China Empire

'A must read' Peter Frankopan From the bestselling author of Dictatorland, this is the long and turbulent history of China’s growing influence over African states. People are increasingly fascinated by – and terrified of – the role of China in the modern world. In Africa, this role has...

Winner of the Baifang Schell Book Prize 2025 Orwell Prize Finalist One of The Washington Post’s 50 Notable Nonfiction Books of 2024 “A sprawling, complex morality tale, sweeping us along.” —The Wall Street Journal “In telling this personal story about family memory, exile and...

A narrative history of how Attila, Genghis Khan and the so-called barbarians of the steppes shaped world civilization. The barbarian nomads of the Eurasian steppes have played a decisive role in world history, but their achievements have gone largely unnoticed. These nomadic tribes have produced...

Discover the incredible true story of how a small farming village grew into one of the largest and most powerful nations on Earth! Have you ever looked at a map and wondered how China became such a giant? How China Grew from a River Valley to a Giant Empire takes young readers on an epic journey through Ancient Chinese History, starting thousands of years ago in the muddy banks of the Yellow River. In this engaging educational book, kids will travel back in time to meet the first farmers who planted millet and raised pigs before writing was even invented. They will uncover the secrets of ...

In sumptuous and illuminating detail, Simon Winchester, the bestselling author of The Professor and the Madman (""Elegant and scrupulous""—New York Times Book Review) and Krakatoa (""A mesmerizing page-turner""—Time) brings to life the extraordinary story of Joseph Needham, the brilliant...

This audiobook narrated by Jim Lee provides a rich, discovery-filled account of how a forgotten empire transformed the ancient world.

A momentous new history of Asia’s Second World War. Drawing on deep archival research across continents, historian Hans van de Ven tells the dramatic story of how Asia’s people mobilized to defeat both Japanese aggression and European imperialism, forging modern Asia in the process. By the...

"Author-narrator [Jonathan C.] Slaght reads this account of the Siberian Tiger Project with a clear, grounded delivery that reflects his background as a field researcher...Slaght's performance reflects observation, patience, and sustained attention to both human and animal lives." — Kirkus...

The second installment in #1 New York Times bestselling author James Clavell’s Asian Saga, Tai Pan, Part One contains the first half of the sweeping epic of the founding of Hong Kong. “There can only be one Tai-Pan.” Dirk Struan rose from humble beginnings to build Struan & Company, also...

An exciting, hugely revealing account of China’s burgeoning presence in Africa - a developing empire already shaping, and reshaping, the future of millions of people. A prizewinning foreign correspondent and former New York Times bureau chief in Shanghai and in West and Central Africa, Howard French is uniquely positioned to tell the story of China in Africa. Through meticulous on-the-ground reporting, French crafts a layered investigation of astonishing depth and breadth.

The Roman Empire and the Silk Routes investigates the trade routes between Rome and the powerful empires of inner Asia, including the Parthian regime which ruled ancient Persia (Iran). It explores Roman dealings with the Kushan Empire which seized power in Bactria (Afghanistan) and laid claim to the Indus Kingdoms. Further chapters examine the development of Palmyra as a leading caravan city on the edge of Roman Syria and consider trade ventures through the Tarim territories that led Roman merchants to Han China.

Most of us know that China is swiftly becoming a greater superpower on the world stage. Join this quest to find the secret behind its infamous global influence. Get ready to immerse yourself in a history filled with great stories — some even be unheard of before now!

The second installment in #1 New York Times bestselling author James Clavell’s Asian Saga, Tai Pan, Part Two contains the second half of the sweeping epic of the founding of Hong Kong. “There can only be one Tai-Pan.” Dirk Struan rose from humble beginnings to build Struan & Company, also...

In this “extraordinarily brave and entertaining book” (Sonia Purnell, New York Times–bestselling author of A Woman of No Importance), the bestselling coauthor of Argo tells her riveting, courageous story of being a female spy at the height of the Cold War Jonna Mendez began her CIA career...

This book presents a comprehensive history of the existential war waged between the Anglo-Dutch imperial system and what became known as the American System of political economy ever since the creation of the predatory British and Dutch East India Companies. On that basis, the book presents a counterintuitive solution to the crisis confronting humanity today, arguing that only a combination of the Four Powers, the USA, Russia, China and India, has the power to finally dismantle the Anglo-Dutch imperial system as it emerged from the British and Dutch East India Companies. The book documents ...

Bloomsbury presents The Golden Road, written and read by William Dalrymple. The internationally bestselling author of The Anarchy returns with a sparkling, soaring history of ideas, tracing South Asia’s under-recognized role in producing the world as we know it. For a millennium and a half...

In 2019, a Chinese entity called Tencent overtook Facebook to become the world's fifth-largest company. It was a watershed moment, a wake-up call for those in the West accustomed to regarding the global tech industry through the prism of Silicon Valley: Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft. Yet to many of the two billion-plus people who live just across the Pacific Ocean, it came as no surprise at all.

A stunning exploration of the Greater Middle East, where lasting stability has often seemed just out of reach but may hold the key to the shifting world order of the twenty-first century “Engaging . . . Even those who resist Kaplan’s tragic sensibility have much to learn from his look at the...

Embark on an epic journey through ancient history as rival dynasties forge the world's longest-surviving civilization. Perfect for your daily commute or focused learning, this sweeping narrative transforms thousands of years of triumphs, rebellions, and intellectual revolutions into an immersive...

This revelatory account of the ways silver shaped Chinese history shows how an obsession with “white metal” held China back from financial modernization. First used as currency during the Song dynasty in around 900 CE, silver gradually became central to China’s economic framework and was officially monetized in the middle of the Ming dynasty during the 16th century. However, due to the early adoption of paper money in China, silver was not formed into coins but became a cumbersome “weighing currency”....