China Empire

An exciting, hugely revealing account of China’s burgeoning presence in Africa - a developing empire already shaping, and reshaping, the future of millions of people. A prizewinning foreign correspondent and former New York Times bureau chief in Shanghai and in West and Central Africa, Howard French is uniquely positioned to tell the story of China in Africa. Through meticulous on-the-ground reporting, French crafts a layered investigation of astonishing depth and breadth.

Winner of the Baifang Schell Book Prize 2025 Orwell Prize Finalist One of The Washington Post’s 50 Notable Nonfiction Books of 2024 “A sprawling, complex morality tale, sweeping us along.” —The Wall Street Journal “In telling this personal story about family memory, exile and...

This book is a compelling case against communist China and their history of human rights abuses against ethnic Muslim minorities, women, gays and anyone who supports freedom and democracy in Tibet, Hong Kong and around the world. The facts are presented why International Olympic Committee (IOC) should never have selected the communist country to host the upcoming 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. It's a must read for anyone who is not aware of the atrocities committed by the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) in and outside of China.

Ten years before Japan attacked the United States at Pearl Harbor, a powerful and increasingly autonomous military force had already put Japan down the war path: the Kwantung Army. Drawing from both primary and secondary sources, The Rise of the Kwantung Army: Japan’s Empire in Manchuria to 1932 provides essential insights into the motivations, strategies, and often rogue actions that propelled Japan down its disastrous path toward Pearl Harbor. This work is not just a military history; it is a vital exploration of imperial expansion, the seductive nature of power, and the chilling ...

This book presents a comprehensive history of the existential war waged between the Anglo-Dutch imperial system and what became known as the American System of political economy ever since the creation of the predatory British and Dutch East India Companies. On that basis, the book presents a counterintuitive solution to the crisis confronting humanity today, arguing that only a combination of the Four Powers, the USA, Russia, China and India, has the power to finally dismantle the Anglo-Dutch imperial system as it emerged from the British and Dutch East India Companies. The book documents ...

“The Supply Chain Empire: Why Every Product on Earth Begins and Ends in China” unravels one of the most astonishing transformations in human history—the rise of China from a poor agrarian nation to the manufacturing powerhouse of the planet. With vivid storytelling and hard economic truths, Joseph Ejike Ojih (Ph.D.) exposes how the everyday products we use—from smartphones and solar panels to sneakers and cars—are all tied to an invisible web of Chinese factories, ports, and trade networks. From Deng Xiaoping’s bold reforms in 1978 to China’s dominance in rare earth minerals, ...

The thrilling saga of the great Amur tiger and the scientists who came together, across the world, to save it. This program is read by the author. The forests of Northeast Asia are home to a marvelous range of animals—fish owls and brown bears, musk deer and moose, wolves and raccoon dogs, and...

KILL THE CHICKEN TO SCARE THE MONKEY The Chinese proverb shā jī jǐng hóu—kill the chicken to scare the monkey—captures something essential about power and punishment. You don't need to destroy everyone. You need only make an example of one to terrify the rest into submission. On a sweltering evening in August 2023, Chen Dawei appeared on Chinese state television. His face was pale, his voice hollow. Flanked by stern officials, he confessed to crimes that had destroyed thousands of lives. But Chen was not the architect of these crimes—he was merely a cog in a vast machine, a ...

The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes investigates the trade routes between Rome and the powerful empires of inner Asia, including the Parthian regime which ruled ancient Persia (Iran). It explores Roman dealings with the Kushan Empire which seized power in Bactria (Afghanistan) and laid claim to the Indus Kingdoms. Further chapters examine the development of Palmyra as a leading caravan city on the edge of Roman Syria and consider trade ventures through the Tarim territories that led Roman merchants to Han China.

A New York Times–bestselling historian charts how and why societies from ancient Greece to the modern era chose to utterly destroy their foes, and warns that similar wars of obliteration are possible in our time War can settle disputes, topple tyrants, and bend the trajectory of...

This revelatory account of the ways silver shaped Chinese history shows how an obsession with “white metal” held China back from financial modernization. First used as currency during the Song dynasty in around 900 CE, silver gradually became central to China’s economic framework and was officially monetized in the middle of the Ming dynasty during the 16th century. However, due to the early adoption of paper money in China, silver was not formed into coins but became a cumbersome “weighing currency”....

This audiobook narrated by Jim Lee provides a rich, discovery-filled account of how a forgotten empire transformed the ancient world.

The Mongol queens of the thirteenth century ruled the greatest empire the world has ever known. Yet sometime near the end of the century, censors cut a section from The Secret History of the Mongols, leaving a single tantalizing quote from Genghis Khan: “Let us reward our female offspring.”...

The “unparalleled master of the historical saga" (Newsweek) and internationally bestselling author of Paris and New York takes on an exhilarating new world with his trademark epic style in China: The Novel In China: The Novel, Edward Rutherfurd brings his renowned talents to the Middle Kingdom...

From the windswept plains of thirteenth-century Mongolia, a boy named Temujin rose from a life of abandonment and brutal hardship to unite the warring nomadic tribes into a single, disciplined nation. He would become the man known to history as Genghis Khan, a name that would invoke both terror and awe across the known world. This is the story of how he and his descendants unleashed a storm of conquest that shattered ancient empires and forged the largest contiguous land empire ever seen. This narrative follows the Mongol armies as they swept across Asia, into the Middle East, and to the ...

In sumptuous and illuminating detail, Simon Winchester, the bestselling 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...

Many nations define themselves in terms of territory or people; China defines itself in terms of history. Taking into account the country's unrivaled, voluminous tradition of history writing, John Keay has composed a vital and illuminating overview of the nation's complex and vivid past. Keay's authoritative history examines 5,000 years in China, from the time of the Three Dynasties through Chairman Mao and the current economic transformation of the country.

No animal is so entangled in human history as the horse. The thread starts in prehistory, with a slight, shy animal, hunted for food. Domesticating the horse allowed early humans to settle the vast Eurasian steppe; later, their horses enabled new forms of warfare, encouraged long-distance trade routes, and ended up acquiring deep cultural and religious significance.

“Dazzling and instructive . . . [a] magisterial new book.” —Walter Isaacson, Time "An astute analysis that illuminates many of today's critical international issues." —Kirkus Reviews Henry Kissinger offers in World Order a deep meditation on the roots of international harmony and...

The co-host of the popular NPR podcast Planet Money provides a well-researched, entertaining, somewhat irreverent look at how money is a made-up thing that has evolved over time to suit humanity's changing needs. Money only works because we all agree to believe in it. In Money, Jacob Goldstein...