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What Members Thought

Kay
May 06, 2014 rated it liked it
Shelves: china, nonfiction
I enjoyed reading this book though I had strong reservations about the author's impartiality. What I came to think of as "women's boosterism" seemed to motivate much of her commentary on Cixi, whom she hails as a modernizer who has never been given her due. Since I'm not well versed in the history of China during this period, I can't say how valid Chang's views are, but there's little doubt that she got carried away in her role of chief Cixi apologist and defender.

The book also suffered from sw
...more
Jana
Nov 21, 2017 rated it really liked it
Shelves: book-club
This book took a very long time to read, but was quite interesting. As with any women's history, it is very hard to know where the truth lies. Definitely not with the "fact" as displayed by history in the last hundred years, but probably not quite as rosy as this book portrays, either. The truth is probably somewhere in between. ...more
Erica
Apr 13, 2020 added it
Still need to finish this--good, thorough.
Pamela
Oct 06, 2013 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Nanosynergy
Oct 28, 2013 marked it as to-read
Ching-In
Apr 04, 2014 marked it as to-read
Oana
Sep 11, 2014 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: china
grace
Dec 03, 2014 marked it as to-read
Erica
Jan 23, 2015 marked it as to-read
Katy
Oct 24, 2015 marked it as to-read
Juliana Philippa
Oct 09, 2017 marked it as to-read
m
Sep 21, 2018 marked it as to-read
Phoebe
Dec 07, 2018 marked it as to-read
Rachel
Jun 07, 2019 is currently reading it
Deborah
Jul 19, 2019 marked it as to-read
Keeley
Jun 10, 2020 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Tania
Dec 28, 2020 marked it as to-read
Jocelyn
Jan 20, 2024 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition