The Dragon's Gift

The Real Story of China in Africa

By: Deborah Brautigam

Narrated by: Pam Ward

Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Is China a rogue donor, as some media pundits suggest? Or is China helping the developing world pave a pathway out of poverty, as the Chinese claim? In the last few years, China's aid program has leapt out of the shadows. Media reports about huge aid packages, support for pariah regimes, regiments of Chinese labor, and the ruthless exploitation of workers and natural resources in some of the poorest countries in the world sparked fierce debates. These debates, however, took place with very few hard facts. China's tradition of secrecy about its aid fueled rumors and speculation, making it difficult to gauge the risks and opportunities provided by China's growing embrace.

This well-timed book, by one of the world's leading experts, provides the first comprehensive account of China's aid and economic cooperation overseas. Deborah Brautigam tackles the myths and realities, explaining what the Chinese are doing, how they do it, how much aid they give, and how it all fits into their "going global" strategy. Drawing on three decades of experience in China and Africa and hundreds of interviews in Africa, China, Europe, and the US, Brautigam shines new light on a topic of great interest.

©2009 Deborah Brautigam (P)2018 Tantor

The Book Is Too Much To Digest

The author is such an amateur and naive writer. Given the fact that all the logics and the information in this book are already available widely, what is the point of wasting your time for this book ??? The Africans are depicted as poor, conservative, low educated and too naive to deal with China; while China is depicted as a bad Actor in the World Stage. Well, we Chinese are not a bad Actor. We are a big Actor in the world stage. And since we Chinese are meaner, we are going to win, eventually. The author also implies that Africans are modern slaves to be exploited by the Chinese (who are depicted as Modern Master). The West don't get to lecture and to tell African people what to do and how to do. I believe African people are smart enough to handle their business and know how to deal with the Chinese for their best interests. The book is too much to digest. Don't Waste Your Time On This !!!

If you love Economic Aid this is your book

Intresting book has some interesting points and perspectives contrary to other things I've read,but it's good to hear different points of view.

Rare, honest & refreshing.

Such sojourns beyond the perfidious vale of State Department approved propaganda are increasingly hard to come by from the pens of Western Academia.
It is incumbent on us all to impress upon our brothers and sisters in the core and in the greater vassaldom, that the “peril” is not and has very rarely ever been an externality.. but a malignant cancer within.

The Dragon’s Gift.

I enjoyed the whole book. It is excellent in given a historical perspective of China’s involvement in Africa. Some things are bad. A number of things are good. It shows how misinformation distorts some of who China is and about. I would recommend this book to all students interested in international studies and travel for the reasons cited above.

Useful for those with an open mind

A balanced assessment of Chinese investments in the African continent. There is a lot of information here. Prof brautigam lays out positives, negatives and comparisons to china’s own development.

Not sure why some of the negative reviews here seem to think the book is too hard on china? There will always be mistakes in business, I hope that much is obvious…

Read kwame nkrumah’s “neocolonialism” and Walter Rodney’s “how Europe under developed Africa” as companion pieces :)

Great insight

Thank you for the research and setting the records straight. Shows China-Africa relationship is complicated.

An unbiased detailed study into the subject matter

This book is an eye opener for those interested not only in China’s aid to Africa but in international aid to Africa as a whole. It helps clear up misunderstanding caused by media propaganda.

China in Africa

this has been a useful narrative of understanding China's role in Africa and the differences and similarities with roles of the West - examples are useful.

China & Africa--myths facts and angles

A sweeping survey of China's relationship to multiple countries n in Africa. The writer leans toward China as a legit player in trade and aid. Consider reading the last chapter first. She summarizes the myths/facts about China/Africa succinctly. Use the table of contents as a guide. it is detailed. informative and personal.

A fresh perspective

Loved it.
Fact filled, the kind of stuff you don't easily find by simply watching short YouTube videos and searching stuff on google.

Pretty poor reading of what is actually an interesting book!

A real shame that the reader was really poor in her delivery of this otherwise interesting book. Unfortunately this really distracted from the text and made it hard to follow! There is no flow, as if the narrator has never seen the book before so sentences are often truncated. And the narrator definitely hasn’t been to China or probably much of Africa so pronunciation of simple names and places was pretty terrible. Shame since I really wanted to listen and learn from this

best skipped

Reads like a hack job dispersed with some truth! A lot of anecdotal stuff missing hard analysis

A well researched and structured book but...

The presentation of the facts and the analysis by the author of the subject is first class and thoroughly examined. The description of the various key points is well put in a balanced way in the opposition of the western powers approach of the aid to Africa question against that of the PRC’s government. Unfortunately the narrator’s reading made it hard to enjoy fully.