• The Best China Books of 2021 - The Shortest History of China: From the Ancient Dynasties to a Modern Superpower by Linda Jaivin
  • The Best China Books of 2021 - Monkey King: Journey to the West Wu Cheng'en and Julia Lovell (translator)
  • The Best China Books of 2021 - The Chinese Communist Party: A Century in Ten Lives Edited by Timothy Cheek, Klaus Mühlhahn and Hans van de Ven
  • The Best China Books of 2021 - Land of Big Numbers by Te-Ping Chen
  • The Best China Books of 2021 - In the Camps: China's High-Tech Penal Colony by Darren Byler

The Best China Books of 2021, recommended by Jeffrey Wasserstrom

Whether you want to read the entire history of China in 250 pages or find out what’s going on right now in Xinjiang, enjoy a new translation of a 16th-century fantasy novel or delve into contemporary short stories, 2021 has been another good year for books about China. Jeffrey Wasserstrom, Chancellor’s Professor of History at UC Irvine, recommends his favourite China books of 2021.

  • Best China Books of 2020 - Aftershock: Essays from Hong Kong by Holmes Chan (editor)
  • Best China Books of 2020 - Eurasian Crossroads: A History of Xinjiang by James Millward
  • Best China Books of 2020 - Forbidden Memory: Tibet during the Cultural Revolution by Susan Chen (translator) & Tsering Woeser
  • Best China Books of 2020 - Beijing from Below: Stories of Marginal Lives in the Capital's Center by Harriet Evans
  • Best China Books of 2020 - Champions Day: The End of Old Shanghai by James Carter

Best China Books of 2020, recommended by Jeffrey Wasserstrom

All eyes are on China as it occupies an increasingly important role on the world stage and its economic growth continues to barrel on. But behind the Chinese Communist Party’s apparent competence lies a deep insecurity about its relationship with its own citizens, particularly those who question its right to rule them. American historian and Sinologist Jeffrey Wasserstrom picks the best books of 2020 on China.

  • The Best Books on the Hong Kong Protests - Vigil: Hong Kong on the Brink by Jeffrey Wasserstrom
  • The Best Books on the Hong Kong Protests - Aftershock: Essays from Hong Kong by Holmes Chan (editor)
  • The Best Books on the Hong Kong Protests - Underground Front: The Chinese Communist Party in Hong Kong by Christine Loh
  • The Best Books on the Hong Kong Protests - The Trial by Franz Kafka
  • The Best Books on the Hong Kong Protests - Imagined Communities by Benedict Anderson

The Best Books on the Hong Kong Protests, recommended by Ben Bland

Around the world people have followed the standoff in Hong Kong with apprehension, as local protestors have taken on the might of China’s powerful Communist Party. Here Ben Bland, author of Generation HK and Director at Australian think tank the Lowy Institute, talks us through books to better understand what’s been going on these past few years and what’s at stake for Hong Kong’s citizens and activists.

  • Shanghai Novels - Man's Fate by André Malraux
  • Shanghai Novels - Midnight by Mao Dun
  • Shanghai Novels - Lust, Caution by Eileen Chang
  • Shanghai Novels - Honeymoon in Shanghai by Maurice Dekobra
  • Shanghai Novels - Shanghai Baby by Wei Hui

Shanghai Novels, recommended by Paul French

Though it was the fifth biggest city in the world in the years following the Second World War, there aren’t nearly as many novels set in Shanghai as there are in Paris, Berlin and other international cities. Author and expert on modern Chinese history Paul French takes a look at the literary history of an often underwritten city from the 1930s through to the new millennium.

  • The best books on The Silk Road - The Silk Road: A New History by Valerie Hansen
  • The best books on The Silk Road - Sogdian Traders: A History Étienne de la Vaissière (trans. James Ward)
  • The best books on The Silk Road - Diary: Record of a Pilgrimage to China in Search of the Law Ennin (trans. E O Reischauer)
  • The best books on The Silk Road - Foreign Devils on the Silk Road by Peter Hopkirk
  • The best books on The Silk Road - Silk Roads: Peoples, Cultures, Landscapes by Susan Whitfield

The best books on The Silk Road, recommended by Valerie Hansen

From the Han dynasty to the time of Marco Polo, the routes connecting Asia, Africa and Europe—now known as the Silk Road—were responsible for enormous amounts of global trade. Yale historian Valerie Hansen, author of The Silk Road: A New History, introduces us to its rich history: “one of the reasons the Silk Road is a misnomer is that silk was not the main good moving along.”

  • The best books on Religion in China - The Religious Question in Modern China by Vincent Goossaert and David Palmer
  • The best books on Religion in China - Qigong Fever by David Palmer
  • The best books on Religion in China - The Missionary's Curse and Other Tales from a Chinese Catholic Village by Henrietta Harrison
  • The best books on Religion in China - Zen Baggage: A Pilgrimage to China by Bill Porter
  • The best books on Religion in China - Democracy’s Dharma: Religious Renaissance and Political Development in Taiwan by Richard Madsen

The best books on Religion in China, recommended by Ian Johnson

China is a religious country with all kinds of faiths being practised across its vast territories—despite Mao’s attempts to eradicate them. The Chinese Communist Party tolerates a variety of religions but continues to grapple with the potential challenge they pose to its authority. Prize-winning journalist Ian Johnson introduces the best books on the complex topic of religion in China.

  • The best books on June 4th - Neither Gods nor Emperors by Craig Calhoun
  • The best books on June 4th - The Pro-Democracy Protests in China: Reports from the Provinces by Jonathan Unger
  • The best books on June 4th - New Ghosts, Old Dreams by Geremie Barme and Linda Jaivin
  • The best books on June 4th - The People's Republic of Amnesia by Louisa Lim
  • The best books on June 4th - The Gate of Heavenly Peace by Carma Hinton

The best books on June 4th, 1989, recommended by Jeffrey Wasserstrom

In contrast to Eastern Europe, the 1989 protests in China did not lead to the overthrow of the Communist Party. But if China’s leaders chose the right course on June 4th, 1989, why are they still frightened to come to terms with it? Sinologist and historian Jeffrey Wasserstrom picks the best books to understand events at Beijing’s Tiananmen Square and around China on that hot summer night.

  • The best books on Uyghur Nationalism - Inner Asian Frontiers of China by Owen Lattimore
  • The best books on Uyghur Nationalism - Pivot of Asia by Owen Lattimore
  • The best books on Uyghur Nationalism - Return to Kashghar by Gunnar Jarring
  • The best books on Uyghur Nationalism - Warlords and Muslims in Chinese Central Asia by Andrew D. Forbes
  • The best books on Uyghur Nationalism - Xinjiang by S Frederick Starr (editor)

The best books on Uyghur Nationalism, recommended by Michael Dillon

It’s hard to understand what’s going on in the Xinjiang region of China and the nationalism of the Uyghurs who live there without reading some history. Here Professor Michael Dillon, a historian at King’s College London, suggests books to read on the Uyghurs, focusing in particular on scholars and diplomats whose work gives insight into the period before the Chinese Communist takeover in 1949.