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The Story of China

A portrait of a civilisation and its people

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The Story of China

By: Michael Wood
Narrated by: Michael Wood
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'A learned, wise, wonderfully written single volume history of a civilisation that I knew I should know more about' Tom Holland

'Masterful and engrossing...well-paced, eminently readable and well-timed. A must-read for those who want – and need – to know about the China of yesterday, today and tomorrow' Peter Frankopan

China’s story is extraordinarily rich and dramatic. Now Michael Wood, one of the UK's pre-eminent historians, brings it all together in a major new one-volume history of China that is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand its burgeoning role in our world today.

China is the oldest living civilisation on earth, but its history is still surprisingly little known in the wider world. Michael Wood's sparkling narrative, which mingles the grand sweep with local and personal stories, woven together with the author’s own travel journals, is an enthralling account of China’s 4000-year-old tradition, taking in life stationed on the Great Wall or inside the Forbidden City. The story is enriched with the latest archaeological and documentary discoveries; correspondence and court cases going back to the Qin and Han dynasties; family letters from soldiers in the real-life Terracotta Army; stories from Silk Road merchants and Buddhist travellers, along with memoirs and diaries of emperors, poets and peasants.

In the modern era, the book is full of new insights, with the electrifying manifestos of the feminist revolutionaries Qiu Jin and He Zhen, extraordinary eye-witness accounts of the Japanese invasion, the Great Famine and the Cultural Revolution under Chairman Mao, and fascinating newly published sources for the great turning points in China’s modern history, including the Tiananmen Square crisis of 1989, and the new order of President Xi Jinping.

A compelling portrait of a single civilisation over an immense period of time, the book is full of intimate detail and colourful voices, taking us from the desolate Mongolian steppes to the ultra-modern world of Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. It also asks what were the forces that have kept China together for so long? Why was China overtaken by the west after the 18th century? What lies behind China’s extraordinary rise today? The Story of China tells a thrilling story of intense drama, fabulous creativity and deep humanity; a portrait of a country that will be of the greatest importance to the world in the twenty-first century. Asia China Thought-Provoking Ancient History
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I watched Michael Wood in a documentary years ago and found it to be excellent and this book is an amazing history of China, narrated very well and not any different to the professionalism I saw on the TV. Also, being a Kung Fu practitioner, I wanted to learn more about the history of the country that it came from. A great listen!

Brilliant.

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I can't recommend this highly enough! For a book covering China from pre-history to summer 2020, there is a surprising amount of detail. Each chapter covers either a major dynasty or interregum and contains an overview narrative history accompanied by contemporary accounts of families caught up in the events or sketches of daily life.

I came to this with almost no knowledge of China's history or geography (although the basic layout of china is described, I would recommend having a map nearby) and learned a huge amount, but never felt overloaded with detail. In particular, I found the parallels to (or contrasts with) contemporaneous events in European history helped keep track of events.


The narration is delivered with enthusiasm and understanding of the material, although at times it seemed a little too fast.

Superb

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Magical, a pure pleasure especially with Michael's narration. You are taken on a journey of thousands of years. Would love Michael to tell the story of Japan next.

Story of China

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The narrators style took a little while to get used to, but his obvious enthusiasm and feeling for Chinese culture redeems this in the end.

I expected the modern bits to be the interesting parts, but found these less so than the longer pieces on various dynasties, invasions and periods of turmoil in classical times. Repeatedly China seems caught between despotism and uprisings, relying on a rather close relationship between personal authority and the law. With a benign ruler such things can work well, but few seem to remain benign for long.

Repeated themes through the millennia

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I wanted to know the history of China, I was ready for something to get something that went through the facts and events of what happend, this person did this, the war was here it happend for why blah blah blah. But the book is so much more that this it literally transported me into ancient China, I was there, I was sharing in the fears of a 2000 thousand Yr old footsolidier asking his mum to send him some silk. A poets divorce trial in 500 ad. I love the passionate e author narrating his own work. Although lets say not a professional voice over artist. His voice is beautiful. His delivery passionate, i love that im following the authors voice on this and not some paid artist feigning enthusiasm. Truly a masterpiece, Its so vast In its scope yet so detailed and story led. I feel like a work on a grand scale like this would take a lifetime to compile. Forget the lesser reviews. This is a masterpiece. I don't use that word lightly and I've used it 3 times so far in review.

Simply a masterpiece

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