A History of China

De: Hilda Hookham

Narrado por: Charlton Griffin

Trying to squeeze an entire history of Chinese civilization into a brief, one volume account is a formidable task, but one that has succeeded brilliantly here. Hilda Hookham has provided us with a concise story that, while not getting too entangled with personalities and cultural issues, manages to navigate the swirling passage of events that comprise over 3,000 years of Chinese political history. As a result, one is left with a singular impression of what Chinese civilization has meant, both as a cultural reality, and as a historical political force. It has been a tumultuous journey.

Recurring themes repeat themselves in dynasty after dynasty: order and statecraft, resource allocation and use, imperialism and population growth, barbarian invasion and subjugation of outlying districts. Each dynasty right up to the current communist regime has followed similar paths. In this brilliant synthesis, we begin to see the patterns of stable government, the building up of infrastructure, reforms to help the peasantry, and reforms of government bureaucracy. Then comes the destabilizing influences of corruption, debauched court life, demands for greater taxation, failing infrastructure, famine, military revolt and invasions by barbarians. The peasants revolt, the military crumbles and a new dynasty takes control, with or without the support of foreign powers, depending on the period. Eventually, as in the case of the Mongols and the Manchurians, the barbarians end up as rulers.

Throughout all of this turmoil, the essence of Chinese civilization has endured, sometimes, as in the case of the murderous Mao regime, at the cost of millions of lives. From Confucius and Lao-Tzu to Sun Yatsen, Chang Kaishek and Mao Zedong, Chinese civilization unfolds here in this audiobook as a comprehensible and highly enjoyable summary.

©1970 Hilda Hookham (P)2008 Audio Connoisseur

Maoist Propaganda

Most of this book is a rather pedestrian and superficial overview of China's various dynasties. Then comes a scathing critique of the Nationalist regime, followed by an unapologetically adoring portrait of Mao. The idolatry is then partially ameliorated by an unattributed addendum briefly listing Mao's crimes.

Audible Can Do Better Than This

After scouring the offerings for a general history of China, this seemed closest to what I sought. While it fit the general-history-of-china bill, Audible can surely offer a general history of China that is better than this. It was written decades ago and may have been a solid piece of scholarly work at the time, but I found it to be meandering and use language of otherness from which more updated histories have departed. It includes an "update" that isn't terribly satisfying or nuanced. I don't recommend it.

Too difficult to retain

The names are all in Chinese And there is no engaging narrative in which to help remember themThe narrator's voice was too somber. This added an air of dignity to the events but did not make anything standout

Extraordinary Repudiation of Author in Own Book

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

The addendum was a pleasant surprise - setting the record straight after the author committed scholarly malpractice with regard to the last chapter.

Any additional comments?

This must be truly unprecedented - the publisher added an addendum vigorously repudiating what was in the book. The author willfully and obviously neglected to write an accurate portrayal of 20th century events. Fortunately the addendum set the record straight. With such a biased and misleading last chapter, is it not reasonable to suspect that the rest of the book is biased and misleading as well? It also begs the question: with such a poorly written last chapter which the publisher dutifully points out, why would Audible.com make this book available at all? Surely there are better books on the history of China.

A nice pace for a huge topic

Oddly boring, given the content matter is pretty spectacular, but the pace of the storytelling has a certain tedium to it. The reader has a great voice and I find the long slow history to be rather pleasant overall.