Breakneck

China's Quest to Engineer the Future

De: Dan Wang

Narrado por: Jonathan Yen

For close to a decade, technology analyst Dan Wang—"a gifted observer of contemporary China" (Ross Douthat)—has been living through the country's astonishing, messy progress. China's towering bridges, gleaming railways, and sprawling factories have improved economic outcomes in record time. But rapid change has also sent ripples of pain throughout the society. This reality—political repression and astonishing growth—is not a paradox, but rather a feature of China's engineering mindset.

In Breakneck, Wang blends political, economic, and philosophical analysis with reportage to reveal a new framework for understanding China—one that helps us see America more clearly, too. While China is an engineering state, relentlessly pursuing megaprojects, the United States has stalled. America has transformed into a lawyerly society, reflexively blocking everything, good and bad.

Blending razor-sharp analysis with immersive storytelling, Wang offers a gripping portrait of a nation in flux. Breakneck traverses metropolises like Shanghai, Chongqing, and Shenzhen, where the engineering state has created not only dazzling infrastructure but also a sense of optimism. The book also exposes the downsides of social engineering, including the surveillance of ethnic minorities, political suppression, and the traumas of the one-child policy and zero-Covid.

©2025 Daniel Wang (P)2025 Tantor Media

Great Insights

Performance was perfect at 2x speed. Dan Wong has written an immensely relevant and insightful book. His own experiences with both China and the US is an asset that he fully utilized. Looking forward to seeing how this book is echoed by policy.

Breakneck

Author spend too much time on details of China’s policy fallacy of the past 4-5 decades and not enough on the equivalence of US.
Overall, a worthwhile book.
A personal aspect, I am am immigrant from China. So, my review could be a bit skewed.

Truly clarifying ...

Objective, insightful comparative analysis of the policies and trajectories of the United States and China. Really changed the way I think about the relationship between our two nations. A olea for greater mutual understanding and cooperation.

VERY INTERESTING

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in current world powers.
As a history buff I have read several books about China and its place in the world.
The part about how they confronted the COVID pandemic is interesting
I find it very important to keep up with China.
The narration is excellent.
My thanks to all involved, JK

Strong point of view

The author has a strong point of view, and there is a lot of detail. The book is much longer than it needed to be though.