This short book could be taken on someone's first trip to China. The 135 pages of text include a first section covering the past and a second on the present and future. The historical section includes chapters on “Schools of Thought,” which is mainly about Confucius; “Imperial China,” which centers on the decline of the Qing dynasty; and “Revolutions and Revolutionaries,” which describes events from 1911 through the death of Mao. The section on the present and future has chapters describing events from the death of Mao to the present, explaining sources of misunderstanding between the United States and China, and looking toward the future. All of the chapters are organized as series of questions (such as “Who was Confucius?” or “Is China bent on world domination?”) and answers that run anywhere from a paragraph to a few pages.
For the most part, this is an effective book. Those who...
