China Empire

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

Americans are accustomed to thinking that World War II ended on August 14, 1945, when the Japanese surrendered unconditionally. Yet on the mainland of Asia, in the vast arc stretching from Manchuria to Burma, peace was a brief, fretful interlude. In some parts of Asia, such as Java and Southern Indonesia, only a few weeks passed before new fighting broke out between nationalist forces and the former colonial powers.

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 ...

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...

"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 this thrilling panorama of real-life events, the bestselling author of Empire of Pain investigates a secret world run by a surprising criminal: a charismatic middle-aged grandmother, who from a tiny noodle shop in New York’s Chinatown managed a multi-million dollar business smuggling people...

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.

With an economy and population that dwarf most industrialized nations, China is emerging as a 21st century global superpower. Even though China is an international leader in modern business and technology, its ancient history exerts a powerful force on its foreign policy. Christopher A. Ford expertly traces China's self-image and its role in the world order - from the age of Confucius to today. Ford argues that despite its exposure to and experience of the modern world, China is still strongly influenced by a hierarchical view of political order.

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”....

Admiral Lenson leads Operation Rupture, the invasion of South China, in a bid to finally end the war and restore peace. Meanwhile, Captain Cheryl Staurulakis fights to take a radical new “super ship” to sea, even though its power and capability may introduce more risk than reward.

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.

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...

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...

“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 global...

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 ...

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...

In 2019, a Chinese entity called Tencent overtook Facebook to become the world's fifth-largest company. It was a watershed moment, a wake-up call for those in the West accustomed to regarding the global tech industry through the prism of Silicon Valley: Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft. Yet to many of the two billion-plus people who live just across the Pacific Ocean, it came as no surprise at all.

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...

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.