24 Hours in Ancient China cover art

24 Hours in Ancient China

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

24 Hours in Ancient China

By: Yijie Zhuyang
Narrated by: John Telfer
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £13.53

Buy Now for £13.53

Spend 24 hours with the ancient Chinese.

Travel back to AD 17, during the fourth year of the reign of Wang Mang of the Han dynasty, a vibrant and innovative era full of conflicts and contradictions. But as different as the Han culture might have been to other great ancient civilisations, the inhabitants of ancient China faced the same problems as people have for time immemorial: earning enough money, coping with workplace dramas and keeping your home in order. Although the equivalent in this era was more about bribing inspectors, avoiding bullying from abusive watchmen and trying to keep your house from being looted by Huns.

In each chapter we meet one of 24 citizens of this ancient culture, from the midwife to the soldier, the priest to the performer and the blacksmith to the tomb looter, and see what an average day in ancient China was really like.

©2020 Michael O’Mara Books Limited (P)2020 Audible, Ltd Asia China Civilization World Ancient History
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
All stars
Most relevant
The 24 hours series is a brilliant way to learn about history. (At least the two I've read so far, this and Rome.) Here you meet people from all walks of life, and learn about how their lives actually was, as well as for example archaeological finds and religion.
The narrator does an excellent job. To my untrained ear, the Chinese pronunciations sounds good.

I've read a lot about European and Egyptian history, but know too little about Eastern. This was a great introduction.

Interesting and educational.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
really interesting book, fascinating everyday stories at normal people, wide range of different professions. Makes you wish to hear more

very exciting

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
my daughter and I listened to this as part of a project she was doing on China. I gave us great entertainment as well as absolute rapt fascination, and have us a lot of think about.
we have agreed we'll listen to it again and again as it was so interesting... and have made up our own conclusions to the stories that only lasted the allocated hour in the timeline, such as the captain of the Watchtower seeing the smoke, and the dancer returning to her family to find out if her sister has a boy or girl.....so much to enjoy from a human factor as well as a historical point of view.
the minutia included in the day to day accounts is well researched and beautifully presented, with the actor doing a wonderful job of Chinese names and voices of different characters.

excellent!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
nothing to complain about. Very interesting book. Would rather it be longer and more in depth.

good

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A collection of short stories, bound loosely together by showing the perspective of different people living and workìng at different times of the day, and with different social standing.

The book has a great introduction, which prepares you for the setting, and quickly gives a good overview of the time period and background where the stories take place.

After each short story, there is also an explanation of the relevant history. The book is very well-structured, and the narrator/VA does a good job.

I highly recommend the book.

Fresh, fascinating and a joy to listen to

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews