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China: A Modern History
China's transformation in the last few decades has been perhaps the most remarkable -- and most controversial -- development in modern history. Barely a century removed from the struggling and out-dated Qing Empire, China has managed to reinvent itself on an unprecedented from Empire, to Communist state, to hybrid capitalist superpower. Yet the full implications of China’s rapid march to modernity are not widely understood -- particularly, the effects of China’s meteoric rise on the nation’s many ethnic minorities. A Modern History is the definitive guide to this complex contemporary phenomenon. Deng Xiaoping’s 1980s policy of 'reform and opening," which saw China enter the world market, is only the most recent in a series of dramatic shifts that have transformed Chinese society over the past 150 years. A Modern History explores these contrasts in detail, while also highlighting the enduring values which have informed Chinese identity for millennia. Michael Dillon’s A Modern History is essential reading for those interested in the past, present and future course of one of the world’s great nations. Clearly and compellingly written, this will stand as the best introduction to this spectacular and still-unfinished story.
- GenresHistoryChinaNonfiction
496 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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137 people want to read
About the author
Michael Dillon
28 books5 followersMichael Dillon is a China specialist with expertise in teaching the history, politics and society of the Chinese world and the Chinese language. He was founding Director of the Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies at the University of Durham, where he taught courses on modern China in the Department of East Asian Studies. He has a BA and PhD in Chinese Studies from Leeds University and is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Asiatic Society. He is a peer reviewer for academic publishers and journals including China Quarterly, Ethnic and Racial Studies, and Inner Asia and is guest editor for a forthcoming special issue of Ethnic and Racial Studies focussing on Chinese ethnicity. He is a frequent commentator on Chinese and Asian affairs for the BBC and other international broadcasters, contributes to the Times Literary Supplement and was a consultant for China, a four-part television documentary directed by Jonathan Lewis for BBC2, Granada and PBS (USA).
He reads Chinese fluently, speaks Putonghua (Mandarin) and some Cantonese and has a working knowledge of the Uyghur language of Xinjiang.
He reads Chinese fluently, speaks Putonghua (Mandarin) and some Cantonese and has a working knowledge of the Uyghur language of Xinjiang.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 5, 2013
Michael Dillon's study is not as lengthy as the similar study by Jonathan Fenby, but it has it's own strengths, and can be recommended to those, like myself, who already have similar volumes of Chinese history or politics behind them.
Dillon's study is essentially a sweep of history from the early to mid 19th Century up to the present.
An advantage of Dillon's work is a greater insight into the unequal treaties and century of humiliation heaped upon China, and the subsequent 1911 revolution, warlord era, and invasion by Japan.
Where the book is relatively brief, or at least not as detailed on other works, is the post 1949 era, which is not as detailed as Fenby's work, and there is much less study of the post Deng era, with leaders such as Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao getting only a brief mention, and the events of 1989 figure very little within this book.
However, a strength of China: A Modern History is the chapter on Tibet and Xinjiang. This gives far more detail on the unease and tensions in these turbulent regions than other works have done, and one can gain a sense of sympathy for the Uyghurs and Tibetans and appreciate why there are underlying tensions.
In all, a recommended book. While some may have read other studies of modern Chinese history, this one is a welcome addition to their study if they want to go further, or a less time consuming read than Fenby's longer, though superior study.
But on the whole recommended, to old and new China hands alike.
Dillon's study is essentially a sweep of history from the early to mid 19th Century up to the present.
An advantage of Dillon's work is a greater insight into the unequal treaties and century of humiliation heaped upon China, and the subsequent 1911 revolution, warlord era, and invasion by Japan.
Where the book is relatively brief, or at least not as detailed on other works, is the post 1949 era, which is not as detailed as Fenby's work, and there is much less study of the post Deng era, with leaders such as Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao getting only a brief mention, and the events of 1989 figure very little within this book.
However, a strength of China: A Modern History is the chapter on Tibet and Xinjiang. This gives far more detail on the unease and tensions in these turbulent regions than other works have done, and one can gain a sense of sympathy for the Uyghurs and Tibetans and appreciate why there are underlying tensions.
In all, a recommended book. While some may have read other studies of modern Chinese history, this one is a welcome addition to their study if they want to go further, or a less time consuming read than Fenby's longer, though superior study.
But on the whole recommended, to old and new China hands alike.
June 16, 2020
Any writer on the modern history of China will struggle with the following:
1. How detailed do you want the treatise to be? China is very complex and there are many stories and events. The more detailed, the longer the book.
2. How do you make readers put on the cultural lens of the Chinese? It is only then that you can explain events and actions in its proper context.
3. How many versions of history do you put forth? As China is a communist state, official sources and documents are in many cases closed.
Dillon does a pretty good job, but this is a lengthy read. But the history of modern China is a giant tapestry. It will take many books for one to really understand China.
1. How detailed do you want the treatise to be? China is very complex and there are many stories and events. The more detailed, the longer the book.
2. How do you make readers put on the cultural lens of the Chinese? It is only then that you can explain events and actions in its proper context.
3. How many versions of history do you put forth? As China is a communist state, official sources and documents are in many cases closed.
Dillon does a pretty good job, but this is a lengthy read. But the history of modern China is a giant tapestry. It will take many books for one to really understand China.
September 20, 2017
This book was. Fine. It was a good introduction to the subject, though I think that the author could probably do with some post colonial theory to have a more nuanced view of that aspect of history generally.
It wasn't a particularly well written book, but it was far from the worst I've ever read. It kind of falls squarely in the 'meh' category as far as the quality of the writing goes.
It wasn't a particularly well written book, but it was far from the worst I've ever read. It kind of falls squarely in the 'meh' category as far as the quality of the writing goes.
February 10, 2013
This was a very interesting and well written book, with very interesting details about the 1820 to 1930 period but was short on good information on the post 1930 period, especially the most modern era...It is on a par with The Search for Modern China by Jonathan Spence....for the earlier part of this history.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews