The Search for Modern China

De: Jonathan D. Spence

Narrado por: Frederick Davidson

The history of China is as rich and strange as that of any country on earth. Yet for many, China’s history remains unknown, or known only through the stylized images that generations in the West have cherished or reviled as truth.

With his command of character and event - the product of 30 years of research and reflection in the field - Spence dispels those myths in a powerful narrative. Over four centuries of Chinese history, from the waning days of the once-glorious Ming Dynasty to Deng Xiaoping’s bloody suppression of the pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square, Spence fashions the astonishing story of the effort to achieve a modern China. Through the ideas and emotions of its reformist Confucian scholars, its poets, novelists, artists, and visionary students, we see one of the world’s oldest cultures struggling to define itself as Chinese and modern.

©1990 Jonathan D. Spence (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“To understand…China’s past there is no better place to start than Jonathan D. Spence’s excellent new book.” ( New York Times Book Review)

“Monumental…History that is always lively, always concrete, always comprehensible.” ( New York Times)

“Rich and dramatic…A pleasure to read, as well as being immensely informative.” ( San Francisco Chronicle)

Don’t read tables please

Could have done without literally reading tables aloud. Just summarize the trends in the tables.

bad narrator!

Why pick someone who can’t pronounce chinese names to read a book about chinese history? Book is fantastic

Excellent book, lazy narrator

This is a classic textbook on early modern and modern Chinese history. I've very happy to see it finally appearing in audio form, and I hope there are more on the way.

I have one complaint: The pronunciation of most of the Chinese names is so wrong that the reader might as well be making up random noises. For example, "zhou" is pronounced "joe," not "zoo," and it matters because "zhou" appears in the names of most Chinese geographic locations outside Beijing and Shanghai. It would take 10 minutes for the reader to learn the absolute basics of how to pronounce Chinese names. By being too lazy to take those 10 minutes, the next 20? 30? hours of audio lose much of their value for any listener who hopes actually to learn something.

Great Narration, Bad Pronunciation

The book is amazing. The narration perfect, at least when using English words. The pronunciation of the Chinese words is very incorrect and distracting if you are familiar with Chinese. With that minor caveat, I heartily recommend this book.

Great history, distractingly terrible pronunciatio

Classic in modern Chinese history but I would have gladly exchanged Davidson's posh RP narration for literally any other narrator who knew how to pronounce Chinese names.

Fascinating book; horrible narration

Would you try another book from Jonathan D. Spence and/or Frederick Davidson?

From Jonathan Spence definitely.
Davidson, never

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Frederick Davidson?

Anyone who would bother to spend the hour or two it takes to learn basic pronounciation of pinyin Chinese. His butchering of the names, places and words makes it impossible to listen and impossible to remember anything

Any additional comments?

I want to return the book. The narrator messes up Chinese so much the text become unintelligible.

great deep dive

probably the most comprehensive coverage of Qing through 90s China that I've seen in English

Great Book, Bad Pronunciation

This is a classic of Chinese history, but the reading by the narrator absolutely butchers the Chinese pronunciation of names and places. Any future audiobooks on this topic should hire a narrator with some basic understanding of how to pronounce Chinese terms.

An undisputed classic

This book is epic, narrative history at its absolute best, as it traces the history of China from the time of the late Ming until the present day. In its best moments, it evokes the likes of Edward Gibbon, as we follow the rise and fall of the larger-than-life personalities, from the Chongzheng Emperor to Deng Xiaoping, that dot the historical landscape of the Middle Kingdom. This is one of those rare historical tomes that I would recommend to anyone, regardless of whether one's interest in Chinese history is professional or casual, and regardless of one's level of scholarship. In short, this is a classic of Chinese history, and even, dare I say, a classic of narrative history.

The performance is solid as well, but has some serious problems. Although the reader never lost my attention, his pronunciation of Chinese names is inconsistent and, more often than not, incorrect. The audible edition is nonetheless worth spending a credit on, and comes highly recommended.

Cringeworthy pronunciations of Chinese terms

The male narrator has a magisterial nonrotic British accent suitable for this sweeping history, but the way he botches Chinese terms is distracting and confusing, all the more so for being so easily preventable with a bit of coaching. He apparently has no understanding whatsoever of how pinyin works. Get ready for Empress Dowager KEE-shee, Chen DUK-show, LUK-sion (Lu Xun!), HEE-bayee (Hebei) and other atrocities.

As for the book, it’s good. Spence had lately fashioned himself an annoying belle lettrist, but not yet here.