My Top 5 Books on China

China: Fragile Superpower: How China's Internal Politics Could Derail Its Peaceful Rise
Susan L. Shirk

A clear-eyed and frightening account of what could go wrong as China rises to economic and military superpower status.

The Search for Modern China, Second Ed.
Jonathan D. Spence

Easily the most lucid, readable, and intelligent account of China's emergence as a modern society from a traditionalist bureaucracy.

Faith of our Fathers: God in Ancient China
Chan Kei Thong

A fascinating interpretation of China's ancient culture as being on a trajectory in search of morality and the divine.

Red China Blues: My Long March from Mao to Now
Jan Wong

A moving personal account of a Western Maoist's disillusionment with the totalitarian pretensions of China during and shortly after the Cultural Revolution.

China: eople Place Culture History
DK Publishing

A useful and beautifully illustrated introduction to ancient and modern China for the non-specialist.

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Related Elsewhere:

David Aikman's Jesus in Beijing: How Christianity Is Changing the Global Balance of Power is available from Amazon.com and other realtors.

Previous Top 5 lists have featured books on Presidents, World Christianity, Ancient-Future Faith, the Civil Rights Era, Social Justice, Church History, Popular Culture, the Civil War, Apologetics, Atheism, and Sex.

Our recent coverage of China includes "Aiding China's Shaken Church," "China's Great Leap Forward," "Hungry for Jesus," "Audio Slideshow: Changing China," and more.

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