The Man Who Loved China

By: Simon Winchester

Narrated by: Simon Winchester

Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

In sumptuous and illuminating detail, Simon Winchester, the best-selling author of The Professor and the Madman ("Elegant and scrupulous" - New York Times Book Review) and Krakatoa ("A mesmerizing page-turner" - Time) brings to life the extraordinary story of Joseph Needham, the brilliant Cambridge scientist who unlocked the most closely held secrets of China, long the world's most technologically advanced country.

No cloistered don, this tall, married Englishman was a freethinking intellectual, who practiced nudism and was devoted to a quirky brand of folk dancing. In 1937, while working as a biochemist at Cambridge University, he instantly fell in love with a visiting Chinese student, with whom he began a lifelong affair.

He soon became fascinated with China, and his mistress swiftly persuaded the ever-enthusiastic Needham to travel to her home country, where he embarked on a series of extraordinary expeditions to the farthest frontiers of this ancient empire. He searched everywhere for evidence to bolster his conviction that the Chinese were responsible for hundreds of mankind's most familiar innovations - including printing, the compass, explosives, suspension bridges, even toilet paper - often centuries before the rest of the world. His thrilling and dangerous journeys, vividly recreated by Winchester, took him across war-torn China to far-flung outposts, consolidating his deep admiration for the Chinese people.

After the war, Needham was determined to tell the world what he had discovered, and began writing his majestic Science and Civilisation in China, describing the country's long and astonishing history of invention and technology. By the time he died, he had produced, essentially single-handedly, 17 immense volumes, marking him as the greatest one-man encyclopedist ever.

Both epic and intimate, The Man Who Loved China tells the sweeping story of China through Needham's remarkable life. Here is an unforgettable tale of what makes men, nations, and, indeed, mankind itself great - related by one of the world's inimitable storytellers.

©2008 Simon Winchester (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

A Superb Tapestry by Simon Winchester

Truly one of the finest reading performances by a splendid author. “The Man Who Loved China” interweaves the biography of one of the twentieth century’s greatest scholars into a broader narrative of the drama that was China during that century. More than this, Simon Winchester offers us a riveting and often humorous portrait of Joseph Needham and his love for Lu Gwei Jen, herself a gifted scientist. The story of China’s heroic efforts to preserve its universities in the face of Japanese imperialist barbarism is one of the most inspiring themes of the book. In a broader scale and in the sweep of history, Winchester affirms that Needham was correct about China’s civilization and its scientific genius, and that the people who created the world’s oldest cultural realm would emerge once again to claim their place at the forefront of human endeavor. What a lustrous book…

A Well Researched and Fascinating Biography

A Well Researched and Fascinating Biography

Joseph Needham was an amazing pioneer in Sinology, and Simon Winchester has done a fine job of telling the story of his life and studies. I saw Needham speak at UC Santa Barbara in 1975 and was very impressed with his bearing, knowledge, and wit. He was a unique gentleman scholar.

Winchester's narration is perfect.
I highly recommend this book

A fascinating journey

What made the experience of listening to The Man Who Loved China the most enjoyable?

Even if one knew nothing about China this would still be a fascinating read about an amazing man. The fact that it is written and narrated by a long time China observer makes it even better.

Have you listened to any of Simon Winchester’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Only on the radio

Exceptional story

Wonderfully told and read. I did not know anything about it and I was fascinated. I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the history of science and/or China.

not his best, but still good

Where does The Man Who Loved China rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

again, not his best, story is a little bland but still a good read for people who enjoy a review of history in "novel" form.

Have you listened to any of Simon Winchester’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

he is a wonderful reader. one of the few authors that can read his own work well.

Interesting and thorough.

Loved this book read by its supremely rich voiced author. Absolutely well researched, presented in fine order and simply a pleasant way to learn many surprising facts about China's multifaceted people and their history. Along the way we are given a glimpse into an enduring friendship of two lovers of China and shown the underbelly of foreign interference, jealous academia and the riddle of government bureaucracy.

This guy knows how to tell a story

This is not a topic I would normally have much interest in. I've never heard of Joseph Needham or the book he wrote. But Simon Winchester can make things interesting. It is the story of another eccentric Brit, not unlike the subjects of The Professor and the Madman or The Map that Changed the World. The format is straight biography, but there is an awful lot to learn about China in the story.

I guess the take home message is that China went into a slump for a few centuries while Europe managed to take over the world. Now China is regaining its place as a center of innovation and scholarship. How the future plays out is still open, but Needham made it clear that if the past is any guide, the West has a lot to worry about. A fun listen.

Not Book, Bomb, Compass

The UK and International title of this book is BOOK, BOMB, AND COMPASS, describing Francis Bacon's choice of three inventions which most greatly affected the history of mankind. All three were invented in China. For the US version the title of this book was changed to THE MAN WHO LOVED CHINA, and this is a much more apt title. It is a biography of Joseph Needham, not a summary of his work on the history of science in China.

Problem is I wanted to hear the latter, not the former. Only the first 1/3 of the book was interesting to me - his discovery of interest in China and his travels there. The rest about college life and cold war politics I could have skipped. Nevertheless, as an American living in China, it is humbling to hear about the early scholars who helped bridged the gap between China and the West with none of the modern aids we have today.

Amazing guy

Fascinating story about an amazing scholar and China. Well written. I learned a lot about China’s history.

A must read for all

Joseph Needham certainly was an extraordinarily remarkable man, a highly accomplished scientist, an adventurous gentleman diplomat, and one of the first global citizens who were able to see the world historically and globally with a loving heart. Hats off to Simon Winchester for giving us such an enchanting chapter of modern history.