesn't actually know anything much prior to, say, Sun Yatsen, I feel I haven't got much out of it (except to learn that the Ming Dynasty was much later than I had thought).

[Ronald Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great introduction to the history of China. Not a heavy read and you are not going to be an expert when finished but after a second reading I look forward to looking into more detail about some of the eras I found most interesting. I found it a great place to start.

[Carlex · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good approach to know this superpower. The only thing I miss is a few maps and graphs to improve the explanation.

[Shadin Pranto · Rating 3 out of 5]

China is a sleeping giant, when she wakes she will shake the world. - Napoleon

১৯৪৯ সালে চীনের স্বৈরাচার চিয়াং কাইশেক দারাপুত্র ও পরিবারসহ পালিয়ে যান। বিপ্লবীদের হাতে পরাজিত হয়ে তিনি চীনের মূল ভূখণ্ড ছেড়ে আশ্রয় নেন তাইওয়ানে। তবে চিয়াং কাইশেক খালি হাতে পলায়ন করেননি। চীনের রাষ্ট্রীয় রিজার্ভ তখন স্বর্ণে রাখা হতো। স্বৈরাচার চিয়াং কাইশেক চীনের সমস্ত রিজার্ভ নিয়ে তাইওয়ানে চলে যান। আর, মাও সে তুং পান শূন্য কোষাগারের চীন। শুধু কাইশেক নয় ; তার সমর্থক ত্রিশ থেকে পঞ্চাশ লাখ চীনা পালিয়ে যান তাইওয়ানে। আর, শূন্যহাতে আধুনিক চীন নির্মাণ শুরু করেন মাও সে তুং। খুব অল্প কথায় চীনের পরাশক্তি হওয়ার ইতিবৃত্ত লিখেছেন গর্ডন কের। বরং চীনের পাঁচ হাজার বছরের উত্থান-পতন নিয়ে লিখেছেন অনেকটাই বেশি।

সংক্ষেপে চীনের ইতিহাস জানতে চাইলে বইটা পড়তে পারেন। বিশেষ করে, চীনের বিপ্লবের পর নানা ভাঙা-গড়ার মাধ্যমে কীভাবে দেশটি গত তিন দশক টানা উল্লেখযোগ্য প্রবৃদ্ধি ধরে রাখতে সফল - তা বোঝা সম্ভব হবে।

[Ramon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good overview on Chinese history. The book goes all the way back to the first dynasties up to the election of president Xi. The writing style is kind of dry, but the information is concise and interesting.

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you want to learn about China in a concise summary fashion? This book would be for you. This title is a part of the “Short History” Series published by Pocket Essentials and I thought the 160 page was a reasonable length for a survey, especially considering that there are thousands of years of Chinese history. I felt it fulfilled the criteria of what I was looking for, of a general introduction to the various Chinese dynasties, which I needed to know and understand as a historical foundation so I can read other books on the history of China in a better informed matter.
After the introduction the book consists of seven chapter and an epilogue. The first chapter was on the geography of China. This was helpful. It is helpful to understand the geography of China today but also for understanding the history of China. Chapter two onwards covers the history of China in a linear chronological fashion beginning from Neolithic times with the early empires and onwards to the modern era of China trying to rise as a global superpower. There’s also an epilogue titled “China at the Crossroads” and a section on further reading.
Overall the author is fair and balanced and informative. Again I found this work extremely helpful for giving me the gist of Chinese history. Readers who want to learn more about Chinese history should begin here.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent introduction to Chinese history. I didn't know anything about the subject before reading this book and it has now given me a great overview. It covers the ancient times up until modern history and how China functions today. I read this during a recent visit to China and it complemented my trip quite well, allowing me to appreciate the ancient sites/landmarks and understand their history.

[Outmane · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was nothing I didn't like about this book. Notwithstanding the shortness of it , it is very informative, crisply written and well-researched.

China is a very fascinating country with a complex and rich history. Recently, I have been very interested in the Middle Kingdom's political system and economic development but I lacked some historical knowledge that would help me have a better understanding of those. This book was a right choice.

[Ginny Ip · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm super ashamed to say that as a Chinese person, this is my first attempt at studying the history of my country. This book did a decent enough job at outlining China's long and complicated history, despite the fact that it completely lacked pictures, maps and diagrams and occasionally mispelt the names of important Chinese figures and places.

Anyway, now that I've had a good taster of Chinese history, I can now delve deeper into the details of its modern history, perhaps starting from the end of the Qing dynasty.

[Turk · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good introduction to the history of China. The author gives a succinct overview of each Chinese dynastic period, including its key players, significant events, and dominant philosophies of the time. I really enjoyed this summary and it certainly whet my appetite to learn more about Chinese history. This book does not include any maps or timelines, so keep a browser handy while reading this to better visualize where all of these events took place.

[Mark Speed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hats off to the author for condensing such a colossal subject down into a a pretty readable book. It's not hugely compelling, because it's a short history. However, it provides an invaluable insight into the nature of China. Having read this, you will understand that the Han are hell-bent on levelling the West and becoming the global superpower. Bad times ahead...

[amoo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall good introduction but gets weirdly biased towards the very end, blaming China's economic problems on lack of western-style democracy (?? yet China's economy is doing way better than all those western-style democracies) and then even suggests that Chinese people should revolt against the government. Like 95% of this book is pretty good but the very end was just strange.

[Roy McCullough · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent primer on China’s tumultuous history, a history characterized by alternating periods of peaceful order and bloody chaos, unification and disunion, bitter civil war and revolutionary consolidation. The book’s utility, however, would have been significantly enhanced by the inclusion of a set of maps.

[Johanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slim volume that does a good job; giving a brief overview of the history of China from its earliest days up to the present. It is written in a readable style that sustains interest and was a good foundation for a trip to China

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

i feel weird giving a star rating to a nonfiction book, but this was really really interesting, it was very dense and sometimes read like a textbook but for the most part I was entertained by the history. super interesting read

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good brief overview of over 4000 years of Chinese history. It could be improved by the addition of territorial maps for the major dynasties, a timeline, and a few examples of classic Chinese art. Recommend for travelers planning a trip to China.

[Gordon Mcghie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Read

A swift tour of China’s turbulent history. Easy to devour and understand. Highly recommend as a primer to get you an overview and understanding of how China has arrived where it is today. After this read you will probably want to go deeper with others.

[David Cuatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

To write a short summary of the long and complex history of China would seem an impossible task, but the author did a very good job of doing exactly that. A great starting point for further reading on the subject. Despite the brevity, I learned a lot from this book.

[Sara Jo Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great concise history. First book in helping me understand one of the world's oldest civilizations. Very helpful in giving context to attitudes/behaviors/foreign policy of China, and the bad behavior of the imperial powers that played a huge role in those matters.

[Krisdeep Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book on an extremely brief overview on China's history. Obviously this 160 page book can't cover an ounce of depth within China's history, but what it can do is give context to the conditions of China and its place in the world today.

[Anita Dent · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look at the past history of China and its chequered past. I find it difficult to get to grips with the different dynasties and what happened during certain periods. This book helped to make it a bit clearer.

[Iván Ferreira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got an overview of China, lacks a bit of deepness which is of course entirely understandable given the broad extent of the country's history

[Roy Conboy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A succinct summation of Chinese history, though sometimes with a Western slant. I learned a lot, and it made me want to delve deeper.

[Adam Sherman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good overview of China's history. It's a little dry, but it gives you a basic overview that you don't get in school including the various political philosophies to come out of the country.