JONATHAN FENBY

En este libro descubrirá que, pese a lo lejos que queda China, son muchas las cosas que debemos a esta civilización: el papel, la imprenta, la brújula y los paraguas, entre otros muchos objetos. Se sorprenderá, asimismo, por la riqueza de su arte, del que un monumento como la tumba del primer emperador no es más que uno de los muchos ejemplos con que cuenta. Conocerá, igualmente, la china tradicional, la de la gran muralla, y la más moderna, con ciudades como Taipéi que albergan algunos de los rascacielos más altos del mundo. Todos estos temas, agrupados en secciones escritas por especialistas, se encuentran incluidos en esta exhaustiva obra dedicada a China, en la que pueden consultarse las materias que más interesen o bien realizar una inmersión profunda en esta civilización.

In the second half of the 19th century, China appeared as the sick man of Asia, rocked by recurrent revolts and huge natural disasters, ruled by an anachronistic imperial system and humiliated by foreign invasions. Karl Marx saw it as bound to disintegrate, like 'any mummy carefully preserved in a hermetically sealed coffin'. The first half of the 20th century was even worse, culminating in fourteen years of invasion by Japan, four years of civil war and three decades of chaotic, oppressive rule by Mao Zedong that killed tens of millions. Now, at the start of the 21st century, China is a major global force, booming economically and confident that it holds the keys to a future in which it will rival the United States. It is impossible to understand modern China without understanding the country's terrible recent past and Jonathan Fenby's magnificent new book is the essential work. The Penguin History of Modern China is both a brilliant narrative, crammed with surprising and interesting stories, and a profound study of the nature of political power and its abuse.

The Penguin History of Modern China shows how turbulent that journey has been. For 150 years China has endured as victim to brutality on an unmatched scale, to oppression, to war and to famine. This makes its current position as the newest and, arguably, most important global superpower all the more extraordinary. Jonathan Fenby's clear and comprehensive account of China's recent past is the definitive guide to this remarkable transformation.