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China: A Portrait of the People, Place and Culture
Presents a portrait of China, the world's oldest civilization - past, present and future. This title features seven hundred photographs that explore various aspects of the world's oldest civilization; from China's stunning landscapes, extraordinary 4,000 year history to ancient philosophical traditions which are still alive.
- GenresChinaNonfiction
362 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 10, 2022
Verrassend informatief voor een salontafelboek.
November 12, 2012
NOTE: This review originally showed up on my (now defunct) nonfiction book review blog. I read and reviewed this book in August 2008.
*****
Today is the opening ceremonies for the Olympics in China, so of course, I had to review a book about China. China: People, Place, Culture, History was the book I chose, and I’ll admit: I chose it because it had a beautiful cover. I know there’s that old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” but in this case, that would have meant me missing out on a gorgeous book.
China: People, Place, Culture, History was definitely meant to be a coffee table book. Large, with a woven red cover and gold lettering, it’s an eye-catching book. But coffee table destiny or no, this book was crammed full of beautiful photos, great history, and interesting information. It’s thick (355 pages) and so chock-full of information, it could take a dedicated reader several weeks to get through the whole book.
It starts out focusing on geography by publishing a single photo spread out over two pages. The first whole chapter is set up this way. Some of the vistas were breathtaking, and some of them reminded me of Idaho, which is strange, because I never associated that kind of geography with China.
I guess with a country as large as China (it is roughly the same size as America) you’re going to have a lot of variation in geography. I had just honestly never thought about it, and imagined the whole country to be one large bamboo forest interspersed with lots of rice paddies and huge cities. Boy, was I wrong!
To accompany the photos, there was a small paragraph that explained the photo, and a Chinese poem that somehow related to the picture. It was a fun way to start off the book, and I felt like I had had a great visual tour of China.
China: People, Place, Culture, History then switches to history, and gives a timeline for important Chinese dates, a section lasting 45 pages. Although dry historical dates and facts tend to be boring, they did a great job of spicing it up with photos and sidebars with more in-depth information.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at how well done the book was - I looked and realized that the book was written by DK Publishing, the same company that does the Eyewitness Series for kids (I reviewed the Titanic: Discover the Luxury of this Famous Ship by them.) I had thought DK Publishing only did kids’ books, so that was fun to see. After realizing that, I started to pay attention while at work, and realized that quite a few “coffee table books” have been done by DK. I somehow missed that along the way…
China also covers people, culture, and architecture in their own sections, with enough information on each that you’ll feel like a grad student in Chinese culture by time you’re done. For any homeschooling families who reading this and are interested in studying China, I highly recommend that you check this book out of the library (or buy it) and make it a large part of your studies. I think all of the photos will help keep even the younger kids interested.
Oh, and my coworker said that the Chinese chose to start the Olympics today because 08-08-08 is considered to be a “lucky day” for the Chinese. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but it is a pretty cool date, regardless. :)
*****
Today is the opening ceremonies for the Olympics in China, so of course, I had to review a book about China. China: People, Place, Culture, History was the book I chose, and I’ll admit: I chose it because it had a beautiful cover. I know there’s that old saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover,” but in this case, that would have meant me missing out on a gorgeous book.
China: People, Place, Culture, History was definitely meant to be a coffee table book. Large, with a woven red cover and gold lettering, it’s an eye-catching book. But coffee table destiny or no, this book was crammed full of beautiful photos, great history, and interesting information. It’s thick (355 pages) and so chock-full of information, it could take a dedicated reader several weeks to get through the whole book.
It starts out focusing on geography by publishing a single photo spread out over two pages. The first whole chapter is set up this way. Some of the vistas were breathtaking, and some of them reminded me of Idaho, which is strange, because I never associated that kind of geography with China.
I guess with a country as large as China (it is roughly the same size as America) you’re going to have a lot of variation in geography. I had just honestly never thought about it, and imagined the whole country to be one large bamboo forest interspersed with lots of rice paddies and huge cities. Boy, was I wrong!
To accompany the photos, there was a small paragraph that explained the photo, and a Chinese poem that somehow related to the picture. It was a fun way to start off the book, and I felt like I had had a great visual tour of China.
China: People, Place, Culture, History then switches to history, and gives a timeline for important Chinese dates, a section lasting 45 pages. Although dry historical dates and facts tend to be boring, they did a great job of spicing it up with photos and sidebars with more in-depth information.
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at how well done the book was - I looked and realized that the book was written by DK Publishing, the same company that does the Eyewitness Series for kids (I reviewed the Titanic: Discover the Luxury of this Famous Ship by them.) I had thought DK Publishing only did kids’ books, so that was fun to see. After realizing that, I started to pay attention while at work, and realized that quite a few “coffee table books” have been done by DK. I somehow missed that along the way…
China also covers people, culture, and architecture in their own sections, with enough information on each that you’ll feel like a grad student in Chinese culture by time you’re done. For any homeschooling families who reading this and are interested in studying China, I highly recommend that you check this book out of the library (or buy it) and make it a large part of your studies. I think all of the photos will help keep even the younger kids interested.
Oh, and my coworker said that the Chinese chose to start the Olympics today because 08-08-08 is considered to be a “lucky day” for the Chinese. I have no idea if that’s true or not, but it is a pretty cool date, regardless. :)
June 3, 2012
I feel like the discussions on politics can be watered down at times, not showing the true nature of the beast. Nevertheless, it's a handsome book, and is wonderful to look through.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews