A Concise History of China

Capturing the full sweep of China's tormented history, this succinct yet highly informative chronicle skillfully incorporates the latest research, whether the topic is China's vast, cosmopolitan eighth-century cities of the Tang empire, the widespread practice of female infanticide during the Ming period (especially the 15th century), China's failure to industrialize in the 18th century, or the rivalry between Mao Zedong and Deng Xiaoping following the disaster of the Great Leap Forward, when Mao found himself increasingly excluded from power. In the ancient battle of Confucianists, who called for ethical, benevolent rule, versus Legalists, who put the state's interests first, the lineaments of the power struggles that have convulsed modern China become visible. Along the way, British historian Roberts, the author of four other books on China, continually challenges received opinions and conventional interpretations. He rejects, for instance, the traditional verdict that Mongol rule over China was an unmitigated catastrophe; the Mongols were in some ways more humane and less ideologically restrictive than their Song dynasty predecessors, he opines. While much of the narrative centers on rebellions, politics and the rise and fall of dynasties and empires, Roberts keeps up the momentum with shrewd assessments of personalities and events, colorful incidents and interludes covering artistic as well as religious and intellectual developments. He provides a handy compass for understanding China's headlong economic modernization, its crushing of the democracy movement and the current deadlock between reformers and conservatives. Maps. (Dec.)