China

A History

By: John Keay

Narrated by: Anne Flosnik

Length: 25 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

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.

Crisp, judicious, and engaging, China is the classic single-volume history for anyone seeking to understand the present and future of this immensely powerful nation.

©2009 John Keay (P)2016 Tantor

Enjoyable and Exhausting

Narration was fine, there were a few places were the recording blurred, overall I learned a lot and will continue to broaden my understanding of eastern countries

A great history book, HORRIBLE narration

I love this book - I’ve read it a few times in the past and I would have enjoyed listening to it as a refresher. However I can’t stand the narration - I have lived in China for several years now and I’m fairly knowledgeable about Chinese history… but whenever this narrator mentions a person or place I barely know what they’re talking about, it is so horribly mispronounced. Never mind getting a Chinese speaker, the producers could have at least found someone who can correctly read pinyin. Such a pity for a book that otherwise gets so much right.

Probably a great book, but worst performance ever

Couldn’t listen for more than a few hours: the narration is HORRENDOUSLY monotone and dull.

Needs new narrator

While the book itself seems great, a well researched and compact history with lively prose, the narrator clearly knows no Chinese and her frequent mispronunciation of names and places makes for difficult listening. E.g. 中国 as jong gwa, 夏 as "shee-yah", 秋 as "chew" These and many more become rather grating and make it hard to take the content itself seriously. Would gladly buy the book again with a new narration

well written—mediocre performance

Keay is a good author and tells an interesting story that is worth knowing. However, I don’t think an audible book is the best venue for demonstrating his genius. The major problem is that it is almost impossible to keep track of the foreign names and words without seeing them. This made it extremely frustrating for me to learn more about the topics I’d been hearing about, because, in order to learn more, I spent inordinate amounts of time googling various spellings of Chinese words I had no idea how to spell.

China's Long History Revealed

For most of us in the west the history of the far east is shrouded in mystery. John Keay has attempted to unveil this mysterious land, its people, and its remarkable story. I found many of the names of people and places a little difficult to follow, but the stories of the huge civil engineering projects undertaken in pre-modern times were fascinating. This may be a difficult read, but the Audible recording is excellent.

Excellent in every way

I've been to China several times and have read a lot about Chinese culture and history, but never a single work like this one. It's strongest for early history and pre-history. If you're looking for something that focuses on current history and events look elsewhere. But if you want to understand context and learn the players and events you'll enjoy this book a lot. I certainly learned a lot, particularly about early days. Keay is a good scholar and he brings the various scenes and historical figures to life. The narrator is also excellent.

Long-Winded but Necessary

This book's thorough history provides an incredibly useful context for understanding the present state of China. The individual stories of influential men, women, and movements deliver consistent entertainment, like reading a book of short stories. The author avoids getting bogged down in opinions and theories, giving space for the reader to generalize and draw their own takeaways.

For someone not accustomed to history audio books spanning millennia, I sometimes did find it tiring to listen and exceedingly difficult to recall individual names, dates, and statistics. Most books on China focus on specific time periods, or span multiple volumes to make everything more digestible. However, this is precisely the type of objective knowledge I've been starved of with my eurocentric education. I'm very thankful to the author, and I look forward to exploring further.

Interesting content but...

The narrator will put you to sleep. Even history books should have energetic and interpretive narrators.

Great story. Enjoyed the whole book.

Enjoyed the whole book. Narration is excellent. Enjoyed every twist and turn of the story.