China Empire

'A must read' Peter Frankopan From the bestselling author of Dictatorland, this is the long and turbulent history of China’s growing influence over African states. People are increasingly fascinated by – and terrified of – the role of China in the modern world. In Africa, this role has...

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...

"Author-narrator [Jonathan C.] Slaght reads this account of the Siberian Tiger Project with a clear, grounded delivery that reflects his background as a field researcher...Slaght's performance reflects observation, patience, and sustained attention to both human and animal lives." — Kirkus...

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...

Discover the incredible true story of how a small farming village grew into one of the largest and most powerful nations on Earth! Have you ever looked at a map and wondered how China became such a giant? How China Grew from a River Valley to a Giant Empire takes young readers on an epic journey through Ancient Chinese History, starting thousands of years ago in the muddy banks of the Yellow River. In this engaging educational book, kids will travel back in time to meet the first farmers who planted millet and raised pigs before writing was even invented. They will uncover the secrets of ...

A momentous new history of Asia’s Second World War. Drawing on deep archival research across continents, historian Hans van de Ven tells the dramatic story of how Asia’s people mobilized to defeat both Japanese aggression and European imperialism, forging modern Asia in the process. By the...

The second installment in #1 New York Times bestselling author James Clavell’s Asian Saga, Tai Pan, Part One contains the first half of the sweeping epic of the founding of Hong Kong. “There can only be one Tai-Pan.” Dirk Struan rose from humble beginnings to build Struan & Company, also...

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.

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 narrative history of how Attila, Genghis Khan and the so-called barbarians of the steppes shaped world civilization. The barbarian nomads of the Eurasian steppes have played a decisive role in world history, but their achievements have gone largely unnoticed. These nomadic tribes have produced...

The second installment in #1 New York Times bestselling author James Clavell’s Asian Saga, Tai Pan, Part Two contains the second half of the sweeping epic of the founding of Hong Kong. “There can only be one Tai-Pan.” Dirk Struan rose from humble beginnings to build Struan & Company, also...

Bloomsbury presents… Emperor of the Seas: Kublai Khan and the Making of China by Jack Weatherford, read by Mark Elstob Control the sea, and you control everything...a gripping tale of naval warfare, dynastic rivalry, and technical innovation, from the author of the classic work Genghis Khan...

Most of us know that China is swiftly becoming a greater superpower on the world stage. Join this quest to find the secret behind its infamous global influence. Get ready to immerse yourself in a history filled with great stories — some even be unheard of before now!

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 ...

In this “extraordinarily brave and entertaining book” (Sonia Purnell, New York Times–bestselling author of A Woman of No Importance), the bestselling coauthor of Argo tells her riveting, courageous story of being a female spy at the height of the Cold War Jonna Mendez began her CIA career...

Bloomsbury presents The Silk Roads by Peter Frankopan, read by Mike Grady. The No. 1 Sunday Times and international bestseller – a major reassessment of world history in light of the economic and political renaissance in the re-emerging east For centuries, fame and fortune was to be found in...

Since 1930s, there is a famous hot yet pending topic in the academic community, it is called “Needham Question”. The Question is raised first by Joseph Terence Montgomery Needham (1900--1995, British biochemist, expert of history of science and technology and the author of the work “Science and Civilization in China”) in 1930s when he started to study the history of Chinese science and technology. The theme of the Question is: why the Industrial Revolution and Modern Science originated in Europe after the Renaissance rather than in other civilizations, such as India and Arab, and ...

A stunning exploration of the Greater Middle East, where lasting stability has often seemed just out of reach but may hold the key to the shifting world order of the twenty-first century “Engaging . . . Even those who resist Kaplan’s tragic sensibility have much to learn from his look at the...

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

One of Library Journal’s 10 Best Books of 2015 Following his acclaimed Atlantic and The Men Who United the States, New York Times bestselling author Simon Winchester offers an enthralling biography of the Pacific Ocean and its role in the modern world, exploring our relationship with this...